The Swarm [DVD]

Product Description

Disaster movie supremo Irwin Allen sensed there was more honey in the pot after 'The Poseidon Adventure' and 'The Towering Inferno' for this bigger-city, smaller-animals version of 'The Birds'. The buzz on the streets of America is that a swarm of killer bees are on their way over from Africa. The all-star cast attempting to take the sting out of the situation includes Michael Caine, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland and Henry Fonda. Twenty-two million stunt bees were given their big Hollywood break during the making of the movie.

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The Swarm was one of many 1970s disaster epics masterminded by producer Irwin Allen. Unfortunately, it comes from the tail end of the public's fascination with the genre, a fact not unreasonably attributed at the time to this also being Allen's first full-length directorial debut. In retrospect, it's perhaps understandable that the threat of killer bees was never going to seem as spectacular as The Towering Inferno or The Poseidon Adventure. Nevertheless, there's plenty to admire in the concept, which at least went so far as to research its subject matter, even if the explanation for how the bad-tempered little critters came to be in the vicinity of Houston is a little shaky.

Michael Caine heads a typically all-star cast. Ironically, the first thing Richard Chamberlain's character says is that he's arrived under protest. In fact, he along with Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and several others do look rather reluctant to plough through their roles, especially when that involves being bombarded with forcefully blown bee replica debris. At least the effects go some way to redress the lack of punch in the performances (or sense in the plot). Cheesy and clichéd by today's standards it may be, but in the mutant insect sub-genre, The Swarm remains one of the best, helped along by a fine Jerry Goldsmith score.

On the DVD: The Swarm arrives on DVD in a surprisingly clean transfer that picks out both the primary colours and great swathes of beige in the 1970s fashions and decorations. 2.35:1 anamorphic is perfect for capturing the scale of the bees' attack, although the merely stereo soundtrack is a let down considering what fun effects could be achieved mixing the humming drone through various channels. There's a trailer and information on key cast and crew, but the real treat is the 22-minute "Inside the Swarm" documentary. Clearly this was aired on TV at the time of release, but puts to shame the uninformative equivalent promos of today. All the cast are animated in their descriptions of what's being shot around them. And naturally Allen the Showman is the most animated of all. --Paul Tonks