Target Earth (1954)

One of the best films i have seen

Boring

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Some people wake up in a city like Chicago and miss a mass evacuation that took place. One is a woman who tried to take her own life. Another was a victim of a mugging who was passed out. What is interesting is that in a city of this size, with hospitals and other facilities that would have been difficult to evacuate, a handful of people are left and virtually no sign of anyone. Well, robots from Venus have arrived and are annihilating the populace. Two party people are having a great time drinking champaign at hotels and bars that are left behind. There are two other figures that show up, including a cowardly man and a gangster. Of course, both of these create issues for the main characters. Meanwhile, the army is trying to figure a way to kill these robots which have a death ray. A very typical fifties sci fi movie. The robots are pretty ridiculous in appearance--just guys in robot suits.

A group of people wake up to find their city deserted due to an invasion of alien robots from Venus. While the military tries to figure out a way to fight back, these people hole themselves up in a hotel where they are safe. That is, until a psychopath shows up! After an impressive start, it drags some as they sit around the hotel room scared of the robots outside. The cast is decent, with stars like Richard Denning and Virginia Grey leading the way. Both were somewhat successful but should've been bigger than they were in their respective careers. Beautiful Kathleen Crowley and character actors Richard Reeves, Arthur Space, and Whit Bissell are also good. Robert Roark, however, is another story. According to the trivia section here on IMDb, he got this part because his father would only invest in the film if they cast him. I can believe that as he's the weakest part of the cast and seems to be imitating characters he saw in other movies.The interactions between the group are pretty clichéd and cheesy but somehow I couldn't help but like them (except Roark) due to the charisma of the actors. It's kind of funny to watch Denning deduce the invaders are from Venus because of stuff he learned from reading his friend's sci-fi magazines in college. The inevitable romance between he and Crowley comes on super fast, with them falling for each other hard within hours of meeting. This is made all the more implausible when you see how much of a jerk he is to her in the first part of the film.As others have pointed out, the special effects are limited. There's one rather silly-looking robot that they keep filming yet they tell us there's supposed to be a whole army. Look, '50s sci-fi was the best but sometimes its charm was in its goofiness. The robot here is pretty goofy. The actual invasion stuff takes place off-screen and stock footage is used a little too much. Still, despite its shortcomings, it's an entertaining movie.

Considering that this film was made on a tiny budget that wouldn't even allow the creation of more than one robot costume for the film (as well as the robot looking awfully silly), this is an amazingly successful film. That's because despite the budget, the writing was awfully good and the lesser-known actor (Richard Denning) who played lead was very good as well. Denning is best known for playing the recurring role of the Governor in "Hawaii 5-0 but here in a much earlier role he's more than up to the task.The film begins with a lady awakening to find that the city is deserted. What few people she does find are dead. Eventually, she finds Richard Denning alive and well. It seems both had been unconscious during the night when some evacuation was ordered--but why was the city evacuated and how did the people who were left behind die? Later, they meet several more stragglers who are left and they find a newspaper that announced that the city was being invaded! By whom is discovered quickly when they see a killer robot walking the streets--the invasion was not from our planet! So how are they able to make this idea work? Well, the writing was very good and excelled when the film investigates human nature--the sign of a good sci-fi film. How the people react (some good, some bad) and how the humans are able to eventually defeat the robots is pretty exciting stuff.

Crackerjack opening: awakening from a deep, self-induced slumber, Nora King discovers a strange new world. Imagine, for a moment, you wake-up, after an evening of popping pills, to find that everyone has vanished. You are left alone in a quiet, empty metropolis. You search the city streets and edifices for signs of life. You find nothing. And fear begins to creep into your thoughts. Target Earth, a b-movie pioneer from the 50's, begins in such a manner. It's a powerful beginning. After about ten minutes of screen time, Miss King meets a business man, Frank, from Detroit. A few stops later they hear music and stumble across a married couple, bickering and boozing it up at a high class joint. A nervous fellow soon joins the quartet--but is dispatched quickly by one of the army (never seen) of robots from Venus. Of course this makes very little scientific sense on any reasonable level. But we are along for the ride, anyway. I enjoyed the performances by the four main characters. I also felt Robert Roark's "killer" was quite good and smart. Towards the end we get a burst of ice cold violence. Not unexpected. The one mechanical man we do see is properly menacing despite the crack in his view plate. I wish the final had been filmed on the roof of a real building, instead of an indoor set. And a few more shots of the robot vaporizing some soldiers would have been appreciated.