Product Description

There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide as five incredible science fiction films crash down on DVD for the first time ever in The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection. This fascinating, collectible set will shock, terrify and captivate you with film favorites from the golden age of Hollywood including Tarantula, The Mole People, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Monolith Monsters and Monster on Campus. Featuring amazing, ground-breaking special effects, these classics set the standard for all sci-fi terror to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67096 in DVD
• Published on: 2006
• Released on: 2007-01-02
• Rating: Unrated
• Format: NTSC
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 3

Features

• Tarantula
• The Mole People
• The Incredible Shrinking Man
• The Monolith Monsters
• Monster on the Campus

Amazon.com
A quintet of fun '50s science-fiction thrillers from the Universal vaults make their DVD debut in this three-disc set that's sure to please fans of vintage creature features. Arguably, the best of the lot is The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), with Grant Williams as a businessman whose exposure to a radioactive cloud causes him to decrease in size exponentially until he is literally microscopic. Based on a novel by legendary fantasy writer Richard Matheson, director Jack (Creature from the Black Lagoon) Arnold's balance of suspense (Williams' battles with a house cat and common spider) and pathos (the effect his condition has on his marriage) make it one of the most memorable science-fiction films of the decade, and a favorite even of those with only a passing interest in the genre. On the entirely other end of the spectrum is The Mole People (1956), a loopy pulp adventure with John Agar and Hugh (Leave It to Beaver) Beaumont as intrepid adventurers who discover a lost city and the title creatures at a top of a Middle Eastern mountain. Campy to a fault, with a logic-straining script and ridiculous monsters, The Mole People is also a goofy good time for B-movie mavens. Agar, whose faded star power forced him to seek work in low-budget films during the '50s and '60s, also turns up in the effective Tarantula (1955), a fast-paced "big bug" creepshow modeled after Them!. (1954), and featuring a cameo by Clint Eastwood as a jet pilot; the rest of the set is rounded out by the truly wacky Monster on the Campus (1958), with Arthur Franz as a college professor whose exposure to a prehistoric fish turns him into a rampaging Neanderthal, and The Monolith Monsters (1957), about fragments of a meteor that grow to colossal heights when exposed to water and threaten a small desert community. For TV babies that grew up on a steady diet of Saturday afternoon monster movies, The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection offers a nostalgic trip back to those cathode-soaked days, but without the barrage of commercials. The set offers trailers for each film by way of extras, as well as an anamorphic presentation of The Incredible Shrinking Man; the rest of the titles are presented in full screen. -- Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

All in one set; Unbelievable...
I've been searching for each of these films individually for years, and to have them all at once is quite overwhelming. They are schlocky and tacky with bad acting...everything I expect from the genre, and I love it all. Love 'em or hate 'em, the video transfer of each film is crystal clear, and every aficianado of the 50's horror genre must have this in the collection. If you like this stuff, rejoice. If you don't, stay away, and don't criticize me because I do!

5 stars for "Shrinking Man" various stars for the other films
This marvelous set of cheesy and classic sci-fi/horror films is a great one stop shop for fans of 50's monster movies. The best film here is "The Incredible Shrinking Man" based on Richard Matheson's novel. With a screenplay by Matheson (that was revised with a rewritten script by Richard Alan Simmons a writer for "Columbo" that changed the ending and that until recently Matheson hated). Is this set worth getting just for that film? Heck yeah. The transfer looks extremely good, with a crisp, sharp picture. We get the original theatrical trailer as well (which was narrated by Orson Welles). "TISM" is in its original widescreen format.

The other films vary from good to cheesy fun. "Tarantula" is one of the better giant insects on the loose movies (it followed in the wake of the classic "Them!"). "The Monolith Monsters" is also quite good and was based on a story that Jack Arnold ("The Incredible Shrinking Man") came up with. He didn't direct it as he had already left the studio but it's got solid performances all around and some imaginative touches. It's probably the third best sci-fi film (outside of "Shrinking Man" and "It Came From Outer Space" which has been released to DVD but not in its original 3-D incarnation)to come from Universal during the 50's.

"Monster on the Campus" and "The Mole People" are two entertaining bits of schlock. The former featuring John Agar (also in "Tarantula)and the latter featuring Arthur Franz (best known for "The Atomic Submarine" and "Invaders from Mars" as well as his numerous TV appearences). Both look quite good and are presented in their full screen presentation which, if I'm not mistaken, is the way they originally were released. We get theatrical trailers for the films as well.

The only thing that's missing is a critical appreciation for "Shrinking Man". It would have been nice to have a commentary track from Richard Matheson or a film historian. The same could be said for the better flicks here but for the price it's hard to argue.

BUY IT FOR THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
I was flabbergasted to see that this set included one of the greatest Scifi films of all time: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN!! All these films are entertaining, including the MOLE PEOPLE (which starred the actor who played Beaver Cleaver's father) and the others. However, the clincher is THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, one of the most profound and powerful scifi films ever made (it does NOT have a happy ending, however profound it may be in the "cosmic sense"). Just go out and buy this one. Its worth every penny!!!