JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentonThe Day The earth Caught Fire (1961)
March 21st 2007 00:42
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
Director:Val Guest
Writer:Wolf Mankowitz
Starring:Leo McKern, Janet Munro, Edward Judd
"Look, just tell me that the static, the monsoon, the compass trouble, and the terrible shows we get on television are all caused by sun-spots, and that the sun-spots are caused by bigger bomb experiments, and I'll leave you in peace." - Peter
Don’t let the title fool you, this may have started out as a B grade British Sci Fi, thanks to classy filmmaking, gripping storytelling and obvious passion for the subject it has gone on to become a classic.
How’s this for a doomsday scenario? In The Day the Earth Caught Fire the Russians and Americans have detonated nuclear devises on test sites in the North and South Pole, pushing the Earth off it’s axis.
The weather slowly becomes erratic, there is an unscheduled eclipse, cyclone’s and other natural disasters begin happening sporadically around the globe.
"I don't care a tinker's damn about this eclipse of the sun as such; the evening papers will cane it, it'll be dead by tomorrow morning. But what I do care about is why there was an eclipse of the sun ten days before it was due. Bill, this is your department." - Jeff
As a world wide heatwave develops the story unfolds through the eyes of three central characters. London newspaper reporters who deduce what is going on and attempt to expose the government cover up before it’s too late.
"When one considers the Moon is 240,000 miles away and the Sun ninety-three million, it is an extraordinary thing that astronomers can tell with such a degree of accuracy what their movements will be many years ahead."- Sir John
John Doe says:
The sort of movie to throw on around midnight when the house is quiet and let your self be absorbed into its celluloid fibre.
The scenes of empty London streets and barren landscape sink in and a minimal score meld an authentic realism. The Haunting atmosphere, stellar script and solid performances make the Day The Earth Caught Fire worthy of revisiting.
Writer/Director Val Guest (When Dinosaurs Ruled The World), best known for his work on the still talked about Quatermass Xperiment really knows how to make stimulating and engrossing think pieces.
Sidestepping the problem of realistic FX in the 1960’s, most of the information about catastophic events is communicated through media updates and conversation. Instead of making this an epic disaster movie Guest opts for a personalised perspective that focuses solely on the plight of the journalists. Their efforts to try and warn the population, resolve past mistakes and possibly collide with love.
Scientifically minded, the smart, often witty script moves along at a swift pace, the dialogue is rich in character and tension, its themes revealing themselves naturally. The same depth and care taken to convince us with viable research is apllied to the human relationships and emotional motivation.
The cinematography is also a starring player, opening in washed out seepier colour to reflect the apocalypse, telling the flash back story in striking black and white.
Edward Judd (First Men on The Moon) plays the central role as the cynical, boozing newsman Peter Stenning. After recently watching Children of Men there are a lot of similarities between Stenning and the Clive Owen role in the film. Both were once believers, who have seen to much of the world and just want to retreat, then are forced to try and save the planet they had long stopped caring about.
Leo McKern (Man For All Seasons, Ladyhawke, The Prisoner) as the encyclopedic Bill Maguire amuses with his flippant line delivery, his pressence is always felt.
Rounding out the three main parts is Janet Munro (Bitter Harvest, Cry Wolf) serving as love interest to Stenning. The frank handling of sex talk is refreshing for the era and probably caused a stir at the time and Munro has no problem convincing in her part and matching the two males opposite her.
An often neglected gem that is a worthy substitute for JD when he has seen the likes of When Worlds Collide and the Day The Earth Stood Still one too many times recently.
The DVD
Transfer: 2:35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen/Dolby Digital 2.0
DVD Cover
Writer:Wolf Mankowitz
Starring:Leo McKern, Janet Munro, Edward Judd
"Look, just tell me that the static, the monsoon, the compass trouble, and the terrible shows we get on television are all caused by sun-spots, and that the sun-spots are caused by bigger bomb experiments, and I'll leave you in peace." - Peter
Don’t let the title fool you, this may have started out as a B grade British Sci Fi, thanks to classy filmmaking, gripping storytelling and obvious passion for the subject it has gone on to become a classic.
