Farewell to the King - 5 stars out of 5 stars

One fabulous movie !!! OK it's not Lawrence of Arabia but its a movie based on a novel by Pierre Schoendoerffer so we know it's fiction and nothing more.Ah but what fiction !!
Director:John Milius crafts a fine tale that makes you think as I once heard somewhere else,IF that story isn't true it should have been (film - the cowboys)There was a time Nick Nolte could really act and this film released in 1989 proves it.At  115 minutes I wanted MORE.There is NOTHING not to like about this film.The story of a third party being caught up in the dispute of others is timeless and when that dispute is war and the third party are savages or really just not civilized in the western sense,they only collect heads and live in the jungle,rather than live in comfort based on the exploitation of others,like colonial powers involved in such war,that you have a set up for a Don Quixote as played by Nolte. So don't look for Lawrence but rather a violent but principled Sancho Panza and you will enjoy the film.British,Japanese and Borneo as a battleground works as well as any other setting from WW11 and less done to boot.Fine acting by Nigel Havers  as a Lawrence type,Capt. Fairbourne really complements Nolte as this american deserter from Corregidor survivors after being beached on Borneo and seeing the soldiers he escaped with die.He then survives in the jungle only to be captured by headhunters,and here's the romance.is loved by a native and he thus learns there way and becomes "free"to lead his "comanches"as KING !!!Great stuff if not for that damned old war !!!
The darker issue of re-colonizing after the war is also delved into although not as much as one might wish.Do yourself a favor and see it,for they really don't make um like this anymore. Favorite line after Fairbourne and a "black" african sergeant major are captured by the headhunters and brought before Nolte,Fairbourne blurts,thank GOD he's as white as us. Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXwdnHQ86qk

Windtalkers - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

After seeing "Red Tails"it was time to revisit this release from 2002 running a little long at 134 minutes.Took 1 and 1/2 stars off for that and cop-ing out to mix in a story for Nick Cage that takes over the film at times and lessens the impact of what it should have been, telling the story of Navajo Marines who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher. The true story of the heroics of native Americans is as little known as the Black American in that distant war and as the survivors are dying of old age,its a tale that should be documented before its lost forever.This film is a WEAK  first attempt and one can only hope someone like Spielberg or Lucas will honor their memory before its lost forever.
On the surface the film has enough rousing action to entertain and does attempt to tell the story of the code the Japs couldn't break thanks to the Navajo.Still there is only the tease at the racism of the day as Cage is ordered to protect the code even it that means killing his Navajo windtalker rather than let the Japs take him prisoner. Imagine giving a marine such a order today !!! Ever hear of "Fragging"?  Still you should see it if only to known there was more to native americans involvement than the tragic story of "Drunken Ira Hayes "that I trust you already know.Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOmH0_F8_XI

Red Tails - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Lucas gives his action take onWW11 finally after Spielberg and it's worth the wait.The best dog fights i've seen yet including against JETS near the close of the war.Ok,it's full of clichés and stories we've seen before BUT this time it's about the finally getting some credit ,all black Tuskegee squadron that never lost a bomber they were escorting to enemy fighters.Historically this movie may be somewhat exaggerated but what war movie isn't?
The important thing is the true relevance of this unit  at the time,in a segregated military as well as general society.So if it's not 100 percent accurate so what?
I enjoyed it and only took 1 star off because I feel they held back for the box office.You could tell Spike Lee didn't make this film but Lucas did.Released in 2012 its a might long at 125 minutes.Still I hope for more down the road.The acting was stellar with a grade "A" mostly black cast.Special props to David Oyelowo as Joe 'Lightning' Little,a brash role of a angry black man who fights with the best and loves a white woman and well you just know he's not gonna make it.Sad,but you need that in any war movie and he delivered.
Do your self a favor and see it if war movies are your thing.The best I've seen in quite awhile.Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw

Legends of the Fall - 3 stars out of 5 stars

Far out tale only made believable by the fine acting of Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins.Common a wombed"doing 3 brothers"is in itself quite "out there"but you almost believe it when its done as well as these actors do it.2 stars off for the outlandish premise but still watchable for the feel and scope of a WW1 backdrop that makes little stories seem so,well,little.Released in 1994 and running a little long at 133 minutes,watch it once at least for the period moment.Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary below.


