#1966 Sci-Fi Film

[esonetwork]

Seconds | Episode 380

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Seconds | Episode 380

Jim discusses a unique Sci-Fi cult film from Director John Frankenheimer – 1966’s “Seconds,” starring Rock Hudson, John Randolph, Jeff Corey, Salome Jems, Richard Anderson, Will Geer, Murray Hamilton and Frances Reid. A middle-aged banker is given the opportunity to clean the slate of his life and start over. But, things don’t go as expected. Find out moe on this episode of MONSTER ATTACK!, The Podcast Dedicated To Old Monster Movies.

[mariocki]

Michael Craze pops up as Vince Kelly, a teenage runaway from a borstal centre, in Gideon's Way: Boy With Gun (1.23, ITC, 1966)

[femmefatalesmag]

Vol 1 No4 1993 | Raquel Welch for ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

[of-fear-and-love]

The Proteus submarine from Fantastic Voyage (1966)

[filmjunky-99]

f a h r e n h e i t 4 5 1, 1966 🎬 dir. françois truffaut

[cinemaheads]

Seconds (1966) dir. John Frankenheimer

“It's going to be different from now on. A new face and a name. I'll do the rest. I know it's going to be different.”

[splatteronmywalls]

[schlock-luster-video]

On April 30, 2014, cult film icon and Queen of Blood star Judi Meredith died in Las Vegas, Nevada.

R.I.P. (1936 - 2014)

[illustraction]

FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1966) - RAQUEL WELCH MOVIE POSTERS (Part 7/10)

This Sci-Fi classic is RAQUEL WELCH‘s first major movie but she didn’t get major billing and despite being prominently featured on the posters, her role was pretty limited to few scenes. Yet after her success in One Million Years B.C. (see Part 2), the movie was released internationally with her having top billing ensuring worldwide fame for many years to come.

Above are various rare movie posters from Belgium, Italy, Japan, Spain and the US (click on each poster for detail).

Director: Richard Fleischer Actors: Raquel Welch, Stephen Boyd, Donald Pleasence

All our RAQUEL WELCH posters are here

If you like this entry, check the other 9 parts of this week’s Blog as well as our Blog Archives

All our NEW POSTERS are here

All our ON SALE posters are here

The posters above courtesy of ILLUSTRACTION GALLERY

[pers-books]

INTERVIEW

Jemma Redgrave: ‘Doctor Who will keep me young’

The actress would be happy to be remembered for the sci-fi series, she tells Dominic Maxwell

Jemma Redgrave: “My character wanted to make her way on merit. That wasn’t difficult to play”

Dominic Maxwell

Saturday November 25 2023, 12.01am, The Times

Jemma Redgrave has a problem. “Every time I get a new office,” she says, “it blows up.” Granted, she admits, the first time we saw her office — in the 50th anniversary Doctor Who special of 2013 that featured Matt Smith and David Tennant — it was in the Tower of London, and that one has stayed standing. Otherwise, though, in her role as Kate Stewart, the head of the Doctor’s paramilitary allies UNIT, her workplaces seem to routinely explode. That they seem to get swankier and swankier each time only seems to make them more vulnerable to the zap gun.

She won’t give anything away, and the BBC is keeping under wraps each of the three 60th anniversary specials, which start tonight. Yet you have to fear for the giant floating Marvel-style Unit HQ that features in the trailer. Redgrave doesn’t appear until the final part, which pits David Tennant’s returning Doctor against Neil Patrick Harris’s Toymaker, a villain not seen since 1966. She will, however, be the one other holdover from the 50th anniversary specials. “Yes,” she says with a disbelieving smile over morning coffee in a north London café, “I think it’s just me and David.”

She and her sons, now aged 29 and 23, had watched the series ever since it returned, after 16 years off our screens (a one-off comeback starring Paul McGann aside), in 2005. She wondered for a while why seemingly every other actor she knew got a role in it. Hers, though, has proved to be the longest-running.

She first played Kate Stewart opposite Smith in an episode in 2012. She didn’t realise the significance of the surname at the time: Stewart is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the head of Unit from 1968 to 1975, during the eras of Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. All of which is catnip to the fans, some of whom, as emissaries from Doctor Who magazine, were on set doing a story on her first day. They helped her to join the dots.

