NipkowDisc Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 today at three thirty. always a good one for me. a bad film on the whole but quite watchable because of good acting from michael caine, henry fonda and richard widmark. the always inventive irwin allen comes up with nifty ways to kill celebs on film. he has bees sting jose ferrer and richard chamberlain and then blows them up along with a whole nuclear plant. not satisfied with that, he has a train derail with hordes of unfortunates aboard like fred macmurray, olivia de haviland and ben johnson. good ol' irwy! he shoulda ran for prez on a platform of bee prevention. I got the goldsmith score on cd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogie56 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 today at three thirty. always a good one for me. a bad film on the whole but quite watchable because of good acting from michael caine, henry fonda and richard widmark. the always inventive irwin allen comes up with nifty ways to kill celebs on film. he has bees sting jose ferrer and richard chamberlain and then blows them up along with a whole nuclear plant. not satisfied with that, he has a train derail with hordes of unfortunates aboard like fred macmurray, olivia de haviland and ben johnson. good ol' irwy! he shoulda ran for prez on a platform of bee prevention. I got the goldsmith score on cd. Thanks for explaining the entire plot. I can skip it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Thanks for explaining the entire plot. I can skip it now. but half the fun is watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Actually ND, I always preferred this version of this story myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 today at three thirty. always a good one for me. a bad film on the whole but quite watchable because of good acting from michael caine, henry fonda and richard widmark. the always inventive irwin allen comes up with nifty ways to kill celebs on film. he has bees sting jose ferrer and richard chamberlain and then blows them up along with a whole nuclear plant. not satisfied with that, he has a train derail with hordes of unfortunates aboard like fred macmurray, olivia de haviland and ben johnson. good ol' irwy! he shoulda ran for prez on a platform of bee prevention. I got the goldsmith score on cd. Masha's worst nightmare? The movie fed on the fear on the spread of the Africanized killer bees. I got the soundtrack LP for (believe it or not) for .50 when the movie was first released. When it appeared in my local downtown theatre, I told the manager about the score and was interested in having it. He gave me a promotional offer directed toward the theatre management itself. I only had to mail it in along with the pocket change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Thanks for explaining the entire plot. I can skip it now. Are you sure? Seeing Fred and Olivia being stung 1,000 times is worth a look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I read the novel by Arthur Herzog before the movie came out. The novel is great! A real page turner - couldn't put it down. So, when the movie disappointed, I wasn't surprised at all. Always happens when I read the book first - and in this case, the movie was way inferior to the novel. Where the novel had been really interesting - with a lot of information about bees and their culture - and really scary as well, the movie just came across as ridiculous. Something had gotten seriously lost in the translation. Nevertheless, I'm gonna be recording it today. Michael Caine is one of my favorite actors of all time - even if he did do a whole bunch of paycheck movies along the way. I can imagine maybe liking it more now. Interestingly, the dvd version of the movie runs nearly 40 minutes longer than the theatrical version. Comments I've read are conflicting about which version is better - some say the longer cut is more dramatic and like it better; some say Allen's theatrical cut at 116 minutes is better because it's tighter. But, as the dvd has an awfully big price attached to it, I probably won't be able to decide for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Gorman Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I've noted the earlier VHS releases of 'THE SWARM' were the theatrical version with the 116-minute run time and then sometime in the mid-'90s I believe the 156-minute Extended Cut' came out on VHS and DVD. > I don't know if the 116-minute edition ever came out on DVD . . .? (It seems there's also 2 versions available on VHS/DVD-R of Irwin Allen's 1980 "throw-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" disaster movie WHEN TIME RAN OUT . . .). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr6666 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 wow, just who ISN'T in this turkey.....? Michael Caine as Dr. Bradford Crane Katharine Ross as Helena Anderson Richard Widmark as General Thaddeus Slater Richard Chamberlain as Dr. Hubbard Olivia de Havilland as Maureen Schuester Ben Johnson as Felix Austin Lee Grant as Anne MacGregor Jose Ferrer as Dr. Andrews Patty Duke as Rita Slim Pickens as Jud Hawkins Bradford Dillman as Major Baker Fred MacMurray as Clarence Tuttle Henry Fonda as Dr. Walter Krim Cameron Mitchell as General Thompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 since I recorded this today on my vcr ( an inexpensive low-cost alternative to dvr ) plus I got tons and tons of vhs tapes even some unopened plus I have two vcrs I grabbed from a trash depot. later on I'll watch it and see what the running time is. something to watch later after the eleven o'clock news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 wow, just who ISN'T in this turkey.....? Michael Caine as Dr. Bradford Crane Katharine Ross as Helena Anderson Richard Widmark as General Thaddeus Slater Richard Chamberlain as Dr. Hubbard Olivia de Havilland as Maureen Schuester Ben Johnson as Felix Austin Lee Grant as Anne MacGregor Jose Ferrer as Dr. Andrews Patty Duke as Rita Slim Pickens as Jud Hawkins Bradford Dillman as Major Baker Fred MacMurray as Clarence Tuttle Henry Fonda as Dr. Walter Krim Cameron Mitchell as General Thompson Sheila Mathews-Allen?... YA-HOOOO! YA-HOOO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 What ever happened to DRACULA (1931) and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)?? Not in color? The kids don't like color? Kids don't pay cable bills.... their older parents do. Older people pay satellite and cable bills. Kids do not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 What ever happened to DRACULA (1931) and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)?? Seen 'em. About 25 times. Only seen 'The Swarm' once. I can do once more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 What ever happened to DRACULA (1931) and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)?? Not in color? The kids don't like color? Kids don't pay cable bills.... their older parents do. Older people pay satellite and cable bills. Kids do not. The majority of the movies TCM shows are b&w films. This is true even during Oscar month (plus a few days), when TCM does show more post Production code movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 wow, just who ISN'T in this turkey.....? Michael Caine as Dr. Bradford Crane Katharine Ross as Helena Anderson Richard Widmark as General Thaddeus Slater Richard Chamberlain as Dr. Hubbard Olivia de Havilland as Maureen Schuester Ben Johnson as Felix Austin Lee Grant as Anne MacGregor Jose Ferrer as Dr. Andrews Patty Duke as Rita Slim Pickens as Jud Hawkins Bradford Dillman as Major Baker Fred MacMurray as Clarence Tuttle Henry Fonda as Dr. Walter Krim Cameron Mitchell as General Thompson What? No Charlton Heston?? What a great opportunity it'd have been to see him grab the back of his neck and growl "you damn dirty bees!" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Sheila Mathews-Allen?... YA-HOOOO! YA-HOOO! "Kill da wabbit! Kill da WABBIT!" (...sorry...couldn't fit "bees" into this, only wabbits) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 This was my first time to ever watch THE SWARM, and it was truly horrible, but my God, what a cast! Though many of them were pretty much wasted. Jose Ferrer gets about two minutes; Richard Chamberlain's part was surprisingly small, and the whole Olivia DeHavilland-Ben Johnson-Fred MacMurray love triangle gets summarily dismissed from the film via train wreck. Still, sometimes I enjoy watching terrible movies, like THE OSCAR, which is being discussed on another thread. I particularly like terrible movies with an overloaded, star-studded cast, and Irwin Allen gave us a number of those. I wouldn't mind seeing TCM devoting its Friday Night Spotlight one month to the various disaster flicks of the '70s that are loaded down with stars from the studio era who appear at a younger age regularly on TCM. Just think: we could have AIRPORT and any or all of its sequels, THE TOWERING INFERNO, THE SWARM, HURRICANE, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, EARTHQUAKE and any others I'm forgetting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I liked the disclaimer at the end about these being African killer bees, and not good, honest American honeybees. I couldn't figure if Irwin Allen meant that disclaimer seriously, or as a joke to see who's reading the credits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Oh, and I just have to mention a couple of things that made me laugh. The command at the end for the tankers to "spread their oil out into the Gulf of Mexico". Just think, in this movie, BP could have been the heroes! And Richard Widmark refusing to ever follow up the word "African" with "bees", hence he's always saying something like, "We've got to find a way to kill those Africans!" and "The Africans are out of control!" If you take those remarks out of context or start watching the movie in the middle maybe and have no idea what he's talking about, it seems horribly racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 and any others I'm forgetting. The Cassandra Crossing is another hoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 and any others I'm forgetting. City on Fire (1979) I don't care about any of the others - I just wanna see that deliciously eerie disaster movie one more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Gorman Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Here's a few other Angry Bee movies I can think of; maybe TCM will air these at some time if they haven't already! BEES, The (1978) Color/83 mins. Here's a direct quote from the 1990 edition of Leonard Maltin's Video Guide: "After THE SWARM, if you sincerely want to see this low-budget disaster film about killer bees, you get what you deserve. Filmed in Mexico." Leonard's Rating: *½ (a half-star above 'BOMB'). Starring Angel Tompkins, John Saxon, Claudio Brook, John Carradine, Alicia Encinias. DEADLY BEES, The (1967-UK) This one's fun. Dig the special effects, too! SAVAGE BEES, The (1976-Tv movie) TERROR OUT OF THE SKY (1978-Tv movie) (aka: 'The Savage Bees, Part 2') Beeeeeeeeeeees! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Gorman Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Don't forget y'all, there's TV TERROR from Irwin Allen out there, too . . . and it's waiting to be foisted upon viewers! FLOOD! (1976) FIRE! (1977) CAVE-IN! (1983) Filmed in 1979 NIGHT THE BRIDGE FELL DOWN, The (1983) Filmed in 1980 "FLOOD!" and "FIRE!" were both made available on VHS in 1986 (along with Irwin's 1980 theatrical disaster movie "WHEN TIME RAN OUT . . . "), but "CAVE-IN" wasn't released to homevideo viewers until Warner Archives made it available to purchase via DVD-R a few years ago. Same with "THE NIGHT THE BRIDGE FELL DOWN"; a DVD-R only release. ----------------------------- Also > Remember Michael Caine's 3 other "just for the money" movies from that time period: BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1979) ISLAND, The (1980) HAND, The (1981) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Also > Remember Michael Caine's 3 other "just for the money" movies from that time period: BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1979) ISLAND, The (1980) HAND, The (1981) I liked 'The Island'. Pretty good adventure movie. The all-time nadir for him has to be 'Jaws: The Revenge'. Most pay-checked of all his paycheck movies. Just abysmal, that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Probably nothing better sums up Michael Caine's work ethic than this anecdote: when he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, he was unable to attend the ceremony because he was in Australia shooting JAWS 4! A ha ha ha ha. I think he even made a joke about it when he won again for THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (this time, he showed up). He's been in some great movies, but he's certainly been an "anything for a paycheck" guy, at least during portions of his career. Heck, he still shows up frequently in movies. I just saw him in KINGSMEN, and he was in INTERSTELLAR not long before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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