Set in the Rocky Mountains of Montana in the early 1900s, this is a tale of love, betrayal, and brotherhood. After being discharged, Colonel Ludlow decides to raise his three sons in the wilds of Montana, where they can grow up away from the government and society he has learned to despise. The three brothers mature and seem to have an unbreakable bond, until Susanna enters their lives. When Samuel, the youngest of the three, returns from college he brings with him his beautiful fiancée, Susanna. The eldest son, Alfred, soon finds himself in love with his brother's fiancée, and things get worse when he discovers a growing passion between Susanna and Tristan. Colonel Ludlow's favorite son, Tristan is willful and as wild as the mountains. As the brothers set out to fight a war in Europe, suspicion and jealousy threatens to tear apart their once indestructible bond. Written by saunders11@yahoo.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocAeBZdSDWg

On the Beach ( 1959 ) - 4 stars out of 5 stars

I had to read the book written by Nevil Shute back in HS and this first film version released  in 1959 and running a little long at 134 minutes was the first film by director Stanley Kramer I ever saw.The only issues today might be black and white filmed and a little long and slightly dated.Thus 1 star off.This might be the first REAL post apocalyptic  film ever made.A truly scary and eventual story of the impending death of the survivors of a nuclear exchange who try to live a "normal"life down under in Australia while the radiation slowly approaches to eventually kill them as well.Unlike the fantasy films of today with vast wastelands and comic almost old west good and bad guys trying to live in the new world,this is instead a facade of normalcy hiding the slow inexorable march to death by radiation of untouched survivors of a nuclear war.Grade "A" cast and acting just heighten the eventual doom.Thats why we had to read it back in the day to avoid such a war were the dead of the exchange were the lucky ones.The trailer is actually the opening scene with the acting credits and that fab aussie song Waltzing Matilda,follows the pix.Depressing but still possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzEWpKKOZs

Predator - 5 stars out of 5 stars

Next to "The Terminator"the best work Arnold Schwarzenegger has done to date.Released in 1987 and running 107 minutes this film spawned a few sequels and tie in sort of films but none with Arnold or nearly as well done.A good supporting cast however all killed,round out this fun sci-fi film of a special ops team running into "hunters"from outer space .Scary idea !!!!You got to love ex wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura as Blain,a member of the team. As I stated,a special ops team is on a mission in central america BUT so is a hunter from space,what happens when the run into each other is the whole story,flimsy but bloody well done and a pure rush.Must see for sci-fi,war,and Arnold fans.Trailer URL below the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrDsvVKY_d4

The Poseidon Adventure ( 1972 ) 5 stars out of 5 stars

It seems a good time to review the original movie from 1972 running 117 minutes in light of the cruse ship accident off the coast of Italy these days.Perfect disaster film in all ways.I do mean disaster.Picture a luxury line turned upside down by a rouge wave trapping a few"lucky"survivors who have to make it topside which WAS the bottom before.Small idea of the task in store.You have to care about the people in these films because who will live and who will die is the essence of your emotional involvement and this film delivers because of a "A"list cast and great writing.Leslie Nielsen as The Captain is killed off early in this film but his serious acting in the brief time shows why he was cast in the later comic classic film"Airplane".The rest of the cast yields a few surprises of who lives but the story is of heroism and sacrifice and redemption against all odds and you will be moved.A must see for all "disaster"film junkies.Trailer URL follows the pix.To his credit the great comic Red Buttons playing Martin shows again the skill of these actors.He was my favorite in this film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd03qev59Jo

