Creature Features revisited – Giant Robots

Creature Features revisited – Giant Robots

A look back at the golden age of sci-fi, the 1950‘s. Our subject today…Giant Robots
One would think and associate the 1950’s sci-fi age with giant robots. Surprisingly there are very few giant robots in film during this time period. Here are my top picks:

Kronos (1957)
Ya’ know, leaving the terrible pseudo-science and phony looking flying saucer aside, this film takes an hour to really get to its namesake. The ‘robot’ is the weirdest looking thing, rectangular metal blocks stacked on columns. And forget about its means of locomotion, even at seven years old (the first time I saw the film) I knew that those alternate pumping pistons would not be an effective mode of transportation. So, what do I like about it? It’s massive, it shoots lightning from its antennae, and it soaks up all the power from a nuclear blast to redistribute it in a calculated path of destruction (I’m really stretching it here). Besides, one of the scientists was played by George O’Hanlon who later became voice of George Jetson (The Jetson’s cartoon). The other scientist was played by Jeff Morrow.

The Colossus of New York (1958)
The Colossus of NY was directed by Eugène Lourié, a name that should be much more famous in the sci-fi community than it is. Ross Martin stars as Jeremy, a scientist and humanitarian, who is killed in a car crash on the night he was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. His Father transplants Jeremy’s brain into a 12 foot tall robot. This reborn version of Jeremy is kept in seclusion and away from his wife and child, who are picking up the pieces of their life after his death. From the sealed off lab he works with his father and his assistant to solve the problems of the world. But, the lack of contact with his family and a suspicion that his partner is secretly seeing his wife drive him mad. He decides the world is not decent enough to be saved by his work, so they should die by his work. He sets out on a rampage in NYC to attack a convention honoring the scientific community. In the end it is only the love for his son, who is also at the convention, that allows him to be destroyed before causing any further damage. The only score in the film is the piano composition of Van Cleave (who also did music for White Christmas, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and episodes of the Twilight Zone) The film is mostly a sad melodrama until the short-lived Robot-attack at the conclusion of the film. But it is worth seeing for sci-fi fans of this era.

The Mysterians (1957)
Aliens land in Japan and their giant spacecraft burrows into the ground. They have two simple requests in their alien ultimatum. “We want two acres of land, and all of your women!” When the leaders of earth say, “No” (everyone except Jack Benny, that is) the Mysterians release the Giant Robot, Mogera. He shoots radioactive rays from his eyes and stomps small towns. Flying Saucers come down from space and zap any military attempt at combating the alien takeover. However, the Japanese military has been working on a secret weapon to combat the onslaught of Robot and Saucers, thus, the first appearance of the Maser Cannon is seen in a Toho film. The Maser Cannon shoots a laser beam that looks like lightning and would be put to combat in many future Toho films releases. By far the best giant robot film of the era.

Target Earth (1954)
A young woman, Vicki, (Virginia Grey), wakes up to find the city of Chicago abandoned. The film does a great job at showing her running through the deserted city streets, and portraying her panic, which had to be an influence on the opening of 28 Days Later. She eventually stumbles upon three more people who were down and out and missed the evacuation. The alien invasion consists of robot sentinels roaming the city and zapping anything that moves. Squirrels? Gone. Pigeons? Gone. People? Zap! Zap! Extra crispy. The robots are only 8 to 10 feet tall so I don’t know if they should be considered giant, but like I said, there wasn’t nearly as many films in this category to choose from as I would have thought. This film is heavy on drama but seriously lacking in robot combat. The robots are only seen in a few scenes. They shoot an electric ray from their TV screen faces and a couple of people disappear. The robots are decent looking and the story is really well written, so I‘d give it a thumbs up, anyway. Also stars, Richard Denning.

Honorable mention:

Of course, we got GORT from The Day the Earth Stood Still, but he only zapped a few things then stood immobile for most of the movie. Besides, I’m going to feature this film in my Alien Ultimatums list in the future…

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The Remake Scoreboard / Classic Sci-fi Films

The Remake Scoreboard – Horror movie remakes – the good and bad list. Thumbs up or thumbs down and a few sentences why.
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Remakes: Classic Sci-fi films

War of the Worlds (remake – 2005)
(original 1953)

Only Steven Spielberg could remake this 50’s sci-fi classic and do it justice. Great attention to detail was used in making this film and there is not one moment while I watched that I thought, this looks like CGI. The initial rise from the underground of the first tripod craft was amazing, as well as the Hudson River, Ferry Crossing scene. There was so much I liked about this film, from the look of the crafts, which were closer to the descriptions given in H.G. Wells’ original story, to the sound the tripods made, a sort of battle cry, inducing us humans to run for cover. This is my favorite sci-fi movie since 2000. I own it and watch it often!

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The Blob (remake – 1988)
(original 1958)

This is a very good remake with likable characters played by Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith. The film also featured some great special FX, thankfully made before the days of CGI, which portray the agile and quick moving amoeba-like creature, swallowing and digesting its human prey. Great story, excellently paced, a remake worth seeing.

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The Day the Earth Stood Still (remake – 2008)
(original 1951)

This is a near faithful remake in color. That is not necessarily a good thing, the black and white of the original just made everything seem more menacing. The film starts off well enough with interesting events taking place and some great imagery. About a third of the way through, it becomes a chore to watch as the pacing gets bogged down in a tangle of social issues that seem unnecessary. Do yourself a favor, just stick with the original!

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Planet of the Apes (remake – 2001)
(original 1968)

Firstly, there is no touching Charlton Heston’s pinnacle performance as ‘Taylor’ in the original 1968, mind-bomb. The original was laced with a myriad of allegory and thought-provoking social issues. The final scene with the half-submerged, Statue of Liberty is one of the great moments in all film history. The new one had some great looking apes but not much else.

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Godzilla (remake – 1999)
(original 1956)

Most fans were not happy with Roland Emmerich’s version of the Iguana-inspired Godzilla. However, there were a couple of things I did like about the film. Godzilla’s first landfall in NYC at the South-Street Seaport and subsequent march through the NYC streets was impressive, mostly because it was filmed from street level, a person’s POV looking upward, rather than from straight-on as most ‘Zilla films are shot. I also liked the Helicopter chase scene as the fast moving Godzilla dodged and darted missiles and gunfire. But the film is also riddled with Hollywood hokey-ness that makes it difficult to watch. The car chase scene was ridiculous and the hundreds of eggs in MSG were too far-fetched to be believable. You would be much better off, sticking to the original.

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