Monday, March 03, 2008

I'm Losing Power!

Just a couple of addenda to my post on The Swarm:

I found this page that offers a comparison of The Swarm and the novel it's ostensibly based on, by Arthur Herzog. Short version: the movie has very little to do with the novel, which is a "slightly above average pop novel." The one scene in the movie that sort of works, the scene where an immunologist tests his vaccine on himself, is from the novel.

But I should also note that Herzog's bio actually boasts about the fact that he wrote the source material for the movie versions of not only The Swarm but also Orca. I would think that'd be something he'd want hushed up.

And (from Badmovies.org), here's the moment when The Swarm truly established itself as a masterpiece of badness. It's amazing how much bad dialogue, bad special effects, bad line delivery, bad acting from good actors (Caine and Widmark) and total outer-space logic can be packed into 30 seconds of film.



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Correction: he says, "I am losing power." That way, it's sounds much more unnatural.

Anonymous said...

The guy in the chopper is priceless. In addition to the stilted "I am losing power" pointed out by the previous commenter, his whole delivery suggests he has no idea what he saying. The way he says "Millions of bees!" makes it sound like he's selling bees, rather than about to be killed by them.

I have to say in defense of Michael Caine that his acting IN THIS CLIP is faultless. He turns his head to the right, gives a tiny, knowing nod, and turns back left. He hits the mark like the pro he is.

Anonymous said...

Seems this champion had a son........

http://www.youtube.com/v/HyophYBP_w4

Sterfish said...

Here's a more recent example of the bad acting bees bring out in people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmp-SRMwF3E