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Released by: Dark Sky Films
Released on: May 20th, 2006.
Director: Wesley Barry/Antonio Margheriti
Cast: Don MeGowan, Erica Elliott, Don Doolittle, George Milan, Dudley Manlove/Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Ombretta Colli, Enzi Fiermonte, Halina Zalewska
Year: 1962/1965
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Creation Of The Humanoids/War Between The Planets - Movie Review:
Dark Sky Films offers up a double dose of vintage sci-fi with this DVD release from 2006.
THE CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS:
In the not too distant future the Earth has been leveled by a nuclear war. With most of mankind unable to reproduce, top scientists have created a race of robot men with sickly green skin and no hair that are soon given the nickname of 'Clickers.' Not everyone is down with the Clickers, however, as we soon learn that Cragis (Don Megowan), the man in charge of a human preservation society called The Order Of Flesh And Blood, want to eliminate them all. Why would he want to eliminate the Clickers? It seems one went rogue and killed his creator, Doctor Raven (Don Doolittle).
Cragis has trouble rallying the support he needs to get his plan underway so he tries to convince his brethren within The Order Of Flesh And Blood that the Clickers need to be taken down before they all share the same fate that the unfortunate Doctor Raven was dealt. Shock of shocks, soon Cragis finds out that his hottie sister is not only a fan of the Clickers, she's also getting it on with one! It's almost too much for the man to take but thankfully love comes knocking on his door in the form of the equally hot Maxine (Erica Elliott) and the two soon fall head over heels in love with one another. Unfortunately for Cragis, love proves to be his own undoing as soon the world learns of his deepest and darkest secrets…
Wow, is this movie ever budget. The sets look like they're made out of cardboard and plastic and the Clickers themselves are just bald guys in green face paint who periodically look like they're doing 'The Robot.' It's great! Don't even for a second think of taking this one seriously, even if it was intended that way - it'll likely cause brain damage, but if you enjoy a good 'so bad it's good' slice of tasty cinematic trash, this one goes down smoothly. The main flaw of the film is that not much actually happens in it. Normally a 'humans versus robots' sci-fi film would have some action set pieces to keep us excited and curious, but no, they don't even try that with this one and instead there's a lot of dialogue. Thankfully the dialogue is horrible enough that it's entertaining in its own odd way, and the movie succeeds mainly for that reason alone.
WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS:
In an equally dire future, this time the Earth gets screwed not by nuclear weapons and atomic bombs but by massive flooding and other horrendous natural disasters. Why is this happening? Because there's a planet of approximately the same sized closing in and soon the Earth will collide with this other planet unless something can be done about it to save mankind. Major cities have already been whipped right off the map, and things are looking very grim indeed.
Mankind's only hope lies inside a small rocket ship housing some of the brightest minds and top scientists that the Earth has to offer. Unfortunately, being human as they are, not everyone sees eye to eye on this fantastic journey and a lot of infighting ensues. After the human drama is taken care of, however, a team heads out to investigate the planet that is causing all of these problems in the first place, and what they find is a world very different from our own.
Stylish and colorfully directed by Antonio Margheriti (credited here as Anthony Dawson, his usual pseudonym for North American releases of his films) this one is easily confused with the similarly titled War Of The Planets, also directed by Dawson and released in 1966. The film here is a pretty cool looking movie with lots of gooey red hues used the accent the alien world and some very nice primary lighting gels thrown around quite a bit. Unfortunately, as pretty as the movie is to look at, it's just as dull to sit through as to be honest, not much goes on in this one. The effects are great and the dubbed performers sufficiently campy so the movie is definitely watchable, just be prepared for long stretches of talk and few stretches of action. The trademark Margheriti miniatures are used in a few effects shot, obviously so at times, which add to the movie's charm.
Creation Of The Humanoids/War Between The Planets - DVD Review:
Both films look nice by the standards of a 2006 DVD release, though obviously they can't compete with a proper Blu-ray. Both are framed here at 1.85.1 and enhanced for anamorphic playback. The color reproduction is nice and bright with bright reds and cool blues looking exceptionally good. Black levels are decent though some of the darker scenes show some moderate grain. Print damage is really minor, only showing up as the odd speck here and there. Edge enhancement isn't too noticeable though some minor compression artifacts show up once or twice. Overall though, both movies look really nice on this disc.
The films are presented with decent Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtracks, with War Between The Planets obviously dubbed into English. Quality is alright, but it's nothing spectacular either as there is some hiss in a few scenes and the occasional pop or two that creeps into the mix. For the most part though, the dialogue is clean and clear and things are fine. Optional English subtitles are provided for each film but not for the extras.
This isn't so stacked in terms of supplements but in between features Dark Sky throws up some concession stand commercials and a few trailers (all for Dark Sky properties either already released or coming to DVD soon) in order to recreate the fun of the drive-in experience, which is a nice touch.
Creation Of The Humanoids/War Between The Planets - The Final Word:
There's plenty of fun to be had for the kitschy sci-fi enthusiast in your home with this Dark Sky double feature. Both Creation Of The Humanoids and War Between The Planets are fun little slices of pop art and they're given a fine presentation on this release.
