- Actors: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, Russell Johnson
- Directors: Jack Arnold
- Writers: Harry Essex, Ray Bradbury
- Producers: William Alland
- Classification: PG
- Studio: 4 Front
- VHS Release Date: 3 Mar 2000
- Run Time: 81 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004NKCT
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 26,043 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I originally saw this movie "It Came from Outer Space" aka "Strangers from Outer Space" on a 14" black and whit TV as a child. And believe me I was seeing eyes all over the place for several nights.
John Putnam (Richard Carlson of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" fame) an amateur astronomer was watching the desert sky with his girl, Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) a local school teacher, when a strange meteor came down near buy. John, first to reach it swore he saw a door shut. We see it and believe him. However no one else does. What will happen next? Watch and find out.
You can spot a Jack Arnold film by the pacing and initial dialog. This one gave me nightmares as a kid. However now when I watch this film now, I can enjoy the DOWN TO EARTH portrayal of misplaced aliens. You get the alien view from its innards. I was disappointed to find that this is not a 3-D film. I also have the children's book of this with still shots. Your next film to view is "OUT THERE" (1995) an HBO film staring Bill Campbell and Wendy Schaal. It shows real alien interaction with people and accordions.
There is always hope that a 3D version has survived and will surface in the form of a DVD.
John Putnam (Richard Carlson of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" fame) an amateur astronomer was watching the desert sky with his girl, Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) a local school teacher, when a strange meteor came down near buy. John, first to reach it swore he saw a door shut. We see it and believe him. However no one else does. What will happen next? Watch and find out.
You can spot a Jack Arnold film by the pacing and initial dialog. This one gave me nightmares as a kid. However now when I watch this film now, I can enjoy the DOWN TO EARTH portrayal of misplaced aliens. You get the alien view from its innards. I was disappointed to find that this is not a 3-D film. I also have the children's book of this with still shots. Your next film to view is "OUT THERE" (1995) an HBO film staring Bill Campbell and Wendy Schaal. It shows real alien interaction with people and accordions.
There is always hope that a 3D version has survived and will surface in the form of a DVD.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
It Came From Outer Space is one of the better films brought to life in the golden age of science fiction. It is not an alien invasion story; rather, it develops and explores the ambivalence of man's own scientific progress in regards to the unknown. The aliens are not Martians; they are quite un-E.T.-like "monsters" who hide themselves. They seem to know one of the tragic secrets of humanity--it very often hates and destroys that which it does not understand. The story starts with amateur astronomer John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and his fiancée Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) looking at the stars and engaging in some lovey-dovey conversation; suddenly, a giant fireball goes sailing across the sky and strikes the earth with a terrific impact. Putnam and Fields rush to the site via helicopter, and Putnam goes down into the crater to examine the "meteorite." He finds a ship lodged in the ground and senses a presence there; before he can peer into the ship's interior, the door closes and a landslide covers everything up. Putnam fearlessly tells the authorities what he saw and is, of course, laughed at. The sheriff, who obviously has the hots for Ellen, is particularly hard to convince. Eventually, some townspeople disappear and, even more mysteriously, reappear with whole new personalities (or lack thereof). The resolution of the movie has a philosophical aspect to it; there are no bad guys and no good guys, and one is left to ponder the real standing of Earth and society in a universe in which alien life does exist. This thought-provoking movie is based on a story by Ray Bradbury, which does much to explain its success. Some viewers may also be interested to know that Darrell Russell (the Professor from Gilligan's Island) has a co-starring role in the picture.
In its theatrical release, this movie was shown in 3-D, and it is unfortunate that today's viewers cannot enjoy it in its original format. However, it is the story and not the special effects that makes this movie a success. While its themes do not captivate modern audiences the way they did viewers in the 1950s, the movie retains a moral clarity and vision that distinguishes it from most science fiction movies of its era. It asks the viewer to trade places with the aliens and consider how things would look if he were the outsider arriving in a foreign land, which is a refreshing theme to emerge in a Cold War American motion picture.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This 1950's Sci-fi classic is well worth getting. It influenced a number of films that followed it and stands up well, even now, over 50 years later.
Really its only obvious weakness is the alien spacecraft in flight, which special effect wise is very poor. However, in most other areas this is a great film. The acting is pretty good, the other special effects are well done and best of all is the sense of paranoia that runs throughout the film. Seeing this film at the Cinema in the 1950's must have been some experience for the audience as there is a sense of foreboding which must have been very unusual in its day.
In the end of course this being 'Hollywood' we know everything will be alright in the end, but this film keeps you guessing right to the very end.
Really its only obvious weakness is the alien spacecraft in flight, which special effect wise is very poor. However, in most other areas this is a great film. The acting is pretty good, the other special effects are well done and best of all is the sense of paranoia that runs throughout the film. Seeing this film at the Cinema in the 1950's must have been some experience for the audience as there is a sense of foreboding which must have been very unusual in its day.
In the end of course this being 'Hollywood' we know everything will be alright in the end, but this film keeps you guessing right to the very end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Because you don't understand it, you want to kill it.
An alien ship crashes into the desert, at first it's thought to only be a meteorite, but small time scientist Richard Carlson gets to view the stricken ship before it is totally... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Spike Owen
It came to challenge our trust
Given the title, it may seem fairly obvious as to what this film is about. If you had any doubts, then they would surely be dispelled after the first 10 minutes. Read more
Published 15 months ago by S. Meadows
deserves a colour cgi remake
this is one of those films that is screaming out for a remake in colour, when it first came onto the screen it terrified audiences and a remake of this classic b/w flim would be... Read more
Published on 26 April 2010 by P. barton
Great Memories of scary film
Great 50`s Sci Fi ,Have not seen since a child, Bug eyed monster scared me to death in the sixties, my 6 year old watched it with me and thought monster was really funny ! Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2009 by DLMONCKTON
No suspense
A meteorite crashes into the desert and John (Richard Carlson) and
Ellen (Barbara Rush) along with friend Pete are first on the scene. Read more
Ellen (Barbara Rush) along with friend Pete are first on the scene. Read more
Published on 26 July 2009 by Alex da Silva
The DVD Falls Just Short of Meteoric
This is a wonderful movie, even in the flat 2-D we are offered on this DVD. I've actually never seen this movie in its original 3-D splendor, but I've been told it was... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2005 by Robert E. Rodden II
Much superior to other sci-fi of the era
I originally saw this movie "It Came from Outer Space" aka "Strangers from Outer Space" on a 14" black and whit TV as a child. Read more
Published on 11 April 2005 by bernie
classic old sci-fi!
Amazing stuff, with lots of screaming women, disgusting and totally uinbelievanle aliens, and humans generally making a mess of a first contact situation. Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2001 by bexy_d@hotmail.com
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