Underworld - 3 stars out of 5 stars

Very interesting film.I had to take 2 stars off because it really made little sense till the second hour of the film and then only if you accept there will be sequels.So much graphic violence it becomes almost comic at times.Still the story of Vamps vs Wolves is fun ( see the twilight series of films) In this case we have my favorite bad ass actress Kate Beckinsale as Selene a  Vamp warrior who hunts and tracks Wolves or as this film calls them Lycan's,to kill them in a 1000 year old ongoing war.Details are confused till the second half and then takes on a almost modern story of slaves and honor killings.Reminded me of the troubled middle east in many ways.If your a real die hard vamp or wolf fan you should check it out or if you like badd ass women warriors in tight black leather than YES.Fine top notch cast as well.Released in 2003 and runs long at 212 minutes,I will check out the 3 more films in this series though this most likely will be the best as the first history tell us.Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary below.

Selene, a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a werewolf who longs for the war to end.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMYyhBtQ1PU

The King's Speech - 4 stars out of 5 stars

I wanted to give this film my top rating of 5 stars but I had to take 1 star off because we never really get to explore the "back"story of the King's stutter issue.It's only hinted that it dates back to childhood family tough love issues.Also I hate "talky"play like movies as this is.Those 2 issues aside,it's a fabulous film.The King's stutter issue is quite important in the context of the turmoil surrounding him at the time he ascends to the throne as King of England.War with Germany had arrived in 1939 and he must give a speech to the people to fortify their resolve.As he states,he has no power to form a government nor lead a army yet he must speak to the people as their symbol of morality yet he can not speak !!!
The film covers roughly 1934 to 1939 as the future King realizes he must correct his speech issues.Along the way his father the King dies and then his older brother who becomes King abdicates to marry a divorced american commoner.Heavy issues with WW11 on the horizon.
The acting is fabulous by both Colin Firth as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue a aussie actor who also teaches speech since he first helped WW1 shell shock victims.The rest of the cast is also fine.This by the way was the father of the Queen of England who is portrayed as a young girl by Freya Wilson in a minor role.
The sessions between the 2 are quite interesting considering one is a King and the other is nothing as the King in anger once tells him.If it really happened the way portrays,the Aussie was truly ahead of the curve and the King truly enlightened for the cursing and humiliation both go through is not regal at all.
Maybe I'm in love with all things England again after watching Downton Abbey?
Still released in 2010 and running 118 minutes its well worth the time and 4 Oscars it won.
Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI4D6dyp_o

Bad Teacher - 3 stars out of 5 stars

OK it's insulting,vulgar,nasty and totally disrespectful to teachers.Wake up,it's humor !!!
I took 2 stars off because of the drug theme acceptance and no real punishment for the bad teacher.Sheez ,she becomes a guidance councilor at the end !!
Still worth a view for always watchable Cameron Diaz as the bad teacher,a getting better each film he makes,Justin Timberlake as the object of her desire and a very understated but well played role by Jason Segel as the teacher who likes her and finally a pleasant surprise role by Lucy Punch as a good but obsessive  teacher herself.Released in 2011 and running only 92 minutes,I did laugh even though I probably shouldn't have.I recommend 1 viewing.Trailer URL follows the pic and a IMDB summary below.By the way the kids in the movie ROCK.

A comedy centered around a foul-mouthed, junior high teacher who, after being dumped by her sugar daddy, begins to woo a colleague -- a move that pits her against a well-loved teacher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VihlsPKMh4U

Fair Game ( 2010) - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

While I'm not big on talky pixs which are little more than filmed plays,this was a fairly interesting take on one of the more distasteful White House scandals in the last 20 or so years.
For those of you above such shallow stories we are referring to the Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts ) affair and its NOT sexual,it's far more insidious.Ms Plame is the wife of former Ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn ) whose identity as a covert CIA agent was released to discredit her husbands claim that the White House lied about certain intel leading to the invasion or Iraq.While the whole story may never truly be known and I'm surprised the real Wilson's are still alive,it makes for a VERY interesting spin on what MAY have happened. Good acting and a topical story makes for a better film that all the print stories about the affair.Released in 2010 and running 108 minutes,I took 1 and 1/2 stars off because it is so talky and we will never really know how true the back story really is.Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary below

