The guy who said "It comes across more as a triumph of man's ingenuity and teamwork than a dark look at an extraterrestrial menace" hits on exactly why it's such a good film, but treats it as a failing.

Wow those scientists were incompetent! Even I knew that using that thermite bomb was a silly idea. And leaving the heated blanket on top of the ice? What the hell? And that biologist is a bit of an idiot - for all he knows he might be putting the whole human race in danger. The witty banter wasn't that witty and the acting was weak. It held my attention well enough, and there's a couple nice (if a tad silly) ideas and an enjoyable whiff of cheese, but Carpenter's remake is so, so much better.

Excellent blend of sci-fi and horror; John Carpenter would improve upon it by sticking closer to the source story, but this one is still very well done and has one memorable shock sequence.

78.125

Pretty good for a low budget horror film. The overlapping dialogue works very well.

631

It isn't helped by comparison to the John Carpenter remake( a rare occasion in which a film isn't helped by comparisons to the remake), but it is still, in its own right, a suspenseful science fiction film.

It still gets to me when they spread out to trace the outline of the ship in the ice, and they stand there transfixed in a circle like they're playing a neighborhood game, these wise-cracking professionals suddenly turned into gaping children. It's sad that all these years later movies still have trouble finding the naturalistic, mature gender dynamics it breezes through.

Remake's better.

#462

Well, I was intrigued when I got to know this is a horror movie by Howard Hawks. But all they way going into it a feeling of thinness appeared. It is clear the genre was not formed solidly at that time, plus all of us are so adjusted to the bloodshed feasts that there is nothing to be really impressed. Good Hawks worked not only with sci-fi movies.

I'm a sucker for any kind of "B" movie,and this classic's one of the best from the early 50's. Like the awesome "The Day The Earth Stood Still" that came out the same year,this defiantly set a standard for others to follow.

There are a few holes in the narrative(someone covered it with an electric blanket and didn't notice their mistake, really?), and it has nothing on the superior Carpenter version, but it's a damn thrilling piece of 50s sci-fi that uses its bleak environment to build suspense and paranoia. Definitely one of the best of the 50s sci-fi boom, and a classic of the same stature of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

Fairly conventional monster movie take on the story, but it does have several good moments. To note: the banter works great, the kerosene scene works well, and the ending is fairly satisfying. It's sub-par when compared to Carpenter's version, but well above average compared to similar movies of the time.

Mostly below average. Terrible characters, questionable writing, and the monster itself just looks dumb. However, I thought that this movie had some pretty good tension, and one awesome moment. At least it inspired some pretty great films.

Some memorable and remarkable scenes in this film but I saw Carpenters version first so my viewing of this was a little one-sided considering how much I loved the remake. This was and still is though, a very suspenseful, well made sci-fi flick. The dialogue is great and the characters are well devoloped and intereesting. There is also a lot of humour as well, which helps the movie along during the in-between scenes.

The epitome of suspense despite few other redeeming merits.

The few good things about it, like a strong sense of isolation and unnerving paranoia, can't help this dated film get past its own silly politics. Its strong pro-military agenda is the exact opposite attitude of the same year's much superior The Day the Earth Stood Still. Not to mention it moves at such a quick pace that it wastes any potential for building suspense.

one of the best early 50's monster flicks out there, and it really doesn't have much monster in it. it is, however, completely in the shadow of the absolutely superb carpenter remake.

Badly aged but the latter half was a pure 50's suspense sci-fi horror. I never thought how much, say, 80's scifi flicks were indebted to it.

# 593

Absolutely mediocre. Hawks' trademark snappy patter fails miserably here, with not one gag eliciting even a chuckle. The scientific basis for the story is as threadbare as it gets, and the sets and effects are as cheap as they come. The moral of the story seems to be threefold: 1) if you don't know what it is, shoot it; 2) scientists are stupid and weak; 3) women in the workplace are okay, but they should settle down and get married after they've got it out of their system. Unsatisfying.

Yeah yeah yeah, it's a "classic". However, I kept thinking of Isaac Asimov's description of it as the worst movie ever made, as the makers took a simply wonderful little John W. Campbell, Jr. story and turned it into The Walking Carrot Movie. Also, this is a movie in which all the smartest people are portrayed as Traitors To Humanity -- a distressing anti-intellectualism that's so totally against what all science fiction is supposed to be about. Carpenter's remake really blows this movie away

Classic.

James Arness in a carrot suit