Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson
• Directors: Joseph M. Newman
• Writers: Edward G. O'Callaghan, Franklin Coen, Raymond F. Jones
• Producers: William Alland
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: August 22, 2006
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FVQLKW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,056 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #26 in	Movies & TV > Classics > Sci-Fi & Fantasy
  #41 in	Movies & TV > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Aliens

• For more information about "This Island Earth" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A mysterious, pilotless plane carries scientist Rex Reason to a colony of America's best and brightest minds. They've been kidnapped by a dying alien race, the Metalunians, to repair their defense shield before their enemies destroy their world completely, toiling under their spying eyes and futuristic security cameras (two-way TVs that dominate every room). Jeff Morrow, under a raised forehead, bronze tan, and snow-white hair, philosophizes as Exeter, the thoughtful Metalunian torn between his duty and his morals as he forces the plucky humans to labor in his race's defense. The moody mystery of the first half turns to pure pulp adventure when the humans are transported across the galaxy to the battle-scarred world of Metaluna, under the threatening watch of a monstrous bug-eyed monster with a giant brain for a head and massive claws for hands. There's a genuine sense of wonder to Joseph Newman's intergalactic adventure, one of the most ambitious science fiction films of the 1950s. The story is simple space opera, but the futuristic designs of glass and metal, the marvelous alien makeup, and grandstanding special effects invest the film with a Technicolor splendor. Faith Domergue co-stars as a nuclear physicist and Gilligan's Island's Russell Johnson makes his first professorial appearance as a scientist. Science fiction auteur Jack Arnold was an unbilled codirector. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

Prepare to blast off from planet Earth in one of the most popular classic sci-fi films of all time! When atomic scientist Dr. Meacham (Rex Reason) is chosen to take part in a top-secret research experiment in a remote lab he quickly discovers that he is really involved in an evil scheme by alien Metalunans to take over Earth. After he and the gorgeous Dr. Adams (Faith Domergue) make their escape shortly before the lab explodes they are whisked away in a flying saucer to Metaluna where they are blamed for the destruction. Will interstellar negotiation save the day or will the scientists be forced to take part in a treacherous battle to the death? Featuring incredible special effects that were 2 1/2 years in the making this is one adventure that you have to see to believe!System Requirements:Running Time: 86 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 025192013621 Manufacturer No: 20136

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A 50's Magazine Cover Brought To Life!, December 12, 2001

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: This Island Earth [VHS] (VHS Tape)

THIS ISLAND EARTH is a 1950s science-fiction pulp magazine cover brought to life: clunky spacecraft, battling planets, evil aliens, and screaming heroines in distress. The special effects are 1955 state-of-the-art, and they still hold up very well today, for unlike ultra-realistic computer generated graphics they have a fantasy feel that is very, very entertaining--a sort of "Wizard of Oz goes sci-fi" look that is very appealing to the eye.

As already noted, the story concerns several of earth's best minds who are kidnapped by aliens and ordered to create an endless source of energy for a dying planet. The script is laced with 1950s sexism--one line, for example, is "Don't tell me that as woman you're not curious?"--but this is actually less offensive than it is rather amusing, in keeping with the magazine cover sensibility that pervades the piece. The cast plays with great sincerity: Rex Reason is appropriately heroic, Faith Domergue screams the house down, and the aliens all have high foreheads--excepting, of course, that really evil looking one with claws for hands!

Some humorless-type science-fiction fans won't enjoy it, and if you're not the type to get a kick from period visuals you might want to give this one miss. But for pure 1950s matinee fun, you can't do better than THIS ISLAND EARTH.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Here's something my wife could use in the house. An interociter incorporating an electron sorter.", August 28, 2006

By	cookieman108 "cookieman108®" (Inside the jar...) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Here's an interesting bit of trivia (okay, maybe not so much interesting, but worth noting, at least)...seems the film This Island Earth (1955) was one of the first major science fiction features filmed in Technicolor, a process that actually had been around, in various states, since the early twentieth century. Directed by Joseph M. Newman (The Gunfight at Dodge City, Tarzan, the Ape Man), the film stars Rex Reason (The Creature Walks Among Us), Faith Domergue (It Came from Beneath the Sea, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet), and Jeff Morrow (Kronos, The Giant Claw). Also appearing is Lance Fuller (The She-Creature), Robert Nichols (Giant), and Russell Johnson (Attack of the Crab Monsters), probably best known as `The Professor', from the mid 1960s series "Gilligan's Island".