Plame's status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq. Written by anonymous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWzhwRJbcJY

Downton Abbey - 5 stars out of 5 stars

So far only 2 seasons have made it to PBS TV in the US( check your local listings) of this wonderful English upper-class turn of the century drama that no one does better than the Brits.I have only reviewed 3 TV series before and they were all completed so this is a first as it's still on going.Even though I do movies,in the rare case of a special TV show I have done a review.So for the 4th time,here goes.
It's always been fascinating to watch royalty thats why we all love the Royal family even  today.Back in the early 1900's there were a whole lot of aristocrats copping with a changing world complicated by the war to end all wars and a changing of the class system amongst the turmoils of the day including the "Irish problem"motorcars,telephones and politics of the preliterate to name but a few.This series follows one such family with their own issues of fidelity,money and personnel honor as well as a large service staff with much the same issues.Although both groups are separated by standing,they share the same devotion to the "house"they serve,Downton Abby.We experience death,betrayal,infidelity and loyalty and honor as only a upper-class can extend and a working class can understand.
Lord Crawley hires a ex military commoner who served with him in Africa even though he might not be able to handle the work a demanding staff entails.
A daughter who is enchanted by a chauffeur.
Another daughter who may marry for money but loves another ( it's complicated)
Another daughter who foils her sibling at every opportunity.
And thats not even the staff !!!
 The cast for the most part is not well known here in the US but you will recognize a few.
Ah but the setting is truly splendid with nothing like it here .
Yet all the time the shadow of the war covers 3 from the abbey by direct service and everyone else as the abbey becomes a convalescent  stop for returning wounded officers.
There is NOTHING not to love about this series.Do yourself a favor and check it out.
PBS can show you some past episodes online.There is probably other sites on the internet as well.It plays sunday nights on my local PBS TV area station.


Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, the drama centers on the Crawley family and their servants.

Lord Crawley sees his family heritage, especially the grand country home Downton Abbey, as his mission in life. The death of his heir aboard the Titanic means distant cousin Matthew Crawley, a Manchester lawyer, suddenly is next in line and accepts moving onto the vast estate with his even more modernist, socially engaged mother, who clashes with his lordship's domineering, conservative ma the dowager. Marrying off the daughters is another concern. Meanwhile the butler presides over a staff which serves the family but also lead most of their entire lives in the servants quarters, intriguing amongst themselves. Written by KGF Vissers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABo_u9P_3wQ

War Horse - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Not a bad film but kinda long and improbable thus 1 and 1/2 stars off as well as using the"War horse"like a "Babel"sort of link between various peoples stories within the WW1 years.Still the film released in 2011 and running 146 minutes shows again how director
Steven Spielberg can manipulate any of us to at least one tear.For me the real value of the film is the hope people will again investigate WW1. We owe to the souls who lived and died during it.Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary is below.I highly recommend for the historical value.

Dartmoor,1914: To his wife's dismay farmer Narracott buys a thoroughbred horse rather than a plough animal but his teenaged son Albert trains the horse and calls him Joey,the two becoming inseparable. When his harvest fails the farmer has to sell Joey to the British cavalry and he is shipped to France where,after a disastrous offensive he is captured by the Germans and changes hands twice more before he is found,caught in the barbed wire in No Man's Land four years later and freed,due to a bizarre truce. He is returned behind British lines where Albert,now a private,has been temporarily blinded by gas but still recognises his beloved Joey. However as the Armistice is declared Joey is set to be auctioned off. After all they have been through will Albert and Joey return home together? Written by don @ minifie-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APrpsM3VOAI

