I saw this for the first time yesterday and was quite impressed. I don't think I've ever seen a sci-fi movie quite like it. The premise was interesting and the story wasn't as hokey asd I thought it would be. I also loved the Stalinesque Soviet leader. Just wondering what someone else thought.
shareI did but I need help. Did you see my post on this film? Check it out and see if you can help me.
Dave-242
I loved this film as well. I have been an avid 50s Sci-Fi/Horror fan for years and have sought to view this particular picture for quite some time now. To finally see this flick when it came to TCM was exciting and well worth the wait.
Knowing very little about the film upon my first viewing helped make the experience all the more of a pleasant surprise. The film obviously had quite a well-written script, complete with competent dialogue, sound acting, and skillful direction by William Asher. 'The 27th Day' is a great and underappreciated chunk of Science Fiction, one which relies on atmosphere and on its ever-building suspense rather than special FX and an abundance of flying saucers… which isn’t a bad thing either when speaking of these sort of films!
"Pull the string, pull the string!" -Bela Lugosi
I loved this film too and I'm also an avid 50's scifi fan as well. I grew up with these outer space thrillers and never miss the opportunity to see them again when they are aired. My favorite all time film from this genera is and will always be THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951).
"Pull the string" eh? I detect an Ed wood Jr. fan? I get the biggest kick out of his work as I'm sure you do. Check out the goofs of this film on this IMDB website and also the quotes from all the characters. I'm sure you'll get a big kick out of it. BTW I think Johnny Depp was great in the film ED WOOD. He and Bela were so memorable!
I hesitate to say that "I get a kick" out of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s work, in fact I take his films quite seriously, 'Glen or Glenda' (1953) included (look up my review for it). I respect Wood a great deal for what he did... tackling practically every genre of film, from film-noir to sci-fi, is no easy feat for anyone. He had a drive and a passion to tell his stories; a quality vacant in many directors of this day and age.
Referring to your comment about Tim Burton's 'Ed Wood', I do agree that Depp did a wonderful job portraying Wood. 'Ed Wood' (1994) is one of my favorite films and undoubtedly one of the best films of the 90's.
'The Day the Earth Stood Still' (1951) is also a classic! Without it the 50s Sci-Fi/Horror genre quite possibly would have never gotten the start it so desperately needed.
"Pull the string, pull the string!" -Bela Lugosi
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Yes I seen it last night, thought it was great, wish it was available on DVD!
share The 27th day was tightly written and kept my interest until the end. I looked forward to taping it as it has received no mainstream DVD release. The film is shot through with cliche's but has a charm sadly lacking in modern film.
Waste anything except TIME time is our shortest material
This film is available on DVD from Columbia on a "movie on demand" basic. Go to the Columbia website and their 'movie by request' section.
shareThis was one fantastic movie. I grew up in the 70's when they showed ALL these old 50's sci-fi films all weekend long, every weekend, and I don't ever recall having seen this. This has Day the Earth Stood Still beat by miles. Can't believe it only has a 6 rating!
**Skin that Smokewagon and see what happens!** Tombstone
.............I read about this movie, but this is the first time I've actually seen it.
True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
I had never even heard of this film before, and I'm quite the 1950s Sci-Fi fan.
Saw it on TCM yesterday, and was surprised at how good it was.
...........Now if TCM would run "The Red Planet Mars" and "It Conquered the World".
True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
............Now if TCM would only run "The Crawling Eye."
And somebody, please bring back MST 3000.
I finally got the grainy, crappy VHS version of "It Conquered the World" but love it all the same. Lee Van Cleef is perfect as the lonely misguided crusader. It makes you almost wish priggish Graves DOES get taken over. I loved Garlands performance as a perfect example of 50's female pulchritude. I agree completely if TCM can show The Bad News Bears over and over they can throw us old fogies a bone now and then. COME ON TCM GET WITH IT!
Waste anything except TIME time is our shortest material
I fully agree with stratorick. TCM does play some movies over and over again. I loved "The Third Man" the first 3 times I saw it but it's been played a dozen times since then. I like seeing he occasional less popular gems. Ones that at first look like they might be a turkey but turn out to be quite good.
I saw some of it early in the morning. I'm a night owl and happened to turn it on about the time the two main characters were in a taxi deciding where to stay. So, I wasn't aware of exactly how they received the capsules. But I got the main idea. It reminded me of other movies of that era that were almost anti-soviet propaganda. It was 1957 and the Cold War was in full swing. But, like others, I thought it had an interesting premise. As soon as I heard that someone was abducted by aliens, I admit I rolled my eyes thinking it was going to be a clunker. But, by the end, I decided it was quite good. There were flaws of course. Someone pointed out that the scientist wasn't rocking his raft. I kept wondering where the couple in hiding were getting food---but maybe I missed that.
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