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

1 nomination.

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! (1954) or inanimate object such as in The Monolith Monsters (1957). In The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) 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 (1950) and Rocketship X-M (1950) 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 (1951) or aggressive aliens as ...

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Plot Keywords:

cold war | monster | 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

Features Them! (1954)

User Reviews

Highly recommended to Sci-Fi fans!

"Watch the Skies" (2005 - 60 minutes) is an excellent documentary about movies of Science Fiction. It was produced and directed by the critic Richard Schickel, author of more than 20 books on this theme. Mark Hamill is the documentary narrator. Schickel joins directors as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas and Ridley Scott to carry through a trip in time and space to show some of the most memorable science fiction movies of the fifties and also some more recent classics. The documentary shows six different approaches: The paranoia of the atomic war; The fantastic trips to the Moon; The enigmatic planet Mars; Good and evil aliens; The after-apocalyptic world; and The humanity future. It presents comments and scenes of the following classics: The Flying Saucers, Rocketship XM, Destination Moon, The Space Children, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, A Trip to the Moon, The Angry Red Planet, Forbidden Planet, The Thing From Another World, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob, The War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stood Still, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, The Omega Man, The Planet of the Apes, The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Things To Come and Metropolis. Highly recommended to Science Fiction fans!