As the film begins we meet a scientist named Dr. Cal Meacham (Reason), preparing to leave Washington D.C. after attending a conference on atomic energy. Anyway, Cal borrows a jet to fly home (must be nice), and upon arriving, his plane conks out due to some showboating (nice play, Shakespeare), but Cal is saved as a mysterious force takes control and lands the vehicle safely, much to the amazement of Cal and his dopey assistant named Joe (Nichols), who I think is supposed to provide a comedic element for the film, failing miserably I might add. But wait, there's more...shortly after Cal's return he receives a catalog featuring advanced electronic components related to assembling something called an `interocitor', which turns out of be a fancy, schmancy triangular television with some pretty amazing and far out capabilities (actually, it looks a bit like the drive-thru order box at a fast food restaurant, but that's neither here nor there). Once constructed, Cal receives a message from a melon headed, white haired nerdlinger type named Mr. Exeter (Morrow), who invites Cal to join a mysterious brain trust whose purpose appears to be development of new forms of atomic energy. His curiosity piqued, Cal hops a plane (one which he isn't piloting, thankfully), and ends up in a remote location somewhere in Georgia where he hooks up with Exeter (apparently he's dropped the `Mr' routine), Dr. Ruth Adams (Domergue), another scientist named Steve Carlson (Johnson), among others...eventually Cal learns Exeter is not of this Earth (well duh) and his motives for assembling Team Brainiac not as altruistic as originally stated, which leads to Cal and Ruth trying to escape, only to get beamed aboard Exeter's spacecraft (commence the probings), complete with swishy doors, and transported to Exeter's home planet called Metaluna (once you reach Neptune, hang a right and go about three billion miles, look for the Stuckeys and you're there). As far as what happens next you'll just have to watch the film, but I will share this, there's aliens, an honest to goodness flying saucer, ookie mutants with huge brains and oversized claws with a penchant for pinching, killer remote-controlled meteors, some dude named The Monitor (sound ominous, doesn't it?), matte paintings of fantastic alien landscapes, and so on...

I really liked this film a lot...sure, the acting leaves something to be desired (Rex Reason probably could have been replaced with a tree and few would have noticed), but there appeared to be a real sense of ambition towards the presentation of the material. The main strength of this film is the special effects, which, in my opinion, come off pretty well. Certainly compared to today's standards they'll seem hokey, but I'm betting when the film was originally released audiences were amazed and I'll doubt few left the theater feeling like they didn't get their money's worth. The bits I thought really odd were how some of these so called scientists, at least the ones who didn't have their minds `toyed' with, at the Georgia facility seemed so slow on the uptake with regards to figuring out their host was an alien (I would have thought the ginormous cranium a dead giveaway). And then once they did figure it out, no one seemed that surprised or shocked. Honestly, had it been me being abducted and taken a bazillion miles into outer space, ending up on some alien planet I would have been seriously freaking out, but neither Cal nor Ruth really seemed all that upset. Perhaps scientists are made of sturdier stuff than us non-brainy types, of which I consider myself one. As far as the characters there was some promising development early on, but it eventually faded as those introduced fell into homogenous roles (Reason the rugged, masculine hero type, Domergue the attractive screaming mimi in peril, etc.). Morrow's character of Exeter did seem to have the most potential, in terms of his altering certain plans based on his developing an understanding of humans after spending time with them, but this sort of petered out a bit, taking a backseat to the visual aspects present in the film, which is a fairly common pitfall in the genre, especially in today's films, in terms of flashy effects superseding the more substantial elements of the story. All in all you can certainly find plenty of fault with this feature, but I'd suggest viewing the film with a slightly less critical eye, as not to miss all the fun.

The picture, presented in fullscreen (1.33:1), does look really good, despite areas that exhibit some minor signs of age (there weren't any frames missing, but there was some specking here and there). As far as the Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio, I thought it came through very well and had no complaints. There's not much in the way of extras except for an original theatrical trailer and subtitles in English, Spanish, and French. I was a little surprised at the lack of an audio commentary, especially since I've always considered this staple film in the classic science fiction genre, maybe not to the extent of those like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing from Another World (1951), or Forbidden Planet (1956), but one still worthy of attention.

Cookieman108

Incidentally, This Island Earth was given the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment, as it was the flick featured when the show made the leap to the big screen back in 1996.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Ready for DVD, October 31, 1999

By	Icepick "sir-critic" (Castroville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Island Earth (DVD)

This is one of the most entertaining and colorful '50s sci-fi movies. Therefore, I was disappointed that it wasn't prepped for DVD. The disc has all the little light specks and squiggles that are on the VHS release. Worse, many scenes have a washed-out look not present on VHS.