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I'll tell you why so serious

Admirable film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I'm probably one of the biggest admirers of 1950's Sci-Fi cinema that is still walking around today, and I've loved practically every single movie that fits into this category from the moment I laid eyes on it. There's just something unique about the mixture of the genre and the decade that has never again been equaled before or after the fifties. The almost standard atmosphere of paranoia and mass hysteria is mesmerizing, the long and intellectual scientific speeches/dialogs are dazzling and the black and white photography creates an unbearable tension. I'm personally convinced that milestones such as "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "War of the Worlds" and "This Island Earth" define and emphasize the essence of science fiction cinema. With "Target Earth" I was hoping to have come across another obscure gem to add to my long list of favorites, but unfortunately it became a bit of a disappointment. The opening sequences are still pure Sci-Fi gold, however. Heroine Nora King awakes in her disorderly apartment and, having narrowly survived an act of desperation, slowly realizes that she's left all alone in the giant metropolis of Chicago. The sight of the empty city streets and the disturbing sounds of silence raise the impression that "Target Earth" is a predecessor of apocalyptic masterpieces like "Last Man on Earth", "Night of the Living Dead" or "The Omega Man", and therefore the first twenty minutes of the film are sublime and absorbing. Nora then bumps into Frank Brooks, an equally confused lone ranger, and together they find out that the entire city has been evacuated while they were sleeping, apparently because they're under the attack of large robotic creatures from outer space. What follows – sadly enough – isn't an intense fight for survival against the alien opponents, but a tedious and dull portrait of a handful of people hiding in an abandoned hotel room and waiting, occasionally interfered with scenes of military men discussing their defense strategies. There are only two (!) notable robot moments throughout the entire film and the biggest menace actually comes from a human villain during the climax. That's just a wasted opportunity, regardless of how little budgetary means the cast and crew had available. Needless to say that "Target Earth" is overly talkative and overlong in spite of its barely 75 minutes running time. The robots look cheap and boorish, but still typically fifties and charming and I would have loved seeing them in action a bit more. They parade around the streets like they're on a sightseeing trip

Since it was co-written by the man behind ROBOT MONSTER (1953), I really wasn't expecting anything from this one (whose SE DVD I bought dirt-cheap from VCI outright). However, the film proved worthy of some attention – though failing to keep up the initial momentum, despite a brief 75-minute duration.The plot starts off with a typical 'Last Man On Earth' scenario (albeit restricted in this case to just one big American city, and the reason it's deserted is due to evacuation rather than decimation). Eventually, a handful of people (including a constantly squabbling couple) band together in a hotel; we gradually learn their individual reasons for being left behind – which would actually be replicated in the much later THE QUIET EARTH (1985) – and, amidst fighting one another (especially the bossiness of an armed criminal on the run), they heroically withstand the alien invasion (consisting of a single solitary robot!) which is threatening the planet. Ultimately, the military springs into action – scientist Whit Bissell having finally hit upon a particular sound wave which can 'kill' the clunky automaton(s), also able to shoot a deadly ray a' la Klaatu from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) – and rescues those still standing (obviously the hero and heroine).The male lead is once again played by Richard Denning, whom I had just watched in THE BLACK SCORPION (1957): amusingly, as in that film, for all his ruggedness he's made up to be something of a dope as well, since Denning cluelessly purports to defend himself with a mere firearm (at the end, when he's told the alien was actually a robot, his character displays genuine amazement – duh!). In the end, though no classic, the film is extremely typical of its time and reasonably entertaining while it's on (with, as I said, the best moments coming at the very beginning via the eerie depiction of deserted city streets).The extras are perhaps over-generous for such minor genre fare: that said, I haven't listened to its late producer Herman Cohen's Audio Commentary – while I was already familiar with the tribute featurette to him from its inclusion on VCI's own edition of HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM (1959).