As Kate Stewart in the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials (BBC)

Stewart, after all, didn’t use her full name. “She didn’t want to take advantage of her connections and wanted to make her way on merit,” Redgrave says. As the daughter of an actor (Corin Redgrave), the niece of two actresses (Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave), the granddaughter of actors (Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson) and the cousin of actresses (Joely Richardson and Natasha Richardson), she knew where Stewart was coming from. It can be tedious spending your time fending questions about how you’ve got where you are today, after all.

“That you’re some sort of nepo baby? It can be, can’t it? Sometimes those questions go on and on and on, many, many, many, many years down the line.” Redgrave, a gifted under-player of a scene, gives a surprisingly full-hearted chuckle. “So that wasn’t a difficult scene to play.”

Redgrave appears only sporadically, but has rubbed shoulders with six doctors: Smith, Tennant, Peter Capaldi, John Hurt (in the 50th special), Jodie Whittaker and, coming soon, Ncuti Gatwa, who will take the lead once Tennant’s celebratory trilogy is done.

There have been rumours that Stewart and UNIT are getting their own show, but Redgrave insists that this is news to her. Then again, it’s rare for her to be permitted to admit even that she is in the first Gatwa series. She has to sign an NDA each time she shoots the show so that nobody, with the exception of her partner, who may be staying with her in Wales during shooting anyway, knows what she is working on.

She understands the rationale for this, although it can become absurd. During lockdown, because travel was restricted, the BBC sent a car to her north London home to pick her up for filming. On the way to the car she bumped into Smith, who lives in the area, walking his dog. He asked where she was heading. Cardiff, she told him. He asked what she was working on. “I said, ‘I can’t possibly tell you. I’ve signed an NDA.’ And he said, ‘Oh well, send them all my love.’”

Redgrave is a young-looking 58. Her extensive stage work includes appearing in a London production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters with her aunts. Her TV work includes starring in the series Bramwell as well as recurring roles in Holby City, Grantchester, Silent Witness and Cold Blood. How would she feel if the world remembered her most for her sporadic role as the head of UNIT?

“I think that’s OK,” she says. “I grew up watching Jon Pertwee. And Jon Pertwee doesn’t change in my imagination. The people I grew up watching don’t get older in my imagination and I will remain in the imagination of the children who watch this 60th-year episode. And that is a kind of lovely thing. So I’m very happy to be remembered as Kate Stewart. Also, she’s a formidable woman. She has humour and heart and courage. And she’s vulnerable and aware of her limitations. So she’s kind of human in every possible way, even though she exists in a world of aliens and tech.”

On the subject of “the sci-fi stuff”, she admits that jargon and technobabble can be hard to play: the plot may need it, but it’s hard to bring much of yourself to. So she tries to find some emotional resonance of her own. “Either that or you just play it fast. It’s one or the other.”

She has found, too, that the fans will support her in other roles. Recently she appeared in a play, Octopolis, at the Hampstead Theatre in London. “And a lot of Who fans came to see that, which is a lovely thing. She’s a great character, but partly the reason that UNIT has continued through this series is because fans have been very vocal in their love of those storylines.”

When she was growing up, it took her a while to admit that she wanted to be an actress. “My parents split when I was young. My mum [Deirdre Hamilton-Hill] supported me and my brother. There wasn’t a lot of money around, but we did get taken to the theatre. And I think growing up in the theatre, and particularly not having a fear of Shakespeare because I encountered him on the stage and not in the classroom for the first time, was a great privilege.”

It was a trip to see the Wars of the Roses Shakespeare history plays at the RSC in Stratford when she was 13 that convinced her she wanted to act. “Before that I’d played my cards close to my chest. I didn’t have much confidence. I was quiet about it because there were a lot of people in my family who acted.” When she told her father, he gave her a complete Arden set of Shakespeare plays, and wrote “to commemorate your decision to become an actress” on the front page.

She went to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, after which she began to work regularly. She appeared in a TV film, The Relief of Belsen, with her father, and in Howards End with Vanessa, but beyond that has ploughed her own furrow. So is the family connection one she can celebrate at this point?

What’s lovely, she says, is going to a set and having crew members come up to her and tell her they worked with her father, or her aunt, or her cousin or her brother Luke, a successful cameraman. “And usually anybody who says ‘I’ve worked with somebody in your family’ says it because they loved working with them. So it’s suddenly not quite such an intimidating environment.”

Family fame is dwarfed by sci-fi fame anyway. “I’m ‘her from Doctor Who’. And if you’ve got a body of work behind you, people don’t talk about the name. I just feel lucky that I come from the family that I come from because I grew up with books and theatre, which is a proper privilege. There wasn’t a lot of money, but there was that, and that’s worth everything.”

