Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us (TV 2005)

Directors Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott and James Cameron discuss the science fiction movies of the 1950s that influenced them.

Director:

Richard Schickel

Writer:

Richard Schickel

Stars:

Mark Hamill, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas

Cast

Cast overview:
Mark Hamill	...	Narrator (voice)
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
George Lucas	...	Himself
Ridley Scott	...	Himself
James Cameron	...	Himself
Edmund Gwenn	...	Dr. Harold Medford (archive footage)
Lou Costello	...	Orville (archive footage)
Walter Pidgeon	...	Dr. Edward Morbius (archive footage)
Anne Francis	...	Altaira Morbius (archive footage)
James Arness	...	Robert Graham in 'Them' (archive footage)
Michael Rennie	...	Klaatu (archive footage)

Storyline

'Stephen Spielberg' , Ridley Scott, James Cameron and George Lucas discuss the importance of science fiction films and the influence of the genre. Following the end of World War II, new kinds of enemies appeared, those that could not be seen such as the atom or the fear of the unknown such as that resulting from the cold war. Movies became metaphors for those fears and science fiction films took many forms. They include giant bugs such as the ants in Them! or inanimate object such as in The Monolith Monsters. In The Incredible Shrinking Man the terror comes from everyday life - a cat, a spider - as the man gets smaller and smaller. Science fiction involving space travel required more imagination. Destination Moon and Rocketship X-M were early attempts at taking a serious look at space flight and its implications. Then there were encounters with aliens, some benign, such as Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still or aggressive aliens as terrorist or a danger to humankind such as in ...

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Plot Keywords:

monster | cold war | number in title

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Watch the Skies!

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lorac Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

56 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

Credited actors with the "archive footage" attribute are specifically identified by an interviewee or the narrator as film clips in which they appear are seen.

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Connections

References Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

User Reviews

Ted's Evaluation

I'd like to confront my personal opinion about 'Watch the skies' movie with Ted's one.

First of all, I suppose that your personal dislike with Spielberg movies make you blind on the whole movie. Please remember, it's not only Spielberg's point of view. There are interviews with J.Cameron, R.Scott and G.Lucas here. Of course, it's only a brief take of the issue. I'd like to watch some more depth, insight production someday.

One of the subjects of this movie is looking back on 50s SF movies, which can be interpretated like express of society fears. Fear of space invaders might symbolize fear of the "others", which can be Russians or any different culture. And of course there is H war anxiety also.

What selfish is in that interpretation of SF movies by Spielberg and rest the directors? It's not they invention. We have many examples of movies or even the whole genres in film history, which represents some fears and havocs in given societies - like the German Expresionism.

Of course first SF movies arised shortly after Lumieres invention, f.e. G.Melies movies, but it's not a untrue (form my POV) that SF as a separately genre appears in early 50s. From that era, SF movies, and authors have began to be taken seriously.

I think 'Watch the skies' is a good introduction to history of science fiction movies. It's definitely not exhaust the topic, but might be a nice foothold to further searchings, for those who are interested in the issue.