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U.K.
/ 1968
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Starring
James Donald
Andrew Kier
Barbara Shelley
Color / 98 Minutes / Not Rated
Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC)
Anchor Bay Entertainment
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10
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
In
the 1950s Nigel Kneale wrote three science fiction stories revolving
around his character Professor Bernard Quatermass. They were
written as multi-part television plays and when broadcast on
the BBC they were so popular that England's Hammer Studio adapted
them into films. The first two were paired down by director
Val Guest into the SF classics The Quatermass
Xperiment (a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown) and Quatermass
2 (a.k.a. Enemy From Space) both of which were
huge box office hits at home and in the US. Kneale was unhappy
with many things about the Hammer productions, not the least
of which was the choice of American Brian Donlevy to play Professor
Quatermass. When Hammer finally got around to filming the third
Quatermass story in 1967 Kneale was allowed to adapt his own
story and luckily the fantastic Andrew Kier was cast as the
Professor. All of the Quatermass stories are among the best
of intelligent filmed science fiction, weaving scientific theories
and speculation into a scenario that seems both plausible and
frightening. Kneale creates very recognizably human characters,
throws them into outlandish SF plots and manages to make the
stories believable. In 1980 Kneale wrote one last Quatermass
story for TV that has yet to be transferred to the big screen
but with it's extremely downbeat ending I doubt it would survive
the process intact. It's a shame because there are few better
examples of smart SF then Kneale's clever Quatermass stories.
As Quatermass and the Pit (a.k.a.
Five Million Years To Earth) begins, an abandoned subway
station is London is being remodeled and expanded for a new
line rail line when the construction crew find several humanoid
skeletons in the mud. Investigators are called in, who determine
that the bones are of an unknown type of prehistoric man with
a larger than expected brain. As the digging continues a large
metal object is found that is at first thought to be an unexploded
German bomb. But when more skulls are found in the object that
date back more than 5 million years, Quatermass (Kier) and Dr.
Roney (The Vikings' James Donald)
become convinced that it is of extraterrestrial origin. They
find historical links of odd complaints about the area it's
been buried beneath dating back to the 1700s and witness a policeman
mentally break down while touring some of the nearby abandoned
buildings. Once the whole thing is uncovered a crystalline room
is found containing several long dead locust-like creatures.
Quatermass begins to believe that the insect creatures were
from Mars and the object was a spacecraft bringing genetically
mutated apes to Earth. When the continued probing of the craft
activates it, the latent Martian mutation in most of the surrounding
population awakens, prompting a violent uprising against the
non-mutant descended humans in the city.
Quatermass
and the Pit is one
of the best films Hammer Studio ever produced and one of the
best science fiction films ever made. It's the perfect example
of a story that starts small and continues to grow until it
encompasses the entire planet. That the discovery of a human
skull in London could lead to an alien inspired mass human extinction
is a ridiculous notion, but Kneale carefully directs us to that
conclusion so that each step is logical and creepy. He carefully
piles up details such as the history of the area as a shunned
place, the old stories of devil horned apparitions, the odd
occult-like symbols inside the spacecraft and the sinister appearance
of the insect creatures until Quatermass' theories begin to
seem possible. To me it is this carefully built backstory that
makes this film so fascinating. Pulling together so many ideas
as this story does makes the thinness of so much of science
fiction cinema truly embarrassing. This film throws so many
good ideas around that even the ones they breeze past could
have made a good film. As an example, the concept of the Martians'
manipulations of our ancestor's minds is presented as the genesis
of our races occasional mental powers such as telepathy or telekinesis.
Just imagine a movie based on THAT discovery... But cunningly,
Kneale merely uses it to build to his ultimate end. The screenplay
for Quatermass
and the Pit is not
just packed with arresting ideas. It also sports sharp dialog
and a quick pace that director Roy Ward Baker gooses along with
great use of both his sets and actors. I've mentioned Kier in
the title role but James Donald, Barbara Shelley (Dracula
- Prince of Darkness) and Julian Glover are all very good
as are the large number of supporting players. The film really
is a joy on nearly every level and will stay with you long after
the credits roll. If you've never seen this film I urge you
to check it out — there's no need to watch the first two Quatermass
movies to enjoy this one. You won't regret it.
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After
innumerable television broadcasts and bootleg tapes Anchor Bay's
DVD of Quatermass
and the Pit is simply
the best presentation I've ever seen of the movie. It's sharp,
clear and colorful and may even look a little better than the
old Elite Laser Disc with only the occasional line or spot to
mar the 1.66:1 letterboxed image. The DVD offers a remastered
5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and a 2.0 track as well, but the
real treasure is the commentary track ported over from the old
Laser. On it Kneale and director Baker discuss the film and the
character of Quatermass. It's not the best such track I've heard
since the two gentlemen start to get wrapped up in watching the
film at times resulting in a few silent spots. But at about the
halfway mark an unnamed moderator begins asking questions and
it picks up steam. Both men are very forthcoming about the film
and are quite surprised at how well it holds up after 35 years.
For fans of this movie the track is priceless for recording these
talented men for posterity and well worth the time. Also included
on the disc are the U.S. and U.K. trailers, a couple of fun radio
spots and the "SCI-FI" episode of World of Hammer.
This 25-minute piece is just a clip show of scenes from various
Hammer science fiction films narrated by Oliver Reed. It's harmless
but really just whets the appetite for these films to be released
on DVD. Fast!
So, to recap: one of the best Hammer films ever made in the best
presentation on video it's ever had. Needless to say I recommend
it and if you like it, you'll like the first two Quatermass films
too. They're good, just not as good as this one. 4/25/03 |
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UPDATE
The disc reviewed here went OOP in 2004, and is now fetching
big bucks.
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