I've discovered that a growing number of classic SF films and serials are making their way in their entirety onto YouTube. It seem to me like this might be a useful venue to do a little review series as I get caught up on old classics I hadn't seen, or that I hadn't seen in a very long span of time.
I'll do a few of these, I think, so long as there's interest and the idea continues to engage me. This week's show is Quatermass & The Pit:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sUE1hWshhc[/yt]
Quatermass is a much-cited pioneering British SF property which I had never seen. I thought I'd start with the 1958 serial because it is reputed to have the definitive performance of the character and is generally one of the good Professor's most widely-praised adventures.
Overall I'd give it 3.5 of 5 stars.
Agree? Disagree? Give it a watch and let us know what you think!
I'll do a few of these, I think, so long as there's interest and the idea continues to engage me. This week's show is Quatermass & The Pit:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sUE1hWshhc[/yt]
Quatermass is a much-cited pioneering British SF property which I had never seen. I thought I'd start with the 1958 serial because it is reputed to have the definitive performance of the character and is generally one of the good Professor's most widely-praised adventures.
Overall I'd give it 3.5 of 5 stars.
- Watching this made me realize how much I miss science fiction that has scientists as its protagonists and revolves around them doing science in a recognizable (if compressed) way.
- Bernard Quatermass is a pretty traditional figure of Steadfast Rationalistic Authority from this era -- a type I also find myself missing, given the current trend toward portraying intellectuals as neurotic basket-cases -- and typifies a kind of pacifistic and idealistic vision of science that was quite common in the Fifties. As characterization goes, it's nothing standout, but it's played capably enough to be convincingly human rather than coming off as a cardboard type.
- The cast overall is pretty strong. Quatermass in particular is closely-matched by the energy and charisma of Matthew Roney, an American palaeontologist with a sideline in studying the mental states of "savage" peoples (a wince-inducing business which mercifully only comes up a couple of times), and together they make quite a delightful pair whose collegiality and friendship seems to flow naturally.
- The only exception among the mostly likable cast of characters is one Colonel Breen, who has been given control of Quatermass' experimental rocketry group and seems on the surface to be a stock Blustering Martinet of the worst kind... which in many ways he is. But at least there's an underlying motive for his bluster and irrationality which makes him -- in a departure from most characters of this type -- comprehensible, if not sympathetic.
- It's nice that the story revolves to some extent around the reasonably plausible doing-of-science... but this only goes so far. Quatermass seems to rely far too much on pulling conclusions out of thin air, which mostly happen to be correct because the plot requires his correctness. His conclusion that the artifact in the pit must be Martian seems to be based mostly on free-association, for instance, and the theory he and Roney form about what the pit represents seems to involve a lot of very free speculation and connecting of dots. Some of this is necessitated by time limitations, but still, it might have been a good idea to couch some of it a little more carefully... no wonder the government doesn't believe him!
- I like the slower, quieter pace at which things unfold, a real feature of television -- especially British television -- in its early years. Would be nice to see some of today's creator learn from this kind of quieter, less momentum-obsessed pacing and storytelling; it gives the ideas and characters room to breathe and establish themselves before everything really spirals out of control. I think this kind of storytelling could find a niche in an era in which so many forms of entertainment seem to be fighting to drown each other out.
- Having said that, there's something to be said for modern effects and production values. Cinematography of the Fifties feels very static compared to today's, and Quatermass and the Pit's limited effects budget shows, robbing some of the dramatic power in particular from its climax (in which the cheapness of its models and the fact that it's repurposing London Blitz footage is impossible to hide). And while the limitations on effects do happily restrain the production from embracing the tacky excess too common to the digital age, they also force the actors to bear the burden of illustrating a lot of things by reaction that frequently tips into overacting.
- Nevertheless, on the whole Quatermass and the Pit is still extraordinarily gripping stuff, a great example of idea-focused science fiction which -- despite its somewhat dated "panspermia from Mars" premise -- still has plenty to teach about bringing intelligent, adult-oriented SF to the screen today.
- Bernard Quatermass is a pretty traditional figure of Steadfast Rationalistic Authority from this era -- a type I also find myself missing, given the current trend toward portraying intellectuals as neurotic basket-cases -- and typifies a kind of pacifistic and idealistic vision of science that was quite common in the Fifties. As characterization goes, it's nothing standout, but it's played capably enough to be convincingly human rather than coming off as a cardboard type.
- The cast overall is pretty strong. Quatermass in particular is closely-matched by the energy and charisma of Matthew Roney, an American palaeontologist with a sideline in studying the mental states of "savage" peoples (a wince-inducing business which mercifully only comes up a couple of times), and together they make quite a delightful pair whose collegiality and friendship seems to flow naturally.
- The only exception among the mostly likable cast of characters is one Colonel Breen, who has been given control of Quatermass' experimental rocketry group and seems on the surface to be a stock Blustering Martinet of the worst kind... which in many ways he is. But at least there's an underlying motive for his bluster and irrationality which makes him -- in a departure from most characters of this type -- comprehensible, if not sympathetic.
- It's nice that the story revolves to some extent around the reasonably plausible doing-of-science... but this only goes so far. Quatermass seems to rely far too much on pulling conclusions out of thin air, which mostly happen to be correct because the plot requires his correctness. His conclusion that the artifact in the pit must be Martian seems to be based mostly on free-association, for instance, and the theory he and Roney form about what the pit represents seems to involve a lot of very free speculation and connecting of dots. Some of this is necessitated by time limitations, but still, it might have been a good idea to couch some of it a little more carefully... no wonder the government doesn't believe him!
- I like the slower, quieter pace at which things unfold, a real feature of television -- especially British television -- in its early years. Would be nice to see some of today's creator learn from this kind of quieter, less momentum-obsessed pacing and storytelling; it gives the ideas and characters room to breathe and establish themselves before everything really spirals out of control. I think this kind of storytelling could find a niche in an era in which so many forms of entertainment seem to be fighting to drown each other out.
- Having said that, there's something to be said for modern effects and production values. Cinematography of the Fifties feels very static compared to today's, and Quatermass and the Pit's limited effects budget shows, robbing some of the dramatic power in particular from its climax (in which the cheapness of its models and the fact that it's repurposing London Blitz footage is impossible to hide). And while the limitations on effects do happily restrain the production from embracing the tacky excess too common to the digital age, they also force the actors to bear the burden of illustrating a lot of things by reaction that frequently tips into overacting.
- Nevertheless, on the whole Quatermass and the Pit is still extraordinarily gripping stuff, a great example of idea-focused science fiction which -- despite its somewhat dated "panspermia from Mars" premise -- still has plenty to teach about bringing intelligent, adult-oriented SF to the screen today.
Agree? Disagree? Give it a watch and let us know what you think!
But for the sake of completism, I'll add a review of the Hammer Films remake 