Four people (Denning, Crowley, Grey, and Reeves) meet by accident on the streets of a city that has been emptied overnight of people, except for a few dead bodies. They learn from a newspaper that the city has been invaded and evacuated by everyone else. The cars have been disabled, so the four refugees hole up in the suite of a hotel, making do with candles, beer, and canned food. There WAS a fifth member of the group, a witless little character, but he ran out into the street and was rayed to death by a wandering robot. The invading army, as it turns out, consists entirely of these robots with their death rays. They're impervious to bullets and can destroy airplanes, presumably with the same rays. A gun-toting evil murderer invades the hotel sanctuary of the survivors and puts moves on Crowley (who has fallen in love with Denning after knowing him for only a few hours). The resulting fight sees Grey killed and Denning wounded before the burly Reeves manages to strangle the killer.The scenes of the survivors are inter cut with scenes of the requisite military and scientists trying just as hard as they can to devise a means of disabling these robots. They finally succeed -- surprise! When the robot army is exposed to sound waves of a certain frequency, it "cracks their cathode ray tubes." (Your television set is a cathode ray tube.) The army comes to the rescue at the last moment, too late, alas, to save Reeves but soon enough to whisk off Denning and Crowley.A cheap and boring movie, I found it almost impossible to watch. Well, sometimes the cheapness can't be helped. A budget will stretch only so far, as we all must know. But this thing could have been written and acted by members of the robot army, who look like they're made of Lego's or like unusually angular Gorts, although we only see one of them at a time.The dialog sucks. The plot is unoriginal. The special effects might better have been suggested than put on display. The logic of the plot is terribly flawed and the direction careless. (Carefully pruned, it might have been a decent episode of The Outer Limits.) I'll give just one example of a jarring lapse of common sense. The vicious murderer is holding the others at gunpoint and Grey suddenly remembers where she saw him before. He's the guy that murdered that hooker on Skid Row! That's right, admits the evildoer. His picture was all over the papers. They'll be looking for him on every street corner, Denning observes. Not if I slip out through the sewers and get out behind the enemy lines, the murderer sneers. The entire city has been evacuated and is now occupied by indestructible robots who kill people and repulse the military with unknown rays -- yet they'll be watching every street corner for some nobody who killed a hooker! Santa Clause could waltz past the army without interference under these conditions! Well, another example. At the very beginning, Crowley wakes up to find the city empty and she wanders the streets. She stumbles across a dead body and Richard Denning at roughly the same time. They introduce themselves and explain where they spent the previous night. Minutes of frippery go by while neither asks the question: WHAT HAPPENED? It could have been good, even with the inexpensive sets and the second-tier (but seasoned) actors. As it is, it's rather a painful experience except for those who really enjoy cheesy SF movies, and there seem to be legions of those.The producer, the late Herbert Cohen, provides an audio commentary on the DVD and he seems like a good-natured guy. He's generous with his credits and he didn't mind if people laughed at the crummy effects when the picture was released and he still doesn't mind.

Crackerjack opening: awakening from a deep, self-induced slumber, Nora King discovers a strange new world. Imagine, for a moment, you wake-up, after an evening of popping pills, to find that everyone has vanished. You are left alone in a quiet, empty metropolis. You search the city streets and edifices for signs of life. You find nothing. And fear begins to creep into your thoughts. Target Earth, a b-movie pioneer from the 50's, begins in such a manner. It's a powerful beginning. After about ten minutes of screen time, Miss King meets a business man, Frank, from Detroit. A few stops later they hear music and stumble across a married couple, bickering and boozing it up at a high class joint. A nervous fellow soon joins the quartet--but is dispatched quickly by one of the army (never seen) of robots from Venus. Of course this makes very little scientific sense on any reasonable level. But we are along for the ride, anyway. I enjoyed the performances by the four main characters. I also felt Robert Roark's "killer" was quite good and smart. Towards the end we get a burst of ice cold violence. Not unexpected. The one mechanical man we do see is properly menacing despite the crack in his view plate. I wish the final had been filmed on the roof of a real building, instead of an indoor set. And a few more shots of the robot vaporizing some soldiers would have been appreciated.