Pan's Labyrinth - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

One of the strongest and toughest films to watch I've ever scene.It's far more than what you see on the screen,yet that in itself, is at best,memorably implanted to haunt you forever.I can't really explain it as I was never a girl or abused or had a rough life,yet it's as if I understand fully.Released in 2006 and running 106 minutes,it shows the power of other than Hollywood to move us.In this case,Mexico about Spain and that terrible brutal Civil War we often forget for many reasons,yet is serves as a backdrop for this haunting tail of helplessness brought on by madness,brought on by the need to escape the absurdness of a brutal exsistance.Trailer URL follows pix and a IMDB summary is below but it really can't be explained,rather it must be experienced.I took 1/2 star off because at times the lack of hollywood expertise show.Still you'll never forget it if you see it. 


In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again. Written by Tim 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYiSlkvRuw

The 13th Warrior - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1999 and running 102 minutes,this is a interesting idea of a banished arab and norseman warriors joining forces to defeat a a unknown enemy.I took 1 and 1/2 stars stars off for some excess violence and under utilizing the great Omar Sharif as Melchisidek .    Antonio Banderas as Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan  shows the action talent that would later be seen in more films broadening his horizons from just romantic roles.For me the beginning of mix and match allies joining forces to fight a common enemy type of sword and sorcery sub genre of films.WHEW !!!Anyway trailer URL follows pix and a IMDB summary below.Nasty but dirty pleasure film !!


In AD 922, an important emissary who is banished from his homeland. The nomadic outcast comes across a band of Norse warriors who coerce him into joining them when they are summoned to fight mysterious creatures legendary for consuming every living thing in their path. Eventually surrounded by the frightening and ferocious foe, Ibn must conquer his personal fears and help battle the illusive invaders--who emerge out of the shroud of fog in the black of the night. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRiBk9g1qRw

Trading Places - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1983 and running 116 minutes this is VERY funny film if you suspend a little belief .That is relatively easy considering the excellent cast starting with both Eddie Murphy, and Dan Aykroyd as two guys who are tricked into switching places at the whim of two old bored rich guys played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche.I only took 1 star off for the wild idea you have to accept.That said,its as funny as can be as the dialog and acting is fabulous.Lines like "you guys sound like a couple of bookies to me",and if I remember right,the best way to get back at rich people are to make them poor,run throughout.Must see,IMDB summary below and trailer follows pix.

Louis Winthorpe is a businessman who works for commodities brokerage firm of Duke and Duke owned by the brothers Mortimer and Randolph Duke. Now they bicker over the most trivial of matters and what they are bickering about is whether it's a person's environment or heredity that determines how well they will do in life. When Winthorpe bumps into Billy Ray Valentine, a street hustler and assumes he is trying to rob him, he has him arrested. Upon seeing how different the two men are, the brothers decide to make a wager as to what would happen if Winthorpe loses his job, his home and is shunned by everyone he knows and if Valentine was given Winthorpe's job. So they proceed to have Winthorpe arrested and to be placed in a compromising position in front of his girlfriend. So all he has to rely on is the hooker who was hired to ruin him. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjDbJQKDXCY

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Like a film I reviewed earlier,"Sink the Bismarck"there was a popular song released around the same time as this movie, with the same name, BUT is NOT in said movie.
More important in these days of political bickering and "Tea Party"vs "Occupy "Everyone should revisit this film at least once.Sure its a western on the surface but it's whole lot more.Free men,both former slaves and immigrants and special interests both ranchers and farmers via in the transformation of a territory into statehood.Yes a microcosm of what it is to be a American, as SO MANY seem to have forgotten today.

To the film.It's a John Ford classic with John Wayne as Tom Doniphon BUT this is NOT Mr Wayne's film.No,this film belongs to James Stewart as Ransom Stoddard and a who's who of westerns in the supporting cast anchored by Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance and a wild performance by Edmond O'Brien as Dutton Peabody and a really wasted role as the female love interest by beautiful Vera Miles as Hallie Stoddard and so many others it will fill the page to list them all here.Released in 1962 and running 123 minutes I tool 1/2 star off for being filmed in black and white.