Doctor Who is on BBC1 and iPlayer from November 25. Jemma Redgrave’s episode is on December 9

(Source)

[valerieandherweekofwonderz]

thank you for all you do! i just got into czech(o)slovak cinema because of you and was wondering if you had any favorite films on the GD that you recommend?

Hi! ❤️ Thank you for your words! I’m glad my blog has encouraged you to start exploring CS cinema! I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed 🙂

I’ll list my favourite films from each folder but you can’t go wrong with any film that you’ll find there.

30's - 40's

Divá Bára / Wild Barbara (1949) dir. by Vladimír Čech (drama)

Eva tropí hlouposti / Eva Fools Around (1939) dir. by Martin Frič (comedy, romance)

Podobizna / The Portrait (1947) dir. by Jiří Slavíček (drama, horror, mystery)

Fairy Tales

Byl jednou jeden král… / Once Upon a Time, There Was a King… (1954) dir. by Bořivoj Zeman

Jak se budí princezny / How to Wake Up Princesses (1977) dir. by Václav Vorlíček

Perinbaba / The Feather Fairy (1985) dir. by Juraj Jakubisko

Princ a Večernice / The Prince and the Evening Star (1978) dir. by Václav Vorlíček

Princezna se zlatou hvězdou / The Princess with the Golden Star (1959) dir. by Martin Frič

Pyšná princezna / The Proud Princess (1952) dir. by Bořivoj Zeman

S čerty nejsou žerty / Give the Devil His Due (1984) dir. by Hynek Bočan

Tři oříšky pro Popelku / Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973) dir. by Václav Vorlíček

Films directed by Juraj Herz

Morgiana (1972) (horror, drama)

Panna a netvor / Beauty and the Beast (1978) (fairy tale, horror, romance)

Petrolejové lampy / The Petroleum Lamps (1971) (drama)

Spalovač mrtvol / The Cremator (1968) (drama, horror)

Films directed by Karel Kachyňa

Kočár do Vídně / A Carriage Going to Vienna (1966) (drama, war)

Malá mořská víla / The Little Mermaid (1976) (fairy tale, drama)

Ucho / The Ear (1970) (drama, thriller)

Musicals / Opera

Noc na Karlštejně / A Night at Karlstein (1973) dir. by Zdeněk Podskalský

Films directed by Karel Zeman

Baron Prášil / The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961) (sci-fi, fantasy, adventure)

Čarodějův učeň / The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1977) (animated, horror, fairy tale)

Na kometě / On the Comet (1970) (sci-fi, fantasy, adventure)

Vynález zkázy / Invention for Destruction or The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958) (sci-fi, fantasy, adventure)

Other

Marketa Lazarová (1967) dir. by František Vláčil (drama, history)

Parodies / Comedies

Adéla ještě nevečeřela / Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet (1977) dir. by Oldřich Lipský

Dívka na koštěti / The Girl on the Broomstick (1971) dir. by Václav Vorlíček

Jak utopit Dr. Mráčka aneb Konec vodníků v Čechách / How to Drown Dr. Mracek, the Lawyer (1974) dir. by Václav Vorlíček

Jára Cimrman ležící, spící / Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping (1983) dir. by Ladislav Smoljak

Tajemství hradu v Karpatech / The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (1981) dir. by Oldřich Lipský

Recent Films

Fair Play (2014) dir. by Andrea Sedláčková (drama)

Kolja (1996) dir. by Jan Svěrák (comedy, drama)

Kytice / Wild Flowers (2000) dir. by F. A. Brabec (drama, horror, romance, poetic)

Pelíšky / Cosy Dens (1999) dir. by Jan Hřebejk (comedy, drama)

Requiem pro panenku / Requiem for a Doll (1991) dir. by Filip Renč (drama, thriller)

Želary (2003) dir. by Ondřej Trojan (drama, war, romace)

New Wave

Lásky jedné plavovlásky / Loves of a Blonde (1965) dir. by Miloš Forman (comedy, drama)

Slávnosť v botanickej záhrade / Celebration in the Botanical Garden (1969) dir. by Elo Havetta (comedy)

Slnko v sieti / The Sun in the Net (1962) dir. by Štefan Uher (drama)

Valerie a týden divů / Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) dir. by Jaromil Jireš (fantasy, horror)

Silent Films

Erotikon (1929) dir. by Gustav Machatý (drama, romance)

