Review of This Island Earth (1955) by Roy C — 31 Aug 2010

As I watched Universal?s This Island Earth, I realized that throughout its running time, almost nothing happens. Almost nothing that that develops the characters, advances the plot, or rouses much interest in the viewer that is.

The acting is wooden, not surprisingly considering that I?ve never heard of any of the cast members, and the dialogue is stilted and predictable. Most of the characters? actions are dictated not by their personalities or by what a real person would do in that situation, but rather by the needs of the plot, such as it is.

Indeed most of the characters are only in this film to perform some plot function, without us ever finding out much about them. Faith Domergue?s character is only here to provide a love interest for the professor, and to scream on cue. The alien leader, seen for less than a minute, has no role other than to provide some sort of villain. The professor and Exeter are the only people who are given any real traits or motivation, and even then they?re not very well developed.

A surprising amount of the movie is spent in travel time. Traveling from the professor?s lab to the aliens? base in Georgia. From Earth to the alien home world. From the alien planet back to earth. If they?d added a few jokes and a song and dance routine, this could have been a road picture.

Of course, all this travel time is a half cocked attempt to hide just how little plot there really is. There?s barely enough material for a one hour made-for-TV movie, much less a ninety plus minute theatrical release.

Watching this cinematic train wreck fills me with questions, such as.

? Wouldn?t you be in the least bit curious if you received a mailing from a company you had never heard of, with order forms and assembly instructions for a machine that?s at least a century ahead of current technology?

? Would you climb into a pilotless, windowless aircraft without any idea of the destination?

? Why don?t the scientists immediately recognize the aliens as such? We in the audience certainly do.

? Was it really necessary for the aliens to destroy their own compound, killing all of their ?guests?, when only three had escaped.

? Why does the alien leader declare that the humans are a security risk and that they must be stripped of their free will? Is he not aware that his species is actively recruiting talent from other races?

? What are the chances that the aliens? home world would be utterly destroyed within an hour of the humans? arrival? And would it have broken the budget to show even a brief glimpse of the attackers? ships?

? And above all, why would a reputable studio like Universal fund and release such a waek film?

It?s not a completely horrible film, the special effects are actually quite good, but it doesn?t deserve most of the positive reviews it?s gotten. This movie did however, provide excellent material for the MST3K crew.