Sci-fi has been around a long
time. I don’t think anyone can pin point
an exact start, but we can estimate when it sort of went mainstream. Looking back it seems like nuclear testing
spawned more wild imagination than anything else. When the atomic age arrived it seemed like
there was almost nothing science couldn't do, or in the case of Sci-fi be
blamed for. The only thing I know for
sure is that atomic kills even when that wasn't part of the plan. All my life they've been saying the future is
going to be amazing; I hope it gets here soon.
Director
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The Main Players
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Synopsis:
Experimental
nuclear weapon testing in the south-western US deserts accidentally creates
giant ants looking for a place to call home where their freakish nature will
blend in; Los Angeles or bust.
Review:
This is a good movie with a strong
plot based on something that is basically impossible, but Hollywood never lets
reality get in the way. The premise of nuclear
radiation making things grow to impossible sizes comes from a time when the
science of radiation was tossed around the same table as alchemy. Crazy bad science aside there are some solid
performances by James Whitmore and James Arness. Arness has been a pivotal character in the
first Frozenmukluk review also of a not so bad, bad movie The
Thing From Another World. So we know the acting is great. What’s wrong with the movie?
The only problem is the stars, and
the sad truth is that the two James are not the stars; giant ants are. That’s where the fun comes in. This movie was way ahead of its time as in
long before CGI. They could have used a
little stop motion miniature work on this one, but instead opted for larger
than life, less than animatronic puppets of giant ants. Generally I’m not a big fan of re-makes
unless you can bring something new other than an updated look. This movie is an excellent candidate for just
that. A bit of SFX beyond fire could go
a long way to making this one a bit more exciting.
The only thing the ants do convincingly is
burn when confronted with flame throwers.
You can’t really ask for more than that from any insect monster. Of course we can’t forget the incessant
irritating sound they make when nearby.
It’s a cross between a squeaky wheel and the compressor of an AC unit in
need of new bearings. I don’t know if
it’s Exorcist scary, but it sure
is damned annoying and that has to count for something. Plus it gives that subtle foreshadowing like
a good smack in the back of the head that something is about to happen.
As
for the story it’s quite simple. It
starts with the ants stirring up shit in the dessert by attacking people and
some livestock going missing. Eventually
scientists are brought in and despite the idea of giant ants being a bit out
there, the search is on. They begin an
air search of the area where they think the ants might be and find a giant ant
hill full of giant ants. I was sort of
disappointed when they start chucking poison gas canisters into the colony when
I was secretly hoping they would have a giant magnifying glass hanging from the
helicopter. The least they could have
done was give their group a cool name like Radioactive Ant Interdiction
Detachment.
The
operation to do in the ants seems like a success until they soon realize a
couple of queens got away. The flying
queens took off and made their way to parts unknown for a while. Ultimately the ants set up shop in Los
Angeles using the LA River aqua duct system as a sort of pre made colony. We can only assume this was a cost cutting
measure to bring location shoots closer to the studio. To make things worse throw in a couple of
kids lost in the tunnels, and a fretful mother waiting outside for them. They went in with their dad but hey, two out
of three aint bad. Once again it’s up to our heroes to go back in and make the
ants do what they do best. Burn baby
burn.
Lessons Learned:
- Unlike their speedy little buddies, giant ants do
just about everything slowly.
- The Ant Bully was full of
crap, those things sound nothing like Julia Roberts.
- Even giant ants dig sugar, just a hell of a lot more
of it.
- You can get locked up just for seeing a flying giant
ant.
- We've been using radiation to shrink things, but are
we using it wrong?
- This movie makes it more fun to step on them.
