The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection: Volume 1 (Tarantula / The Mole People / The Incredible Shrinking Man / The Monolith Monsters / Monster on the Campus) [DVD]

. Universal, justly famous for its monster movies of the 1930s like the original DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN, rose to prominence again in the 1950s with its science-fiction movies that often had a monstrous tinge. In THE CLASSIC SCI-FI ULTIMATE COLLECTION, it has given us a wonderful collection of five of their best from that decade. No bells, no whistles, but flawless print quality. In roughly descending order of quality (and allowing for differences in opinion), they are as follows: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957). Genres come and go, but people will be watching this years into the future for its depiction of man in extremis. Grant Williams stars (and holds down the last half of the picture by himself) as a man exposed to a radioactive mist who begins shrinking beyond the ability of modern medicine to control. First he becomes a kind of freak, then shrinks so far his wife and brother cannot locate him. The special effects, that put Williams in his basement but smaller than a matchbox or a house spider, are wonderful. Instead of growing more horrific, the film ends on a note of transcendent grace. It must be seen to be believed. TARANTULA (1955). An excellent film among "creature features." A giant tarantula escapes the laboratory of an increasingly mad scientist (Leo G. Carroll), grows larger, and stalks and terrorizes a small town who are at wit's end to deal with its predations. Special effects are excellent and impressive even today, as is the supporting cast, which includes John Agar, Mara Corday and Hank Patterson. Look fast for a young Clint Eastwood as a jet fighter pilot. THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957). Really on the same level of quality as the above TARANTULA, this one deals with a "monster" in the form of minerals that fell to earth in a meteorite and grow when wet, threatening a small desert town. The human interactions are believable, and the “invading” crystals, for all their other-wordliness, are very well portrayed. The cast includes Grant Williams, Lola Albright and Les Tremayne. THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956). An extremely improbable scenario, yet still an absorbing movie. John Agar and Hugh Beaumont head up a cast of archaeologists who stumble across a hidden, and literally underground, remnant of ancient Sumerian civilization. With Cynthia Patrick as the outcast girl who is treated little better than a slave in that weird society. The acting, particularly by the Sumerians, cannot help but be a little stagey but the sets are well done and the plot, for all its improbability, holds together. MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958). Arthur Franz heads up a solid cast as the college scientist who is bitten by an imported coelacanth with mysterious powers. Joanna Moore plays his terrified girlfriend. Essentially a high-tech variation on the Jekyll-and-Hyde myth, this is the closest to the campy fright-night special that so many people consider typical of Fifties movies. Troy Donahue has a small role as one of the rare undergraduates on this only-in-the-movies college campus. An enjoyable "bad movie." At this price -- and again, considering that print quality is pristine -- this collection is a very compelling buy. .

Love these old sci-fi movies! They made these with what they had to work with. No computer generated special effects.

Similar to another reviewer, the reason I bought this set is because it included The Incredible Shrinking Man—that disc alone is worth the price of the set, since it is difficult to find. (I used to own the laser disc version—boy was that gorgeous, too bad that format died. The resolution was wonderful.) Shrinking Man needs no further accolades from me; it is a fine example of late 50’s sci fi, an intelligent script by Richard Matheson (who also penned many classic Twilight Zone episodes, including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”). It is enjoyable entirely on its own merits (i.e., not for ironic, snarky, Mystery Science Theater-type viewing). If you grew up in the 50s or 60s, then the charm of these movies needs no explanation. The films on this collection that are directed by Jack Arnold (Shrinking Man, Tarantula, Monster on the Campus) are better than the other two. The Mole People is far more plodding than I remembered from my childhood, and even though it has John Agar (whose triumph of B-movie stardom is surely The Brain from Planet Arous—a must watch for fans of this era), Hugh Beaumont, and Nestor Paiva, the pace is glacially slow, though the concept (discovery of an ancient Sumerian-like civilization deep underneath the earth’s crust) is interesting. However, the Mole people themselves do not appear often enough for my liking. Monster on the Campus surprised me. I had never seen it before, and was expecting it was a throw-away item included on the set, but it’s actually quite well done for the genre. It does have some hilarious moments and great lines: Professor Blake: “Do you know anything about paleontology?” Nurse Molly: “Only that very attractive men study it!”, etc. It’s got a coelacanth, a giant dragonfly, a decent professor-turned-monster, and a young Troy Donahue, what’s not to like? Not great acting, but great fun. Monolith Monsters is adequate; the idea (meteorite that grows, cracks, multiplies, and turns to stone all who come into contact with it—just add water) was from Jack Arnold, but unfortunately was directed by someone else—the deft hand of Mr. Arnold would likely have speeded things up. The film does feature Grant Williams, the star of Shrinking Man, and a funny cameo by B-movie stalwart William Schalert, but it lacks punch.

Several good movies

A VERY GREAT COLLECTION OF CLASSIC MOVIES. GREAT FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AT HOME.

you can't beat this type of sci-fi. i used to watch these way back in the late 50's!

Entrega rápida, en excelentes condiciones

Universal pone a la venta este paquete con cinco clásicos de la ciencia ficción cincuentera, separadas en 3 discos. Cada DVD tiene un pequeño menu al inicio que deja seleccionar cada película, solo eso, la presentación es austera pero para ser películas de serie b la verdad es que la imagen no esta nada mal, no contiene extras y el audio es solo en ingles sin subtítulos al español. Todas los discos estan en region 1 por lo que deberán tener un reproductor compatible para reproducirlos. La entrega llego antes de lo previsto y sin ningún problema.

Estas películas las vi en mi juventud, y mucho las disfrute, ahora las vuelvo a gozar. excelente audio y video, muy buena imagen. muy buenos títulos, para los aficionados a la fantasia y ciencia ficción, muy recomedables. Ojalá las programaran con subtitulos en español, pues únicamente contienen subtitulos en inglés, aunque se le entiden bien