TV Series

Arabela (1980) dir. by Václav Vorlíček (comedy, fairy tale, fantasy)

Návštěvníci / The Visitors (1983) dir. by Jindřich Polák (sci-fi, comedy)

Films directed by Věra Chytilová

Ovoce stromů rajských jíme / We Eat the Fruit of the Trees of Paradise (1969) (CS new wave movement)

Sedmikrásky / Daisies (1966) (comedy, CS new wave movement)

Vlčí bouda / Wolf’s Hole (1986) (horror, drama)

Enjoy❣️

[scifigeneration]

ChatGPT and the movie ‘Her’ are just the latest example of the ‘sci-fi feedback loop’

by Rizwan Virk, Faculty Associate and PhD Candidate in Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology at Arizona State University

In May 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sparked a firestorm by referencing the 2013 movie “Her” to highlight the novelty of the latest iteration of ChatGPT.

Within days, actor Scarlett Johansson, who played the voice of Samantha, the AI girlfriend of the protagonist in the movie “Her,” accused the company of improperly using her voice after she had spurned their offer to make her the voice of ChatGPT’s new virtual assistant. Johansson ended up suing OpenAI and has been invited to testify before Congress.

This tiff highlights a broader interchange between Hollywood and Silicon Valley that’s called the “sci-fi feedback loop.” The subject of my doctoral research, the sci-fi feedback loop explores how science fiction and technological innovation feed off each other. This dynamic is bidirectional and can sometimes play out over many decades, resulting in an ongoing loop.

Fiction sparks dreams of Moon travel

One of the most famous examples of this loop is Moon travel.

Jules Verne’s 1865 novel “From the Earth to the Moon” and the fiction of H.G. Wells inspired one of the first films to visualize such a journey, 1902’s “A Trip to the Moon.”

The fiction of Verne and Wells also influenced future rocket scientists such as Robert Goddard, Hermann Oberth and Oberth’s better-known protégé, Wernher von Braun. The innovations of these men – including the V-2 rocket built by von Braun during World War II – inspired works of science fiction, such as the 1950 film “Destination Moon,” which included a rocket that looked just like the V-2.

Films like “Destination Moon” would then go on to bolster public support for lavish government spending on the space program.

Creative symbiosis

The sci-fi feedback loop generally follows the same cycle.

First, the technological climate of a given era will shape that period’s science fiction. For example, the personal computing revolution of the 1970s and 1980s directly inspired the works of cyberpunk writers Neal Stephenson and William Gibson.

Then the sci-fi that emerges will go on to inspire real-world technological innovation. In his 1992 classic “Snow Crash,” Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” to describe a 3-D, video game-like world accessed through virtual reality goggles.

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and innovators have been trying to build a version of this metaverse ever since. The virtual world of the video game Second Life, released in 2003, took a stab at this: Players lived in virtual homes, went to virtual dance clubs and virtual concerts with virtual girlfriends and boyfriends, and were even paid virtual dollars for showing up at virtual jobs.

This technology seeded yet more fiction; in my research, I discovered that sci-fi novelist Ernest Cline had spent a lot of time playing Second Life, and it inspired the metaverse of his bestselling novel “Ready Player One.”

The cycle continued: Employees of Oculus VR – now known as Meta Reality Labs – were given copies of “Ready Player One” to read as they developed the company’s virtual reality headsets. When Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021, it did so in the hopes of being at the forefront of building the metaverse, though the company’s grand ambitions have tempered somewhat.

Another sci-fi franchise that has its fingerprints all over this loop is “Star Trek,” which first aired in 1966, right in the middle of the space race.

Steve Perlman, the inventor of Apple’s QuickTime media format and player, said he was inspired by an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” in which Lt. Commander Data, an android, sifts through multiple streams of audio and video files. And Rob Haitani, the designer of the Palm Pilot’s operating system, has said that the bridge on the Enterprise influenced its interface.

In my research, I also discovered that the show’s Holodeck – a room that could simulate any environment – influenced both the name and the development of Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality glasses.

From ALICE to ‘Her’

Which brings us back to OpenAI and “Her.”

In the movie, the protagonist, Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, acquires an AI assistant, “Samantha,” voiced by Johansson. He begins to develop feelings for Samantha – so much so that he starts to consider her his girlfriend.

ChatGPT-4o, the latest version of the generative AI software, seems to be able to cultivate a similar relationship between user and machine. Not only can ChatGPT-4o speak to you and “understand” you, but it can also do so sympathetically, as a romantic partner would.

There’s little doubt that the depiction of AI in “Her” influenced OpenAI’s developers. In addition to Altman’s tweet, the company’s promotional videos for ChatGPT-4o feature a chatbot speaking with a job candidate before his interview, propping him up and encouraging him – as, well, an AI girlfriend would. The AI featured in the clips, Ars Technica observed, was “disarmingly lifelike,” and willing “to laugh at your jokes and your dumb hat.”

But you might be surprised to learn that a previous generation of chatbots inspired Spike Jonze, the director and screenwriter of “Her,” to write the screenplay in the first place. Nearly a decade before the film’s release, Jonze had interacted with a version of the ALICE chatbot, which was one of the first chatbots to have a defined personality – in ALICE’s case, that of a young woman.

The ALICE chatbot won the Loebner Prize three times, which was awarded annually until 2019 to the AI software that came closest to passing the Turing Test, long seen as a threshold for determining whether artificial intelligence has become indistinguishable from human intelligence.

The sci-fi feedback loop has no expiration date. AI’s ability to form relationships with humans is a theme that continues to be explored in fiction and real life.

A few years after “Her,” “Blade Runner 2049” featured a virtual girlfriend, Joi, with a holographic body. Well before the latest drama with OpenAI, companies had started developing and pitching virtual girlfriends, a process that will no doubt continue. As science fiction writer and social media critic Cory Doctorow wrote in 2017, “Science fiction does something better than predict the future: It influences it.”

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I know it came out pretty late in the 70s, but wouldn’t it be so cool if Shadow and Maria liked Star Wars? It could give Sonic and Shadow something in common (Sonic probably likes it) and it would be so funny if half of Sonic’s Star Wars references went straight over Shadow’s head and no one understands why.

I bet it would be Wade who figures out that since Shadow is from the 70s, he’s only seen A New Hope.

what do you think?

ASDFGHJKL! Aww, man! I love that headcanon! If you think about it, you could say the same thing with Star Trek (1966) and Dr. Who (1963). ❤️✨

Nerdy boys geeking out over sci-fi films/TV series.

[kraken17]

Godzillathon - The Showa Era

This month I started a Godzillathon, a series of reviews of all the King of the Monsters movies from Toho Studios. In my Letterboxd you have the reviews with more detail (in Spanish), but since I just finished with the Showa era, I thought I'd share some brief comments here.

Godzilla (1954) - ★★★★★ (10/10)

The original. An undisputed classic. A masterpiece. Terrifying, embracing its idea of the monster as a metaphor for the horror of the atomic bomb and its consequences. Top 5 of the whole kaiju eiga genre.

Godzilla Raids Again (1955) - ★★ (4/10)

In hardly less than a year we went from metaphorical horror to the most generic monster mash. It wouldn't be a problem if it weren't so bland/boring. Tremendous downgrade. Anguirus is cool, though.

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) - ★★★ (6/10)

Basically a Kong movie with Godzilla as a guest antagonist (the real villain is capitalism). It has things that have aged very badly (the racial representation and use of blackface) and unbalanced pacing. It is saved by its last ten minutes. The US cut adds extra hilarity.

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) - ★★★★ (8/10)

Mothra is made of awesomeness. Godzilla is a charismatic asshole. Once again, the real villain is capitalism. The main metaphor gives way  now to a satire of the Japanese economic boom of the 1960s and its ecological impact. Fun from start to finish.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) - ★★★½ (7/10)

We lose the satire and social commentary, but we gain an iconic villain and embrace space opera and sci-fi without qualms. Fun monster mash and Godzilla's first step in his transition to an anti-hero status. He's still a jerk, but he's our jerk.

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) - ★★★ (6/10)

The spectacle wins out over any subtext, which has all but disappeared. It introduces what will be a recurring element of alien invaders making use of giant monsters. Memorable for being overall a fun film and perhaps the craziest of what we've seen so far, but not much more. Also, Godzilla dances.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) - ★★½ (5/10)

Originally a Kong movie rewritten for Godzilla and it shows. Tropical jungle island adventure. Villains that could come out of a Bond movie. Godzilla in full heroic mode. GIANT LOBSTER. Fun, but doesn't leave much of a lasting impression, although Ebirah has its fans.

Son of Godzilla (1967) - ★★ (4/10)

Not as horribly bad as I feared, but not a good movie. Horrible design decisions, unremarkable antagonists (except for the giant spider because it’s a giant spider), and abusive monster parenting. It tries to squeeze in a bit of environmental commentary, but it's dull and infantilizing.

Destroy All Monsters (1968) - ★★★ (6/10)

The Avengers of the franchise. I wanted to like this movie more than I did. Two very uneven first and second acts of a story with a recycled plot (aliens + monsters under mind control) saved by a resolution that is memorable as fuck. You almost feel sorry for Ghidorah. Almost.

All Monsters Attack (1969) - ★½ (3/10)

The absolute low point of the franchise. It's like a bad dream/recap episode. Tries to do some slice of life with the monsters as a metaphor for childhood anxieties in a plot that shoehorns gratuitous kidnappings into it. Good intention but disastrous execution.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) - ★★★★ (8/10)

A return to form! Hedorah is an excellent metaphor for uncontrolled pollution and contamination. A bit dissonant, with Godzilla as a kid friendly hero (he flies!) in a terrifying plot, with body horror, human casualties in large numbers and an apocalyptic feeling. And that poor kitty...

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) - ★★★ (6/10)

Recycled plot of aliens (cockroaches!) using a giant monster. AGAIN. But it's fun and Gigan is memorable as one of Toho's most extravagant kaiju designs: anthropomorphic alien chicken with cool visor instead of eyes and knives. How many knives? All the knives.

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) - ★★ (4/10)

What the fuck. Total drift to Saturday morning cartoon standards, but poorly done. It's basically a pilot episode for Jet Jaguar, which is endearingly crappy. The plot? The usual, but swap aliens for ancient underwater civilization. Godzilla looks almost too adorable. Note, it actually has a message: nuclear testing is bad.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) - ★★★½ (7/10)

Twentieth anniversary and introduction of an iconic villain! And the plot... Guess what the plot is? Take a fucking guess. The aliens are now gorillas, just because. At least it's well executed, it's good fun. Also, King Caesar. I like King Caesar, even though he feels like a discount version of Mothra at times. Surprisingly gory in the fights.

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) - ★★★½ (7/10)

Direct sequel to the previous one. The end of the Showa era is a fun but a bit uneven film. Too much focus on a boring Titanosaurus (one of Toho's blandest kaiju designs). Good balance of monster fights and a human plot with touches of humanism and trans-humanism, and a tragic sacrificial ending.

[of-fear-and-love]

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

[brokehorrorfan]

Sci-Fi Chillers Collection will be released on May 21 via Kino Lorber. The Blu-ray set features three sci-fi/horror films: The Unknown Terror, The Colossus of New York, and Destination Inner Space.

1957's The Unknown Terror is directed by Charles Marquis Warren and written by Kenneth Higgins. John Howard, Mala Powers, Paul Richards, and May Wynn star.

1958's The Colossus of New York is directed by Eugène Lourié (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) and written by Thelma Schnee, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury. Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, and Kenneth Tobey star.

1966's Destination Inner Space is directed by Francis D. Lyon and written by Arthur C. Pierce. Scott Brady, Gary Merrill, Sheree North, and Wende Wagner star.

All three films have been have been scanned in 4K by Paramount Pictures. Special features are listed below.

Special features:

The Unknown Terror audio commentary by film historian Stephen Bissette (new)

The Colossus of New York audio commentary by film historians Tom Weaver, Larry Blamire, and Ron Adams

Destination Inner Space audio commentary by film historians David Del Valle and Stan Shaffer

The Colossus of New York interview with film historians Tim Lucas and Steven Bissette

Destination Inner Space interview with film historians Tim Lucas and Steven Bissette

The Colossus of New York theatrical trailer

In The Unknown Terror, a millionaire (John Howard) leads a remote jungle expedition to find the legendary “Cave of the Dead” where his wife’s (Mala Powers) brother had disappeared long ago. Instead, they stumble upon a mad doctor who has created a horde of foam-spewing, fungus-covered monster-men. In The Colossus of New York, when a brilliant scientist (Ross Martin) is accidentally killed, his preserved brain is transferred to the body of a giant robot so that it can continue to serve mankind. But when it gains awareness of its own hideousness, this steel colossus embarks on a rampage of destruction. In Destination Inner Space, when an object of unknown origin is detected in the area of an underwater laboratory, scientists investigate and come face to face with the object—an extraterrestrial saucer! They board the craft and discover a mysterious cylinder, which they take back to the lab for closer inspection. It is then that events take a monstrous turn!

Pre-order Sci-Fi Chillers Collection.