Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12639 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-02-06
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Formats: Black & White, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 77 minutes

Synopsis
Ray Bradbury's classic story of a visitation from space. The aliens are benign creatures but are not so perceived by the paranoid people of the small desert town where the alien ship has landed. An amateur astronomer makes a plea for reason before mutual fear destroys both sides.

Customer Reviews

Classic Sci-Fi
This 1950's Sci-fi classic is well worth getting. It influenced a number of films that followed it and stands up well, even now, over 50 years later.

Really its only obvious weakness is the alien spacecraft in flight, which special effect wise is very poor. However, in most other areas this is a great film. The acting is pretty good, the other special effects are well done and best of all is the sense of paranoia that runs throughout the film. Seeing this film at the Cinema in the 1950's must have been some experience for the audience as there is a sense of foreboding which must have been very unusual in its day.

In the end of course this being 'Hollywood' we know everything will be alright in the end, but this film keeps you guessing right to the very end.

Much superior to other sci-fi of the era
I originally saw this movie "It Came from Outer Space" aka "Strangers from Outer Space" on a 14" black and whit TV as a child. And believe me I was seeing eyes all over the place for several nights.

John Putnam (Richard Carlson of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" fame) an amateur astronomer was watching the desert sky with his girl, Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) a local school teacher, when a strange meteor came down near buy. John, first to reach it swore he saw a door shut. We see it and believe him. However no one else does. What will happen next? Watch and find out.

You can spot a Jack Arnold film by the pacing and initial dialog. This one gave me nightmares as a kid. However now when I watch this film now, I can enjoy the DOWN TO EARTH portrayal of misplaced aliens. You get the alien view from its innards. I was disappointed to find that this is not a 3-D film. I also have the children's book of this with still shots. Your next film to view is "OUT THERE" (1995) an HBO film staring Bill Campbell and Wendy Schaal. It shows real alien interaction with people and accordions.

There is always hope that a 3D version has survived and will surface in the form of a DVD.

No suspense
A meteorite crashes into the desert and John (Richard Carlson) and
Ellen (Barbara Rush) along with friend Pete are first on the scene.
John goes deep into the crash site and sees a spaceship buried in the
rubble before things start crumbling around him and he heads back up to
safety. The scene is now covered with rubble and no-one believes his
story. Furthermore, he believes that some alien life-forms have escaped
from the spaceship. They have. And they can take human form which they
do. They take up residence in a disused mine-shaft before the
finale....

The problem with the film is that there is no suspense. It is never
really very exciting. There is a good confrontation at the end between
John and Ellen, who is really an alien, in the mine-shaft but that is
the only real stand-out part of the film. The aliens are laughably bad
when we see them.

Its a film with silly creatures that's OK. It runs its course and
that's that - not very interesting really.