d-millhoff
I was expecting 1950's cold war schlock, and that's what I got.But there were some other unexpected details.While they got atomic physics wrong and clearly didn't understand the concept of orbital mechanics, they otherwise did an above-average job of sticking to real science. Way above average for its genre.The robots LOOKED LIKE functional robots, not even remotely human-shaped. And in an early scene, you see the computer operator removing and examining something from a rack, that looks a LOT like a PCI card with some sort of memory module on it (very reminiscent of the "hard drive sled" in my old Mac Pro). And a pretty ingenious solar optical system with very-convincing parabolic mirrors.Not bad!
oscar-35
*Spoiler/plot- GOG, 1954, An 'Atom project' security agent investigates sabotage and murder at a super secret underground laboratory, home of two experimental robots planned for space exploration and travel to Mars.*Special Stars- Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall. Produced by Ivan Tors.*Theme- Space was going to be conquered by robots and a wheel space station.*Trivia/location/goofs- THe centrifuge was at USC and caused actors to get too sick to work. They were replaced by dummies for shots. William Schallert(later to become SAG president in the 80's) was paid $250 for two days work. Film had a 3-D version, now missing. Location was Hal Roach studios Hollywood and George AFB Victorville CA. Gog and Magog were partially operated by little people inside them. Scrambled F-86 jets are magically changed into F-94s in the same flight.*Emotion- A wonderfully produced film from Ivan Tors(60s & 70's adventure TV producer) that incorporates the right amount of intrigue, Cold War tension, suspense, and science fiction of it's day. Great casting of lead actors helps the film. The result comes out very impressive on camera much like a George Pal film of the same era. Excellent entertainment.
MartinHafer
In this 50s sci-fi thriller, some mysterious deaths occur at an ultra-top secret US base--a base that is controlled by a super-computer. Richard Egan is an agent sent to investigate and even after he arrives, several of the staff members are killed by equipment at this research facility. Egan thinks perhaps some sort of spacecraft or airplane above the base is responsible and the film takes on sinister Cold War overtones.The film looks nice--even though the version I saw was not the 3-D version. The color was very nice and it helped that it was filmed at an air force base--complete with real planes and less crappy stock footage. While kids will no doubt laugh at the way computers and robots are portrayed, for 1954, this is pretty cool stuff and quite believable based on the way they saw technology headed. It also helped that the film had a decent cast, though a few of the actors were a bit dopey (like the lady who began screaming like a banshee after the guy was killed by sound waves). Overall, well worth seeing.By the way, but didn't Gog and Magog the robots look a little,...um...phallic?!
davebeedon
I was perhaps seven or eight years old when I saw "Gog" in the 1950s. The story was only somewhat comprehensible to me; although I understood that the laboratory was some type of research facility, it was unclear to me why things were going haywire. The jet flying overhead was a mystery: where did it come from, who was in it, and what was it doing?The scientific devices were fun to watch, especially the "ray" weapon. Being unable to grasp the concept of sabotage, I didn't appreciate why the device was not operating as designed. But what had the biggest effect on me was the action of the robots. Their running amok in the lab scared me to death. Maybe I picked up on the terror of the lab's occupants.The combination of confusion and fear made watching the movie (on TV) unpleasant but fascinating. It would be fun to see "Gog" now, knowing what I do about the plot, the actors, and the Cold War era in which it was made.
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