42 odpowiedzi

1. The eclipse this past Monday mad me think of Phase IV.

2. Another great episode! The Wolper/sci-fi connection might be explained by Chariots of The Gods — which I'm sure you'll remember came out around the same time. Its success inspired a number of other similar venture about Noah's Arc, Bigfoot, etc. — all of which were dismissed as rubbish by the scientific and history communities.

3. Saw Phase IV as a kid in 1976 or 77 when I become obsessed with all things science fiction (despite having no aptitude for science) and it should come as no surprise that it freaked me out. It has some pacing issues (well, it was his first directorial work) but as you say, a memorable film.

4. Thanks for bringing these three movies back before a youtube audience. Loved these as a kid. But the idea that Phase IV was the origin of Crop Circles might be a bit of a stretch. Modern crop circles seem to have taken off in the 60's in Australia and Canada. Read about it on the internet.
   I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you meant to say, this movie gave hoaxers the idea of putting geometric designs in a crop field, of a supposed alien intelligence in an attempt to communicate with humanity.

5. Phase IV is an amazing movie, great idea and execution.

6. Wolper did one of my favorite War Flic… 'Bridge at Remagen'!

7. Once again… you send me on the hunt. And I can't thank you enough. I've seen Empire of the ants many times, but the other 2 are completely new to me. Can't wait to check em out. Thanks again!!!

8. I think of Peter Lorre as the prototypical "Sick Puppy" M to Mad Love and more I've not seen I'm sure

9. Hello Terry! These three films were, eventually, common on Friday / Saturday night Creature Feature type movie shows on TV when I was a kid. I like them all, but as you said Phase IV is something special. I wish more people knew about it. It really rocked my world as a 10 year old! I have not seen it in several years. I think I will take your advice and revisit it soon. Cheers!

10. I concur with you (and all the other commenters) that Phase IV is a great science fiction film. I love stories that deal with how we would communicate with a truly alien intelligence, and even though the ants are terrestrial their mindset is so different from ours that they might as well be from another planet. Never heard of The Hellstrom Chronicle before, but now I need to find it. Thanks Terry for another interesting and informative video, and congrats on 10K!

11. Empire of the Ants is a fun Saturday afternoon movie. Phase IV–OMG…I saw it when it was broadcast on American network abc ( I thought it was made-for-tv movie) and was puzzled by the ending as aired; I recently saw the original ending on YouTube…talk about mind blowing ( BTW I like the term "mind/brain cannon"). Thanks for posting.

12. So, you thought ZARDOZ is a "dogs' breakfast", but you PHASE FOUR for is genius? Well, I don't despise PHASE FOUR like you do ZARDOZ, Terry, I do think that it's a more pretentious version of a Fifties big bug movie, and it reminds me more of DEMON SEED (where the voice of Robert Vaughn played a sadomasochistic computer while trying to convince the audience it was "deep"!) than anything else.

13. Thank you, Terry, for consistently bringing me to (or back to) entertaining and thoughtful movies like Phase IV. This world still has plenty of time to evolve other and possibly more durable apex species after humanity goes the way of the dinosaurs. Why not ants?

14. Phase IV. Say no more. Looking forward to checking the others out as well.

15. Here is a link to the alternate ending of Phase IV
    https://youtu.be/0rMqT4GD944

16. You mean those, er I mean THEM !! ? 😄
    Of the two ant AI movies you mentioned I thought Food of the Gods was much better than Empire of the Ants, though I am not sure why. It was just much more fun to watch.
    David L. Wolper, BTW, was responsible for most of the major mini-series of the 1970s & 1980s including Roots (and its sequels) and The Thorn Birds which was most of America's introduction to Australia before Crocodile Dundee. Much of what we know of your country is from Wolper (which is a sad commentary on the U.S. education system).
    I have seen Phase IV only once and did not care for it at the time. I think I'll give it another try in light of your review. Thank you.

17. I remember seeing Phase IV as a kid, it was shown as part of a creature feature season on TV – and I hated it. But perhaps I was just to young to understand the film, and should revisit it? Funnily enough, I saw the blu-ray in a shop just a few days ago, maybe I'll go back and pick it up.

