Title:
Watch The Skies
Narrated
By: Mark Hamill
Featuring
Interview Clips With: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, and James
Cameron
Written,
Produced, and Directed By: Richard Schickel
Running
Time: 57 minutes without commercials
Media:
TCM Original Documentary Presentation (NTSC VHS Screener)
Premiere
Tuesday, July 5, 2005, at 8pm (ET)
Network:
Turner Classic Movies (Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV
Rating: Not Available At The Time Of Review
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Turner
Classic Movies celebrates science fiction cinema with the July documentary
premiere of “Watch The Skies,” which focuses in the science fiction films of
the 1950s and features interview clips with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas,
Ridley Scott, and James Cameron. The documentary is narrated by Mark Hamill and
was written, produced, and directed by film critic, author, and documentarian
Richard Schickel. The obvious focuses of 1950s sci-fi are explored in detail
covering the fear of the atomic bomb and the consequences and responsibilities
it has placed upon humanity with clips from films as varied as “Them” and
“The Day The Earth Stood Still,” which is as much as a cautionary tale
filled with metaphor as other contemporary genre films and that has enabled it
to stand the test of time and become a true classic. The perils of space
exploration are explored with clips from “A Trip To The Moon”, “Rocket
Ship XM” as well as “Forbidden Planet.”
The
threat of invaders from within and beyond our world are explored with clips from
“The Thing From Another World”, and both the George Pal and Steven Spielberg
adaptations of H.G. Wells’ “The War Of The Worlds” among other genre
features. The clips from the Spielberg remake look outstanding. The insights
from the filmmakers are interesting, but less than 60 minutes is just not enough
time to adequately explore a genre as broad as science fiction even if you focus
on sci-fi from the 1950s. Authors have had as big an impact on science fiction
cinema as any successful filmmaker and not including an interview clip from at
least a few of the living Grand Masters of the genre is in my opinion a serious
detriment to the cohesiveness of the documentary as a whole. In addition while
the clips from both versions of “The War Of The Worlds” are a marvel to look
at, I almost felt as though I was seeing an advertisement for the new film
rather than a genuine documentary at times. “Watch The Skies” will premiere
on Tuesday, July 5, 2005, at 8pm (ET) with an encore at 10:30pm (ET) that same
night. It is a good documentary for what it attempts to explore, but compared to
most of the other TCM documentaries I have reviewed over the years, “Watch The
Skies” feels incomplete and light.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.