The story open with Ransom,now a senator and his wife,Hallie returning to the small town of Shinbone,for the funeral of  forgotten friend Tom.Through a flashback, pressed for by a local newspaper man of why and what is the connection between the two,a story unfolds of timeless hope and vision of what this country was and should be again.Ransom was fresh from the east and wanting to practice law in the west, spurred on by Horace Greely's great quote,"go west young man"Long story short,Ransom is everything you hope you can be in a civilized world.The west had a little way to go yet,and like todays villains who prey on weakness,Liberty ( what a play on words !!)Valance  can ruin everything,if not for Tom.Be warned however,Tom is not so goody goody as you might think.Nether was this country,born with slavery and cleansed in the blood of the Civil War later.
Finally Ransom must face Liberty and its nor a fair fight at all but it is a honorable one and we all know how many fine young men died through the years for the honor and freedom of theirs and ours.I'll let you see the film and discover and debate the"honor"I mentioned.Mr.Wayne took a big gamble on his legacy doing his role in this film,I however respect him all the more for it.
At the end of the film,the newspaper man tears up the story Ransom just told him and when asked why not the truth,he replies,"This is the west where legend becomes the truth".
Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8nqY5TAAII

Airplane - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

A fine comedy but not as funny as viewed over again.Mostly visual with a funny scene of men with guns walking right through metal detectors and Hari-Krishna ect.Verbal jokes like don't call me surely and do you like gladiators ? Still I guess I just know whats coming now.Still if you haven't seen it YOU MUST !!!
I just took  1/2 stars off because I've seen it to much and must not have a life.
Released in 1980 and running only 88 minutes the cast is hilarious starting with Leslie Nielsen and right down the line.Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary below.
The first truly"spoof"film I can recall.In this case of airplane disaster films of which there
had been a few including a famous John Wayne film"the high and the mighty"and "Airport"however other films such as "jaws"and "Saturday night fever"take hits as well.
Yup I guess I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.

An airplane crew takes ill. Surely the only person capable of landing the plane is an ex-pilot afraid to fly. But don't call him Shirley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaXvFT_UyI8

The Day the Earth Stood Still ( 1951 ) - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

We'll end this 50's trip down sci-fi lane with a film again,that was remade later,but for it's time had a stellar cast.British actor Michael Rennie as a alien visitor,Klaatu. Future academy award winning actress Patricia Neal as Helen Benson and legendary actor Sam Jaffe as Professor Jacob Barnhardt  head the fine cast.Released in 1951 and running a short 92 minutes,I took 1 and 1/2 stars off because its in black and white and I don't really think aliens would be so benevolent.The robot"inforcer"is tame by todays standards as well and the film is a little dated.Still its good fun so check it out.Trailer URL follows the pix.IMDB summary below.

An alien lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnGz9j3-jtA&feature=fvst

Them ( 1954) - 4 stars out of 5 stars

There are a few other films with this name but I have not seen any of the so if they are remakes or other stories,I have NO idea.
The first atomic generated giant insect movie I ever saw and one of the many from the 50's They were message films about the perils of atomic energy.This was by far the best and scariest especially a scene when a little girl survivor of an attack ,in shock, is snapped out of it by the "sound "of the danger of approaching giant ants.Good stuff.The ants themselves were ok for that time,but that almost cricket like sound was something else.I took 1 star off again for black and white filming and being a little dated but still its better than most made then or for that matter since.Add to it the acting led by the wonderful  James Whitmore  as Police Sgt. Ben Peterson and again future MEGA TV Star James Arness as Robert Graham and a not well known but great and beautiful actress,Joan Weldon as Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford and good supporting actors,its a easy film to get into.Released in 1954 it runs only 94 minutes.Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AOspwNxjtE