18. It's not really true that the notion of crop circles begins with Phase IV; they were widely accounted in UFO literature of the 50s and 60s under the name "UFO nests" (though the name is misleading — many of these cases involved 'nests' that didn't match the size or shape of observed crafts), and it's under this name that Jacques Vallee discusses them at some length in his 1969 book Passport to Magonia.

19. Hey Terry, when are you going to go on HARD QUIZ?

20. It may be because I was a kid and found documentary’s depressing. I remember a feeling of bleakness after seeing The Hellstrom chronicles. I’ll have to watch it as an adult. Note: I became an atheist and left Catholic school for public school and though I was picked because my looks. My out look was more positive.

21. Yep, I knew I was off base when I DELIBERATELY mentioned "Antz," "A Bug's Life," "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," and "The Ant and the Aardvark."

    Anyway, to be more on base (or should I say "ON BASS"), I've first seen "Phase IV" on TV when I was less than 10 years old (apparently a few years after the theatrical release). I didn't get to see the whole movie, due to bed time. Some years later, I've used a VCR to record the movie. Well, I didn't set the timer quite right, which is why it stop after Nigel Devenport said to Lynne Frederick "YOU!" Ain't that a bummer? Some years later, my cousin made copies of the KTMA episodes of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." They were bootleg copies on not DVD but Video CD. By then, I was FINALLY able to see the whole movie (beyond that "YOU!" moment). They're bad but watchable copies (what can you expect from bootlegs?). I wanted to get that Blu-ray release, but couldn't get it at a price I would rather pay. Someone once outbid my on eBay. Gotta try some more, sooner or later. Whenever I finally get it, I would get to see it again in High Definition.

    Oh yes, here's a link to that MST3K episode, in better quality:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YlYz6Nzq-s

22. loved your ant-motion intro!! good to know about the green ants too! i promise to leave all insects alone in their environments…but if they come into my house, it's WAR! really want to get a copy of "The Hellstrom Chronicle", and it's kinda odd that amazon only has the poster, the soundtrack album (and the F. Herbert book you talk about) for sale… but not the film. the guy that plays Hellstrom brings to mind the term "Amber-alert"!! that the Hellstrom Chronicle was played in a double with Willy Wonka is insane! but hey…ants and candy to go together! Phase IV is an absolute classic. There are crop circle descriptions that pre-date that period though, but like all reports concerning crop circles there's scant reportage and even less scientific research. Willaim Gazecki did a doco ("Crop Circles; Quest for Truth") on them in 2002 and tried to keep an even-handed balance between those who are totally convinced of alien intervention/fairy-magic/Gaia and those scientists who'd done as much research as possible at that time. The whole thing would in itself make for a good "based on a true story" type film, without ever stating where or why. Personally, i just think they're great art, and for my last lot of tattoos left the artist with the notion for designs "that when all else fails…think crop circles!" As for the appalling way Lynne Frederick was treated, that's very sad. Dare i say that story would also make for an interesting bio-film or doco. Are the tabloid press as "bad" as mutated hording insects? Probably much worse!! But as for "Phase IV" I think only "The Andromeda Strain"(1971?) reminds me of some of its aesthetics and serious approach to science and dealing methodically with a phenomenon. thank you for another loving overview of the sub-category of insect related fantasy films that are Ants! There's a lot of spider related ones (yech!) but only one that I know has worms as its star…"Squirm"!

23. My misadventure with Ants happened when I kicked a fire ant hive.
    I still remember to this day , the pain of those bites .

24. I saw Phase IV on TV when I was 7 or 8 years old. I knew I was watching something special, and was transfixed by the visuals. It stuck with me. I never heard anyone talk about the film til I was in art school in the 90s. At the graduate students final show, one of the exhibits was an old desk, sealed, and full of raging bees. On top of the desk was a little TV showing Phase IV, next to a 70's VHS tape box of the movie. From 75, when I saw the movie, til 94, when I saw that exhibit, I never heard, or read a single word about the movie. There it was on a shitty old TV screan. I sad "It was real" in front of someone, and the memories of the movie flooded back into my brain. The TOWERS!!! THE ANTS!!
    I heard the bees all died, and everyone was mad at the artist.
    That movie is crazy good.

