The Angry Red Planet (1960)

Although widely admired among longtime science fiction fans, The Angry Red Planet is merely a substandard entry from the genre's 1950s heyday. With wooden performances, atrocious dialogue, and some monsters that would scare only very young kids, it's perfect fodder for a rainy- day marathon of cheesy movies, as long as you keep your expectations low. Following the standard plot of its day, the movie tells (in flashback) the story of four astronauts who land Rocket M-1 on Mars, only to find the "angry red planet" lives up to its nickname. The plants are carnivorous, there's a gigantic "bat-rat-spider-crab" that can snap humans in half with its pincers, and a slithering Jello-beast with a rotating eyeball that threatens to dissolve the rocket ship into a pile of digested goo.

Naturally, there's an onboard flirtation between shapely space-gal Nora Hayden and astro-hunk Gerald Mohr (who inexplicably spends the last half-hour with his hairy chest exposed), while Les Tremayne and Jack Kruschen play the stock characters (respectively) of elder scientist and blue-collar engineer--the latter toting an "ultrasonic freezer gun" that forces attacking monsters to chill out. If that's not enough to whet your schlock-movie appetite, the scenes on Mars were filmed in a gimmicky pink-hued process called "Cinemagic," which resembles a negative image covered in Pepto-Bismol. Is this any way to spend 83 precious minutes? Look at it this way: When an angry Martian warns humans to stay away ("you are technological adults, but spiritual and emotional infants"), you may be laughing enough to make it all worthwhile. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Great low budget science fiction movie

I enjoy this movie. A fun science fiction film - a low budget one that delivers some very unique monsters from Mars. This one is famous for the Rat Bat Spider , in fact there are toys and kits of this creature. There are other Mars wonders as well, like giant Amoebas,killer planets,etc.. I love how the movie goes all Red when the cast is on Mars. Acting is ok for this kind of movie. a B effort, but it is really a lot of fun. Check it out. And its cheap on DVD ! December 1, 2008

the angry red planet

this is a five star its the first of it's kind with great special effects for its time and the people act the one they did in the best years in america 1950's November 25, 2008

FANTASTIC 4 INSPIRATION NEEDS SOME COLORIZATION

I don't have proof, but I believe this movie inspired Stan Lee and whoever else to create The Fantastic 4 comic book. Let's compare and contrast. First off there are four astronauts. Three men and one woman. Second the leader of the expedtion is played by Gerald Mohr who eventually went on to provide the voice of Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic in the original Hanna-Barbera Fantastic 4 cartoon series. Then there's the somewhat friendly low brow comic book reading character named Sammy. Probably the best live action portrayal of Ben Grimm with out even knowing there would be a Ben Grimm/Thing. The female which coincidentally happens to be the love interest of the First character is not exactly the Sue Storm/Invisible girl type, but she is a confident intelligent woman. The only real difference is the fourth person. Instead of the elderly doctor/ scientist they opted for a young teenager. Johnny Storm/Torch. I basically like the movie as a fun weekend rainy day film, but if anything was in need of some colorization it's the overly drab reddish brown tint used when outside on the surface of the planet. I can accept the intended glowy effect, but the creatures and main characters should have been given separate colors so it would make for a nice contrast and much more palatable for the eye. Who knows maybe Legend Films may see this review and attept the idea. October 22, 2008

BAD MOVIE!

This movie is really, really, really bad. Cardboard was never considered in movie history as a viable monster threat, however in this movie everything is cardboard! The one eyed monster (not cardboard) that is slimy and scary that infects humans turning them into slimy one eyed monsters is scary, it will make you want to scream and run in agony! why? Because the movie is filmed in everybody's favorite Red and White film- yes red and white not black and white film, so it is impossible to really see what is going on in the movie(the light on Mars is red). When you compare the acting to the backdrops and cardboard sets, the acting is good, you actually start to get attached to the characters, for example the fat guy with the freeze ray gun that he talks to, the doctor who is amazed that there would be a giant cardboard spider on Mars and a lake of pure ammonia.
The plot of sending folks to Mars in a rocket ship was a popular theme back then, but this movie could not come up with its own variant, so the writers pulled from the other movies hoping that the moviegoer would not notice. If at all possible get some other movie to watch - like something done by High school drama club would be better!
Did I mention the cardboard monstes! March 8, 2008

angry red planet

angry red planet is a really good sci-fi movie. i first saw movie on
tv when i was a little kid and i thought movie was scary because of
all the monsters in movie. this movie is a real roller coster ride. February 8, 2008

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