{"id":35736,"date":"2016-01-27T12:44:05","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T19:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35736"},"modified":"2021-02-04T21:12:05","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T04:12:05","slug":"five-million-years-to-earth-quatermass-and-the-pit-1967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35736","title":{"rendered":"Five Million Years to Earth \/ Quatermass and  the Pit (1967)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You realize what you&#8217;re implying? That we owe our human condition here to the intervention of insects?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-35737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster-768x1172.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster-671x1024.jpg 671w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-and-the-Pit-Poster.jpg 1917w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a team of anthropologists led by Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald) and his assistant (Barbara Shelley) discover a cylindrical object and primate bones in an underground construction site, rocket scientist Dr. Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is brought to the scene. He eventually determines the object is a spaceship rather than a bomb, and that the bones are evidence of an ancient Martian race that landed on Earth five million years ago.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aliens<\/li>\n<li>Horror<\/li>\n<li>Roy Ward Baker Films<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<li>Scientists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that this &#8220;exceptional, extremely intelligent, thematically controversial science-fiction film&#8221; &#8212; the third of screenwriter Nigel Kneale&#8217;s &#8220;BBC-TV serials to be filmed&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;still hasn&#8217;t received due recognition in America&#8221;. He notes that while the &#8220;film is complicated&#8221;, it&#8217;s &#8220;always fascinating and exciting&#8221;, and is &#8220;skillfully directed by Roy Ward Baker&#8221;. While I agree with Peary that <em>Five Million Years<\/em>&#8230; is provocative and well-made, I disagree with his assertion that it&#8217;s &#8220;Hammer Studios&#8217; best film&#8221;, and will actually admit to preferring its less colorful and less flashy predecessor, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35982\"><em>The Quatermass Experiment<\/em> (1956)<\/a>. <em>Five Million Years&#8230;<\/em> is often compared to Stanley Kubrick&#8217;s <em>2001<\/em> (1968), given that both explore &#8220;the intriguing theme of &#8216;race memory'&#8221;, with the distinction that &#8220;whereas Kubrick&#8217;s humans retain memories of &#8216;God&#8217; from their ape ancestors who had contact with extra-terrestrials&#8221;, the &#8220;Martian insect-creatures&#8221; in this film apparently had contact &#8220;with the devil&#8221; &#8212; thus lending it a different type of horror vibe than Dave&#8217;s interactions with H.A.L. This finely produced cult flick is certainly worth a look by all film fanatics, but I&#8217;m going to go against the grain in not considering it must-see. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fine cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"432\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35740\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography1.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography1-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography1-300x184.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"432\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35741\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography2.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography2-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography2-300x184.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"432\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35739\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography3.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography3-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Quatermass-Cinematography3-300x184.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s certainly worth a look as a cult favorite. Discussed at length in Peary&#8217;s <em>Cult Movies 3<\/em> book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0062168\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/24796\/five-million-years-to-earth#articles-reviews?articleId=88135\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1641&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s141qpit.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/quatermass-and-the-pit\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You realize what you&#8217;re implying? That we owe our human condition here to the intervention of insects?&#8221; Synopsis: When a team of anthropologists led by Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald) and his assistant (Barbara Shelley) discover a cylindrical object and primate bones in an underground construction site, rocket scientist Dr. Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is brought to the scene. He eventually determines the object is a spaceship rather than a bomb, and that the bones are evidence of an ancient Martian&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35736\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35736"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68793,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35736\/revisions\/68793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}