Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

John Carpenter's beloved film and a sci-fi classic about an alien invasion of planet Earth. The aliens themselves may resemble walking saucepans and with their clumsy movement they are rather laughable nowadays, but their laser-like satellite weapons are really effective and the viewer will enjoy the various explosions and burning objects to the full. The master of masters, Ray Harryhausen (Clash of the Titans) was unwaveringly in charge of all the special effects, and it must be said that even with the passing of the years some are still breathtaking; actually, that can be said of all of the visual effects sequences of this film, all those collisions of flying saucers with houses, or falling into rivers, look great even years later. And just for the record, when you look at those amazing Harryhausen saucers and at the same time think of the ones in Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space, which was made three years later, you can't help but smile in amusement. (26/04/2005)

Calling this an ageless classic with an irresistible period charm, such as King Kong has today, is out of the question due to the truly naive and years-outdated script, and so what remains to admire about Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is the amount of top-notch special effects by Ray Harryhausen and the skillful direction of the scenes in which they are used. Really great stuff that deserves three stars. I nearly choked with laughter at the destruction of the monolith (as I remembered Burton's Mars Attacks!, which paid a huge tribute to this very film), but that wasn't the fault of this pleasantly B-grade spectacle. (24/05/2011)