How’s this for a doomsday scenario? In The Day the Earth Caught Fire the Russians and Americans have detonated nuclear devises on test sites in the North and South Pole, pushing the Earth off it’s axis.
The weather slowly becomes erratic, there is an unscheduled eclipse, cyclone’s and other natural disasters begin happening sporadically around the globe.
"I don't care a tinker's damn about this eclipse of the sun as such; the evening papers will cane it, it'll be dead by tomorrow morning. But what I do care about is why there was an eclipse of the sun ten days before it was due. Bill, this is your department." - Jeff
As a world wide heatwave develops the story unfolds through the eyes of three central characters. London newspaper reporters who deduce what is going on and attempt to expose the government cover up before it’s too late.
"When one considers the Moon is 240,000 miles away and the Sun ninety-three million, it is an extraordinary thing that astronomers can tell with such a degree of accuracy what their movements will be many years ahead."- Sir John
Is it hot in here or is it just me?
John Doe says:
The sort of movie to throw on around midnight when the house is quiet and let your self be absorbed into its celluloid fibre.
The scenes of empty London streets and barren landscape sink in and a minimal score meld an authentic realism. The Haunting atmosphere, stellar script and solid performances make the Day The Earth Caught Fire worthy of revisiting.
Writer/Director Val Guest (When Dinosaurs Ruled The World), best known for his work on the still talked about Quatermass Xperiment really knows how to make stimulating and engrossing think pieces.
Sidestepping the problem of realistic FX in the 1960’s, most of the information about catastophic events is communicated through media updates and conversation. Instead of making this an epic disaster movie Guest opts for a personalised perspective that focuses solely on the plight of the journalists. Their efforts to try and warn the population, resolve past mistakes and possibly collide with love.
Scientifically minded, the smart, often witty script moves along at a swift pace, the dialogue is rich in character and tension, its themes revealing themselves naturally. The same depth and care taken to convince us with viable research is apllied to the human relationships and emotional motivation.
The cinematography is also a starring player, opening in washed out seepier colour to reflect the apocalypse, telling the flash back story in striking black and white.
Edward Judd (First Men on The Moon) plays the central role as the cynical, boozing newsman Peter Stenning. After recently watching Children of Men there are a lot of similarities between Stenning and the Clive Owen role in the film. Both were once believers, who have seen to much of the world and just want to retreat, then are forced to try and save the planet they had long stopped caring about.
Leo McKern (Man For All Seasons, Ladyhawke, The Prisoner) as the encyclopedic Bill Maguire amuses with his flippant line delivery, his pressence is always felt.
Rounding out the three main parts is Janet Munro (Bitter Harvest, Cry Wolf) serving as love interest to Stenning. The frank handling of sex talk is refreshing for the era and probably caused a stir at the time and Munro has no problem convincing in her part and matching the two males opposite her.
An often neglected gem that is a worthy substitute for JD when he has seen the likes of When Worlds Collide and the Day The Earth Stood Still one too many times recently.
The DVD
Transfer: 2:35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen/Dolby Digital 2.0
| 51 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Comment by The Duke
The Day The Earth Caught Fire is part of that great tradition of "Men, you've fucked this planet for too long...now it's time to have the whale cock of revenge right up your collective asses".
You can keep On The Beach, both versions of The Thing and well, the only thing going for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the original...not that Canadian Ham remake with Donald "Kill him Roger" Sutherland) was the fact that it was even more rabidly Anti-Russian (Yes, fuck Fydor Dostevesky, Andrei Solzhenitsyn. Ivan Pavlov and especially Konstantin Konstantinov) than that Godless facile blancmange that is Big Jim McClain, which has the uncommon distinction of being the only film by the other Duke (Marion Morrison) that I cannot finish watching...and I've seen The Quiet Man.
Anyway, English "Scientists as Abitraitors of their Own Destruction" sci-fi rules....Day The Earth Caught Fire is absolutely no exception.