O2D I was just going to say "Screw this movie." and leave it at that but I can't. This crapfest is truly terrible on many levels. I watched this 3 times to make sure i saw it right,unfortunately I did. The main characters have gotten married without telling anyone.They tell the woman's dad(an army general) on the phone and then hang up on him. They apparently work for NASA or something,the movie is very unclear about that. Just like in a million other movies,aliens are invading. And just like in those other movies,they can speak every Earth language but can barely walk. Half of the movie is spent explaining why something stupid just happened,while the rest is spent sucking. The aliens send a message to the main character and he doesn't even know it.So they just attack. After the first attack they ask the general why the guy ignored their message. Then they give the earthlings months to organize a meeting but instead they build guns to fight the aliens. During the second attack,the people fake run in front of green screens and it's pathetic.They can't even run for real.A saucer hits the Washington Monument and as it falls it becomes a structure made from street bricks. The alien's guns usually make the target just disappear but sometimes they explode,awesome work. Ray Harryhausen should be ashamed of himself.

Jackson Booth-Millard There were many films that came out in the 1950s about visitors coming from other worlds, probably because it was a time of paranoia, due to communism and nuclear attack, so this film fitted right in at the time. Basically scientist Dr. Russell A. Marvin (The Day the Earth Stood Still's Hugh Marlowe) and his new bride Carol (Joan Taylor) are driving to work, when a flying saucer appears from above. The only proof they have of the encounter is a tape recording of the ship's sound, Dr. Marvin is in charge of American space program Project Skyhook, which has already launched ten research satellites into orbit, he is hesitant to notify his superiors. Brigadier General John Hanley (Morris Ankrum), Carol's father, informs Marvin that many of the satellites have fallen back to Earth, Marvin admits losing contact with all of them, and privately suspects alien involvement, he witnesses the eleventh falling from the sky shortly after launching. A flying saucer lands at Skyhook the following day, an alien walks out, soldiers open fire and kill it, while others and the saucer itself are protected by a force field, the aliens then kill everyone at the facility, besides the Marvins, and capturing General Hanley. Russell replays the tape recording, discovering and decoding it is a message from the aliens, they wanted to meet Dr. Marvin and landed in peace, with this going sideways, Marvin contacts the aliens and arranges a meeting, with Carol and Major Huglin (Donald Curtis) following. They and a pursuing Motorcycle Cop (Larry J. Blake) are taken aboard a saucer, where they learn the aliens have extracted knowledge directly from the General's brain, he is now under their control, and that the aliens destroyed the satellites, fearing them as weapons, they are the last of their species. After a demonstration of their power, with coordinates of a naval destroyer they have destroyed, the aliens release the Marvins, they are given a message that the aliens want to meet with the world's leaders in Washington, D.C. in 56 days, to negotiate an alien occupation. Dr. Marvin observes one of the aliens' protective suits, they are made of solidified electricity, granting the aliens advanced hearing, and Marvin is able to develop a counter-weapon to use against the flying saucers, he later successfully tests it a single saucer. As the aliens escape, they jettison General Hanley and the motorcycle cop, who fall to their deaths, groups of flying saucers then attack Washington, Paris, London and Moscow. But then they are destroyed with Dr. Marvin's sonic weapon, and the aliens can be easily killed when outside the force fields of the saucers with simple small arms, in the end, with aliens defeated, Russell and Carol celebrate the victory privately going to the beach, resuming their lives as newlyweds. Also starring John Zaremba as Professor Kanter, Thomas Browne Henry as Vice Admiral Enright and Grandon Rhodes as General Edmunds. With most of the plot taken from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, the story is nothing original (and I'm sure it inspired Tim Burton for Mars Attacks!), the script and characters are also very predictable, with sluggish sub-plots going on, but for the flying saucers and buildings destroyed, created by the stop-motion special effects wizardry of the great Ray Harryhausen, there is something worth seeing, overall a fairly disappointing but alright routine science- fiction drama. Okay!

classicsoncall If 1950's schlock sci-fi is your cup of tea, you won't be disappointed here. This is what fans like myself live for and have to wait to see until they're aired in places like Turner Classics or in my case, Antenna TV this morning. Had to set the alarm for a 5:00 AM start too, so that has to tell you something.I don't know if Ray Harryhausen was proud of his special effects work in this; everything is still pretty primitive but for 1956 you probably won't find better up close and personal flying saucer work. Obviously the picture's use of the term 'Air Intelligence Command' can be considered an oxymoron today, but then again, it was explained that the scientists back on Earth hadn't been able to track any of the observation rockets sent into space to set up twelve 'moons' because they blew up and fell back down to terra firma. I don't think I'd want to be admitting that if I was in charge of the space program.Lots of goofy stuff here, one of the first instances was when Dr. Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife Carol (Joan Taylor) perused the horizon for traces of alien activity and you had both day and night time sky at the same time! Flying saucer continuity took a hit as well, as depending on the scene, weapon fire either disintegrated it's target or blew it to smithereens. And even though they seemed invincible when attacking Washington, D.C., they were rather easily shot down by military rockets on their way there. Similarly, the alien life forms inside were impervious to harm when they weren't otherwise being knocked out by innocuous rifle fire!?!?Well look, you either go for this stuff or you don't. Hard to believe there were some intelligent sci-fi flicks coming out around the same time like "War of the Worlds" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still" that puts pictures like this to shame, but you can have a lot more fun with the silly stuff. For a double header treat, try catching this one back to back with "Teenagers From Outer Space". You'll never be the same again.

wes-connors Outer space exploration scientist Hugh Marlowe (as Russell "Russ" Marvin) and beautiful bride Joan Taylor (as Carol) are driving in the desert when a flying saucer creeps around their car. In his "Operation Sky Hook" laboratory, Mr. Marlowe discovers he has recorded the alien spaceship's sound on his tape machine. Sure enough, "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" lives up to the title as a fleet of aliens from a dead solar system arrive on the scene. The alien suit and communication is interesting, but there isn't an attention to story here; most of the film is simply geared to the next visual effect (by Ray Harryhausen and Russ Kelley). The highlight is seeing the landmarks of Washington, DC under attack.***** Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (7/4/56) Fred F. Sears ~ Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum