THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE(1961)***1/2 out of **** Directed by Val Guest Starring Edward Judd,Janet Munro,LeoMcKern unrated 101 minutes Released by Anchoe Bay Home Video
Now that we are going thru one of the hottest heat waves in this Summer of 2011 in the US this week,I think it appropiate to review what I consider not only of the the best British science fiction film ever filmed as well as one of the ten best sci-fi films ever made but one of the few convincingly realistic science fiction films that is just as relevant today as when it was when this film was first made fifty years ago,taking into consideration our current fears of global warming, the deployment of the ozone layer and the shrinking of the North and South Pole. Co-written by Wolf Mankowitz and director Val Guest which won them both the 1961 British Academy Award(BAFTA) for Best Original Screenplay,this starkingly realistic film deals with a British tabloid reporter played by Edward Judd(ISLAND OF TERROR,THE VENGEANCE OF SHE) who accidentily discovers that the Earth has suddenly shifted it's rotation of it's axis due to nuclear testing made by both the US & Soviet Russia on the polar icecaps and now the planet is rotating closer and closer to the Sun giving Mankind only four months to solve the problem before the Earth get totally burned to a crisp by the Sun. Although definitely low budget, the film has very convincing special visual effects that realistically convey the intense heat waves caused by the phenomenon and director Guest filmed the beginning and the last ten minutes of the film with a reddish tint that gives the convincing effect of an overly heated world coming close to total destruction. The acting by the main principals leads.Judd,Munro(DARBY O'GILL & THE LITTLE PEOPLE) and McKern(RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY) is nothing less than excellent and Director Gill gives a documentary feel to the film to adds greatly to the effect and enjoyment of the film,taking into consideration that the real news offices of the British tabloid the Daily Express were used to film the newspaper scenes with various of the real life reporters and news editors of the paper appearing as themselves in the film Although this is a great film as it is, I personally think that the relevancy of the film's topic can easily be remade today with today's effective CGI effects and with a cast of possibly actors like Russell Crowe,Liam Neeson and Kate Winslow in the roles made famous by Judd.McKern and Munro in this film, as long as the possible remake contains the film's setting in Britain just like the original and has the same excellent documentarian feel the original film has.The Anchor Bay US DVD release has the film in an excellent anamorphic widescreen with mono sound with special feature extras as an entertaining audio commentary by writer/director Guest about the making of the film as well as a photo/poster gallery, TV and theatrical trailers of the film and radio ads.a Val Guest biography and filmography and a four page booklet that contains information about the film. In my honest opinion, THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE is a bonafide sci-fi classic that despite being made 50 years ago, still entertains and makes us think about the possibility of the film's main topics.
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