THEM! (and other giant insects)

[lhb412]

The announcement of Warner's new Blu-Ray set has put THEM! on my mind. Not a difficult thing to do, since it's one of my favorite movies.



I never did care for the human eyes they gave them in those old posters, but props to WB for going back to using old posters instead of Photoshopped slop for covers.

... but then I thought: the giant bug movie of the 1950s is an iconic idea, but how many of them were there? I can think of
THEM!, Tarantula, The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, The Beginning of the End, The Monster That Challenged the World (snails count!), and Earth vs. The Spider. Any more obscure one's you guys can name?

I suppose you could stretch it a bit and include The Fly, but while Delambrefly (following the naming convention of the remake) is certainly bigger than a common housefly he belongs in more in the 'human sized' monster classification.

[william newell]

There was also a movie about giant wasps. I believe it was called "Monster From a Green Hell". I've only seen small bits of it, but it looked interesting. And on the topic of "Them", this is a movie, in my opinion, that serves as a great example of how good writing, casting, and directing can make up for less than perfect effects. I never once believed the ants were real, but the pacing and the witty banter made it so that I didn't care. What a great cast...

[mkhz]

The Bat Rat Spider had a small part in, The Angry Red Planet ('59)

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

I like "The beginning of the end" or something like that. The one with the giant grasshoppers. They kill a deaf mute at some point.

[lhb412]

[sentaison]

THEM! has been one of my favorites since I watched it as a kid. Can't wait for the Blu ray!

[Gwangi]

Spiders technically aren't insects, but I get the gest of the thread! I believe everything from the 50s has been mentioned. Have to go all the way to the 1970s for "Empire of the Ants".

[mkhz]

If spiders are accepted as bugs and then spiders being related to crabs. They're both arthropods, anyway. Then:
Attack Of The Crab Monsters (1957)

[Russzilla]

[Jinzo Ningen]

[Gwangi]

[lhb412]

[kiryugoji04]

When I saw the trailer for World War Z in theaters whenever that was on the horizon, all I could think of was how boring I find zombies to be and how awesome it would be if the exact same trailer was for a THEM! remake featuring hordes of man-sized army ants taking over the world.

[XvGojira]

[tbeasley]

Them! and The Monster that Challenged the World are two of my favorites. The Black Scorpion is also worth a watch to see O'Brien's unused spider pit creatures from King Kong.

I know a lot of those aren't insects exactly but I'd still call them bugs.

[lhb412]

[lhb412]

Got all four films in the 'Special Effects Collection' separately as presents - and I even got four 2 disc Blu-Ray cases for them so I could put their respective DVDs and Blu-Rays in the same case! Yup, I'm a nerd who cares about such things.

I think the original aspect ratio on THEM! helps the film's special effects. The enormous ant puppets look great but have limited mobility, so they had to be pretty choosy about how they shot them, and I feel having the proper framing helps a lot there.

How great is James Whitmore in this film? The great cast is one of the reasons this movie stands out, but he stands out among the standouts. He definitively has a Spencer Tracy vibe about him, in performance and (in my opinion) he even resembles Tracy a bit.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

lhb would you say it's worth picking up the blu-ray of Them if you own the DVD already?

[Jinzo Ningen]

Absolutely, yes. A definite jump in picture quality over the DVD. IMHO. Worth a double-dip.

BTW... Happy Birthday to me! (and Stan Lee)

[lhb412]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

Broke down and bought the BD it'll be here Monday.

[lhb412]

[klen7]

^ i like that movie. I need to add it to my collection. I know it was OOP for a while and fetching $80+, now that its back in circulation under $10, i have no excuse

[jellydonut25]

I adore Matinee. Definitely need to add it to my wishlist.

[lhb412]

You know, it's actually been ages since I saw Matinee. I was a teenager. I know Arrow released the Blu-Ray in the UK, hopefully a domestic version'll be around soon.