25. Didn't know about Empire of the Ants or The Hellstrom Chronicles but I had heard about Frank Herbert's novel "Hellstrom's Hive. It's suppsed to be quite good. So he actually wrote it because he was inspired by the movie. Nice find!
    Regarding Phase IV, I liked it as a (weird) kid who found insects and spiders fascinating but with the ending I was like WTF, cut it with the psychedelic stuff and tell me what's happened. So, I guess I have to find the original ending now. …That and Guillermo del Toro's director's cut of Mimic *sigh*…

26. I always Like Michael Morarty. Phase IV is one of those movies that you have to stop what you are doing and pay attention to the movie. If you are only have watching it, you lose a lot of the little details that make it tense and compelling. Then the ants do not feel very threatening and it loses its punch

27. I still love Empire of the Ants, That documentary sounds interesting I will have to keep an eye out for it. I haven't watched Phase IV for A while might be time for A rewatch. There was also It Happened at Lakewood Manor also known as Ants from 1977. as always great video Cheers Terry

28. In 1973, I was a freshman in an all-boys Catholic High school in Brooklyn. One day the school took the entire freshman class to see "The Hellstrom Chronicle". It must have been a re-release. The next day we talked about the Biblical aspects and implications of the film in all our classes. I haven't seen the film since, but I can still remember some of those scenes.

29. Phase IV is really good!!! I first saw it about five years ago and was very impressed. Its underrated and unfortunately not very well known. Brilliant concept.

30. I just brought the standard version from 101.

31. You might also like the other insect book by Frank Herbert 'The Green Brain'.

32. Senor, MARABUNTA!!!! No, Pedro, es fase cuatro! 🐜

    Love this film.

33. Remember all those films. How weird having that as a double feature. You buy blu ray Phase VI from 101 films in UK for £15. I brought few item from them,like Irwin Allen's version of The Lost World.

34. Thanks Terry, finally someone acknowledging Phase IV. The movie and its apocalyptic athmosphere scared me as a kid and the ants are creepy and fascinating at the same time. I appreciate the mystery, that we never learn what Phase IV is. The movie only deals with Phase I-III. We have to extrapolate and imagine for ourselves what Phase IV would be.
    Yet the transcendal ending was a little too kitschy-psychedelic for my taste and the movie has some pacing issues, it feels unfinished to me. Nevertheless, a rough, thought-provoking masterpiece.
    Btw, great Star Wars Diss at 22:09. 😄

35. Phase IV and Them was where my knowledge ended 🙂 Sorry, I mean Them! the ! is very important😅

    That double bill is absolutely insane! I was aware of the book by Frank Herbert but I had no idea Hellstrom was real guy.

    I love the alternate ending of Phase IV – It's completely nuts. I've got the 101 blu ray with it on.

36. Phase IV is a stunningly good looking movie, i do like my 1970's scifi so many interesting ideas

37. Gratz for reaching 10k. Phase IV is good, but not very exciting. There were so many things in it, that deserved a longer version. I may watch Hellstrom, after I'm back with my doggo.

38. Saul Bass directed the famous stairway scene in Psycho but Hitch never admitted it.Phase IV wasn't a succes and he never directed another movie,sad because he was multi- talented

39. Bloody hell Terry I knew you had some nasty insects in Australia, is that ant actual size? 😄😜

40. Again, you've given me a couple of recommendations for good movies. I vaguely recall seeing Empire of the Ants, but cannot remember much of it. I also think I saw The Hellstrom Chronicles, probably on TV, but I think that Phase IV is new to me. Will definitely keep my eyes open for it.

    And congratulations on gaining the 10K subscribers, shows that you're doing really great work (and roll on the next 90K!).

41. These ant movies remind me of the time I saw the trailer for the 1975 movie “Bug.” It scared the ever loving hell out of me at age 8.

42. It's so weird that Saul Bass didn't design the poster to his own movie.