The Swarm (1978)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Irwin Allen

Writers:

Arthur Herzog Jr. (novel)
Stirling Silliphant (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 July 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

It's more than a speculation - it's a prediction !

Plot:

A huge swarm of deadly African bees spreads terror over American cities by killing thousands of people.

Plot Keywords:

Swarm | Bee | Killer Bee | Military | Small Town

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Dr. Bradford Crane
Katharine Ross	...	Capt. Helena Anderson
Richard Widmark	...	Major General Thalius Slater
Richard Chamberlain	...	Dr. Hubbard
Olivia de Havilland	...	Maureen Schuster (as Olivia De Havilland)
Ben Johnson	...	Felix
Lee Grant	...	Anne MacGregor
José Ferrer	...	Dr. Andrews (as Jose Ferrer)
Patty Duke	...	Rita (as Patty Duke Astin)
Slim Pickens	...	Jud Hawkins
Bradford Dillman	...	Major Baker
Fred MacMurray	...	Mayor Clarence Tuttle
Henry Fonda	...	Dr. Walter Krim
Cameron Mitchell	...	General Thompson
Christian Juttner	...	Paul Durant

Runtime:

116 min | USA:157 min (expanded video edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints)

Certification:

Netherlands:12 (orginal rating) | France:-12 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1978) | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

When Felix is bringing flowers to Maureen, he passes by a movie theatre which is playing The Towering Inferno (1974), which was also produced by Irwin Allen.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the ambulance crash, the scene changes briefly from nighttime to broad daylight.

Quotes:

Dr. Andrews: Billions of dollars have been spent to make these nuclear plants safe. Fail-safe! The odds against anything going wrong are astronomical, Doctor!
Dr. Hubbard: I appreciate that, Doctor. But let me ask you. In all your fail-safe techniques, is there a provision for an attack by killer bees?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mork & Mindy: Mork's Best Friend (#1.24)" (1979)

Once To The Well Too Much, Irwin

Irwin Allen's first two disaster movies, "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno" worked as above average productions because there always seemed to be one foot in the ground of pseudo-reality that made you feel compelled by what you saw. But more importantly, Allen had competent directors like Ronald Neame and John Guillermin handling the actors and the end-result usually produced good performances, considering the material (especially Steve McQueen in "Inferno.") Unfortunately, with "The Swarm" Allen went to the well once too much and served up a more outlandish kind of disaster story, and to complicate matters further he took over the director's chores himself and boy does it show. There is literally no coherent story structure at all in this film, and the all-star cast is uniformly bad from top to bottom. What was Allen thinking with that pointless love-triangle plot involving the over-the-hill gang of Fred MacMurray, Ben Johnson and Olivia de Havilland? Did he really expect people to take seriously lines like "The bees have always been our friends!" or "Attention, a swarm of killer bees is coming this way!" This is the kind of movie that might have worked as a short, low-budget B/W flick in the 50s (okay, a "B" movie, no pun intended) but as a follow-up to solid efforts like "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno" this film is only good from a silly camp standpoint.