olivia_sutton | Entries tagged with peter cushing

Title: Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD (Dr. Who)
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Date: 1966
Studio: AARU Productions LTD, British Lion Films LTD
Genre: Science Fiction
Cast: Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins, Roberta Tovey, Ray Brooks, Jill Curzon, Andrew Keir
Format: Technicolor, Techniscope (early widescreen process)
DVD Format: R1, NTSC, Widescreen

This time Dr. Who (Peter Cushing), as he is called in these films, is traveling with his grand-daughter Susan, and his niece, Louise, when a policeman named Tom Campbell mistakes the TARDIS for a real Police Call Box and stumbles inside. The Doctor travels to 2150 AD anyway, and discovers that London has been destroyed in an Dalek invasion. The film's first half hour or so actually works pretty well, as the Doctor and his companions are split up and manage to meet up with the local rebel / resistance group. The iconic scene of a Dalek coming out of the waters of the Thames River is repeated in this movie. However, the equally iconic shot of the Daleks crossing the Tower Bridge, waving their plungers, isn't present.

The Dalek spaceship is actually a very nice model, and it has Thunderbird Two -like jets on the back. Why, I have no idea, as jets would be rather useless in space. But I digress. The majority of the Daleks are grey in this film, but with silver and periwinkle accents. Yes, you read that right, periwinkle. And yes, it's hard to take light purple Daleks seriously. Leader Daleks are red, black or gold. So, overall, the Daleks aren't the really awful technicolor variety of the previous film.

However, after a promising start, the film wanders as various members of the Doctor's group get lost, reunite, get captured, reunite again, etc. Plot involves first a rebel attack on the Dalek spaceship, which seems to go well, but ends a dismal failure. (And yes, that was an effective portion of the film. The TV Series Doctor Who, which is much better than these films, is often at it's best when the Doctor doesn't completely win). After the failed attack, each of the survivors separately makes their way to Bedfordshire and the Daleks' mine, either as prisoners or in hopes of rescuing the prisoners. Finally at the end, Dr. Who, foils the plot of the Daleks to drop a bomb to the core of the Earth in an attempt to crack the Earth in some sort of plan to re-fuel their spaceship.

I will say the acting is a bit better than the previous film. However, Susan's been dumbed down considerably, and she even manages to "twist" her ankle.

Again, I only have this because I got it in a set, for free, from a friend. And I have it as a collectible. But it's really not a good movie. BTW -- bit of trivia, Bernard Cribbins, who plays Tom Campbell, more recently played companion Donna Noble's grandfather in the recent television series of Doctor Who.

Recommendation: Don't Bother.
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Next Film: Double Indemnity

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My 50th Movie review!

Title: Dr. Who and the Daleks
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Date: 1965
Studio: Regal Films International LTD
Genre: Science Fiction
Cast: Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Jennie Linden, Roberta Tovey
Format: Technicolor, Techniscope (an early widescreen process)
Format: R1, NTSC, (Widescreen)

"Anyone can understand science if they put their minds to it." -- Dr. Who

"Why did they want to kill us? We came in peace." -- Thal
"You are different from them, and they are afraid of anything different. And what people are afraid of, they try to destroy." -- Dr. Who
"If we could reason with them." -- Female Thal
"They are beyond reason, they wish only to conquer." --Dr. Who

I am a big, big fan of the wonderful British television series Doctor Who (1963-1989, 1996, 2001-), which is part of the reason I don't really care for this film. I'd seen it before and remembered it as being pretty awful. I did luck out an get a free second-hand copy from a friend (in a set with Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and Dalekmania) so I could add it to my Doctor Who collection without actually having to pay for it.

The film is basically a re-make of the Terry Nation Doctor Who serial, or episode, "The Daleks" (aka "The Dead Planet"). However, it takes considerable liberties with what it borrows. For example, even from the very beginning it was clear the Doctor wasn't human, but an alien from another planet. Fairly quickly into the series, it was revealed the Doctor was a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. However, in this film, the Doctor is an eccentric Human inventor (called "Dr. Who" no less, rather than "the Doctor") -- a rather tired plot device often found in Disney live action films of the 60s and 70s (and often played by Dick Van Dyke or Fred MacMurray). Also, in the TV series -- Susan was a teenaged girl (and somehow the Doctor's grand-daughter), and Barbara and Ian were her human teachers. In this, Susan is about five years old, Barbara is also the Doctor's grand-daughter, and Ian is Barbara's boyfriend.

Dr. Who, as he's called in this film, shows Ian his TARDIS, which he invented. Soon they are whisked off to a mysterious dead planet. The Doctor sabotages his own machine because he wants to explore a nearby alien city. They run into Daleks. They discover they are suffering from radiation poisoning. They get a drug that cures the radiation sickness from the Thals. The Daleks decide to destroy the Thals. The Doctor convinces the Thals to fight. They sneak into the city and stop the deadly countdown of another "Neutronic" bomb and destroy the Daleks. Dr. Who finds his missing component to the TARDIS and they leave.

Taken by themselves, many of these plot elements are identical to the televised serial (which ran as seven, thirty-minute episodes or parts), but the television serial, in spooky black and white is in many cases much more effective. For example, the cliffhanger of an early episode has Barbara being attacked by something she can see but the audience can't ... all the audience sees is the infamous Dalek plunger. This cliffhanger builds suspense -- what is attacking Barbara? What does it even look like? The film skips the scene completely and the first time we see the Daleks, there are several of them -- it technicolor glory.

The brightly-colored Daleks are another problem. Most of the time in Doctor Who, even in later color episodes, the Daleks were all grey (with some black). This uniformity stressed the uniformity and conformity of the Dalek characters. Also, some analysts have suggested the grey-and-black was reminiscent of Nazi uniforms.

Finally, the acting in the film version of Dr. Who and the Daleks is greatly disappointing. Ian is silly, clumsy, and not at all brave. Barbara is weak, screams a lot, and has no spunk. Oddly enough, the young, yet intelligent, Susan (only five or eight, rather than a teenager), is the most engaging character besides Cushing's Doctor. The guest actors are no better. One Thal at one point thanks the Doctor with a tone that seems to suggest he thinks the exact opposite. And the Daleks are chatty! Daleks are not supposed to be chatty. "Exterminate!" "I obey!" That's about it. Not all the chatter.

Overall the only reason I have this film is I didn't have to pay for it, and it's a interesting and bizarre addition to my collection of Doctor Who (TV series) memorabilia. And, I am a bit of a complete-ist when I collect something.

Recommendation: Don't bother.
Rating: 2
Next Film: Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD

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