Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
DVD Description
DVD Special Features:
Fully restored and remastered version of "The Day The Earth Caught Fire"
Scenee Selection
Production Notes
Biographies
Stills galleries
Interview with Leo McKern
Commentary with Director Val GUest
Trailer
US Television Spots
16:9 Anamorphic
Black and White
Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: none
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Black & White, Interactive Menu, Remastered, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Despite its come-on title, The Day the Earth Caught Fire is an intelligent, disturbing piece of speculative fiction. Through the eyes of British reporter Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), we learn that both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have simultaneously set off nuclear explosions to test their efficiency. The twin blasts have caused the Earth to go off its axis. The result is a disastrous upheaval in the balance of nature; floods and fires being the principal plagues. With the end of the world staring everyone in the face, chaos reigns. The only hope lies in another massive nuclear explosion, which will hopefully rebalance the Earth. The film ends ambiguously, with viewers allowed to decide for themselves whether or not the world has been saved. In the original prints of The Day the Earth Caught Fire, the opening and closing reels were tinted yellow, representing the scorching heat beating down on the frightened populace. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, ...The Day the Earth Caught Fire ( The Day the Sky Caught Fire )
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the best British thrillers ever,
By
This review is from: The Day the Earth Caught Fire [VHS] [1961] (VHS Tape)
I know that's a pretty grand claim of mine in the title, but I really believe this is one of the most intelligent, well-acted, and chillingly effective films we've ever made. Made at the height of concern about nuclear warfare (this was the era of the CND Aldermaston marches), it takes the idea that by detonating two massive nuclear bombs at once we have caused the Earth to shift off its axis and ... gulp, we are now heading towards the sun! Much of the unfolding terror is seen through the eyes of journalists in a newspaper office covering daily what could be the oncoming end of the world. These scenes are highly effective indeed, most particularly the briefings in the Editor's office, and Leo McKern is splendid as a jaundiced hack getting his biggest (and most unwelcome!) story. As the days click on and society begins to unravel, with water rationing causing riots and old diseases making a comeback, you even get reminded of later terrifying docu-dramas like "The War Game" and "Threads". On a lighter note look out for a before-he-was-famous Michael Caine appearing briefly in one scene as a policeman doing traffic duty.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great writing, great atmosphere, great DVD,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Day The Earth Caught Fire [1961] [DVD] (DVD)
I'd forgotten just how good this film is. Fine performances bring to life a very good script and the setting is brilliantly realised. This isn't just British SF at its best, its SF at its best. OK so some of the science is cobblers but the story is stylish and clever.The DVD is excellent. A good range of extras and, most importantly, a brilliantly clear print of the film itself. The sepia tinged opening is particularly effective and looks better than ever. And this is a film with one of those endings that you can never get out of your mind. Highly recommended.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
British Anti Nuclear Film,
By
This review is from: Day the Earth Caught Fire [DVD] [1961] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
I remember seeing this film on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid and rewatching as an adult made me appreciate just what this film has to say. The day the Earth caught fire was made at a time when people lived with the fear that world could at any time be decimated by nuclear war, even when I was a child it seemed quite probable yet people doggidly went on with there lives. There's an element of this in The day the Earth caught fire as people continue to live their lives as the earth rocked by nuclear tests hurtles towards the sun.Edward Judd plays a reporter for a london newspaper who through bouts of drinking discovers that similtanious nuclear tests by the americans and russians have dislodged the earth from it's orbit and have set it on course to hit the sun, Judds not bad in the role and Janet Munro makes an excellent and sexy female interest but Leo McKern can't help but steal the show. His grizzled portrayal of Judds friend and newpaper journo is electrifying to watch. It's worth the money just to see him but you won't have wasted any cash on this film even if he hadn't been in it. The day the Earth caught fire is an intelligent taught and highly entertaining film, to call it Sci fi would be wrong, It's just an excellent drama with a slightly far fetched plot. Although at the time it really didn't seem that far fetched living under the shadow of the bomb. The end is particularly un Hollywood as it leaves you hanging, never finding out the fate of the characters.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
