MovieChat Forums > The Day the Earth Caught Fire Discussion > Better Than 21st Century Sci-Fi

Better Than 21st Century Sci-Fi

posted 14 years ago by babettegillette
9 replies | jump to latest

Tremendous movie! All the characters had a realistic big city edge and were hip(by 1961 standards). Very smart characters. The story was riveting and unforgettable. Good special effects. A home run by Val Guest and crew!

What do we get today? Poor character development, inane plots, and CGI out the ying-yang, IMHO!

[–] kingdaviduk 14 years ago

I totally agree with you.

[–] fortean2 14 years ago

I also have to agree. Just think how good it would be if anyone had the guts (and intelligence) to make such a film these days.

[–] nephihaha 13 years ago

It's not just film, when I go down to the local library the Science Fiction section is full of garish trash... and yet some of the best speculative novels ever written are SF.

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It's not "sci-fi", it's SF!

[–] dhenderson-2 14 years ago

I've had it for ages on a file and only got around to watching it tonight.
I saw it once, more than thirty years ago - probably on the box, in the early 70s.
It was well worth the wait to see it again. Sure, the effects were a bit cheesy
compared to today's, but some of them were quite well done.
The storyline was total cock, of course, but had me gripped for a while.
All the crap old cars and the old tech printing presses were fascinating, too.
Odd, how so many things about the London of the time looked so familiar, yet so
alien.
One thing that made me laugh, was the opening credits contained a line:
"Beatnik music by Monty Norman".

[–] babettegillette 13 years ago

Hard to believe Val Guest went on to direct the home movie When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth.

[–] screenman 13 years ago

Couldn't agree more. If only `The Day After Tomorrow' had had the same quality of acting and script.

Apart from that movie's jaw-dropping CGI, sweeping camera pans and evocative music and soundtrack, `The Day The Earth Caught Fire' is superior in every way. These days I only watch TDAT for its special-effects.

[–] Strazdamonas 13 years ago

well, better than most sci-fi from any century.

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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good men to do nothing.

[–] bananabry 9 years ago

well, better than most sci-fi from any century.

Love it! How many centuries have you had movies on your planet? 😀

[–] Strazdamonas 9 years ago

Here on planet Earth people have been writing science-fiction tales for as long as the concept of science was present. how about your planet?

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.