he United States' fledgling rocket program is imperiled -- its rockets are destroyed as swiftly as they are launched into orbit. But this isn't the biggest news by far. As Dr. Russ Marvin (Marlowe) is driving to the rocket lab with his new bride Carol (Taylor), the two are buzzed by a UFO. Their story is incredible, but they have some hard evidence to back it up.
Russ had been dictating some notes into a tape recorder just before the close encounter, and he inadvertently captured the saucer's eerie whirring sounds. They report this to the military and wait for instructions at the rocket lab, but while the armed forces ruminate, a flying saucer lands at the laboratory and alien figures emerge. Security is quick to respond. Faster than anyone can say "Will Robinson," one of the aliens is toppled by army sharpshooters. Unfortunately for Earth, the aliens also have good marksmanship and they blow up the entire facility.
Russ and Carol survive and discover a hidden message in the saucer recording Russ made. It seems the aliens had been trying to contact Russ. They reconvene again with the military, and while Russ awaits permission to contact the aliens, the saucer people transmit another message, asking for a meeting. The aliens, though, aren't looking to establish a galactic United Nations. They just want a friendly takeover with a minimum of fuss. Earth has 59 days to agree. Now Russ must work around the clock to take a secret weapon from the drawing board to the battlefield in order to save the planet.
Earth's historic landmarks vs. Ray Harryhausen
Earth vs. The Flying Saucers is probably best known for the special effects contributed by master craftsman Ray Harryhausen. This is the movie in which saucers demolish the flower of democracy's architecture. A saucer shears the base of the Washington Monument like a power saw through a sequoia. There's a drunken dive into the Supreme Court, a kamikaze impact onto the Congressional Building, and even a few cheap shots at the Smithsonian. Aside from all this hubbub, Harryhausen makes plain old saucer landings snazzy too.
Although overshadowed by this imagery, the film is quite solid on its own. It's full of 1950s standards, like splashy shots of plot-point-specific newspaper headlines and a Walter Winchellesque introduction, but it's got some original material as well. The plot twists slightly at a few junctures, and while they're not hairpin turns, they transform a plain movie into an interesting one.
For fans of red-scare era films like this, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers is a nice vein to mine. It was released in the midst of the American-Soviet space race and just before the launch of Sputnik. Cultural fears of invasion and a technologically advanced enemy were rife. This film doesn't exploit these fears as much as it is driven by them, and that honesty helps it survive through the decades. The beginning is a bit sloppy and the ending is a bit too much of an (amusing) cold-war wish-you-were-here postcard, but it's solid enough for Sci-Fi catechism.
