Mission Mars Collection
Image Entertainment
R1 DVD
The
Mission Mars Collection is a set of 1950’s B Grade sci-fi titles - Flight to Mars (1951), Attack From Mars (1988)
and Invaders From Mars (1953).
The
set opens with Flight to Mars (1951),
directed by Lesley Selander and including lots of
very stilted acting and macho mannerisms, the film is amazingly dialogue heavy
but with some rather fun special effects. It tries to be “hard science fiction”
including all manner of speculation about space and science but by the time
they land on Mars this has all gone out the window.
The
plot is about four scientists and a news reporter travelling to Mars on a
scientific quest. They find the planet populated by a strangely human-like Martian
species with old men who wear strange outfits and girls in very short skirts ! While they are at first greeted with friendship and
offered the technology to repair their damaged craft, soon they discover a
nefarious plot is afoot to steal their atomic know-how and declare war on
earth. With the assistance of Alita and Tillamar, a dissenting member of the Martian government,
they are able to repair their ship and return to earth, bringing Alita with them as a wife for Dr.Jim
Barker, the leader of the expedition and Tillamar to
negotiate for his planet with the earth’s government.
The
second film in the collection is Attack From Mars (1988) and was made as some sort of send-up of
1950’s science fiction, to be honest the less said about it the better. I
presume it is included in the set as it was the books of Image Entertainment
and they weren’t sure what to do with it. I certainly would have preferred
another Fifties Mars sci fi film in the set, but the other two more
than make up for it. So ignore it and watch the others !
Invaders
from Mars (1953)
is considered a classic of Fifties science fiction
entertainment. David Maclean is a young boy obsessed with astronomy and looking
out of his window very early one morning sees a flying saucer land and burrow
below the ground. His Dad goes to investigate and returns later in the day
somehow different. Soon more and more locals are being transformed, each with
an X on the back of their neck caused by a brain implant. Soon David is at the
centre of a battle between a Martian race and the military who
are creating an atomic rocket to travel to space. Filled with Fifties paranoia
about communism, mind control, brainwashing and even some reflections on the
nature of authority it is an excellent example of Fifties sci
fi. There are even some mu-tants and a cool alien
floating head ! Included are both the US and UK
editions of the film.
Invaders
from Mars has a presence which is actually rather endearing. It has some
powerful imagery and excellent cinematography for the period. The men in suits
as alien mutant slaves might seem dated but when you move past its limitations
it is quite successful. The sense of paranoia and fear about communism coupled
with an untrammelled adoration for science and atomic energy still communicates
well even after fifty years.
The Mission Mars
Collection is great value and
certainly worth getting hold of.
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