Plan 9 From Outer Space

Well, my friends, it seems that future events DID affect this film in the future. Not just content to use their Blu-ray-guns on this classic, those Earth fiends at Legend Films have only gone and dropped the Colouranite bomb on it as well. Cue dialogue -Colonel Tom Edwards: "This is the most fantastic story I've ever heard."Jeff Trent: "And every word of it's true, too."Colonel Tom Edwards: "That's the fantastic part of it."So, are all of Earth idiots by allowing this to happen? It seems not. If, like me, you know, love and have this film already in its original black and white, this is a welcome alternative edition for you to own. The actual blu-ray itself is region-free and plays fine in a PS3. Don't expect any widescreen or 5.1 surround, the picture is displayed in 4:3 ratio, and audio is 2.0 stereo. This is a film made in 1956, remember, so don't expect miracles! However, the quality of the transfer to blu-ray is very impressive. The picture is very sharp, and very clean, (though with the odd scratch still there that couldn't be restored), and much better to look at than the dvd version. The actual colourization is done very well, so now it just looks like a movie that was shot in colour. It appears that the people who decided on the precise colours to use had some fun, just check out the Aliens' purple uniforms and their Ruler's (Bunny Breckinridge giving a very camp I-can't-be-bothered-I'm-too-good-for-all-this performance) lime green shirt and pink boots! And watch Eros's face turn green when he is hit. Which leads me to a point that purists might not be happy with. This is something which didn't happen in the original b&w version, obviously, as you wouldn't see it, but there are two other alterations to the film which are more intrusive to anyone who knows the film well. Legend had auctioned off the opportunity to have a photograph digitally inserted into a picture frame on Paula Trent's bedroom wall during her scene with the Ghoul Man, and so now there is a modern picture of the winning couple in it. This is made even more obvious by the fact that the picture changes to one of a building a few seconds later in the same scene! The other alteration is that a previously plain gravestone which is by the side of the murdered Inspector Clay now has the names 'Paula & Russell' inscribed on it. Maybe I'm being picky, but I did find these two things slightly distracting and incongruous to the viewing experience. Though I wouldn't imagine most people will even notice these things. Or they probably wouldn't have till I pointed them out...sorry!As for extras, there aren't many, and frankly the MPIC dvd release has better ones, including the documentary Flying Saucers over Hollywood. The blu-ray does have quite an interesting pop-up trivia quote option, though this can sometimes be hit and miss. It is mostly informative, but I did feel that they missed a few tricks. For instance, they could have mentioned that the actor in the quick shot of a man holding a newspaper was actually Ed Wood. And maybe I didn't need to know quite so much about the subject of pillow-hugging that went on for, well, nearly all night. Unless, of course, I'm missing something here, and they're just joining in with the Woodian spirit of "Hey, that looks good, let's stick it in the movie!"So, all in all, this colourized version is definitely a worthy addition to the film collection of any Ed Wood fan. Or to anyone new to the man, who can appreciate and find humour in a film whose cast is composed mainly of the director's backers and misfit friends, whose acting is atrocious, whose dialogue is inane and nonsensical, whose continuity is completely off, whose special effects are atrocious, whose end result is the display of enthusiasm over ability. I love this film. It never fails to make me laugh and entertain me. And now it's in colour too! So, go and watch it. And, should you fail to like it, then all I can say is......"Your stupid minds! STUPID! STUPID!!!"

Like most people I am still changing my video collection over to dvd, so whilst I was getting  Ed Wood [DVD] [1995 ] I thought I would also treat myself to this movie. Dubbed 'The Worst Movie Ever Made', I think you will find that like myself most people would disagree, I can think of a whole list of worst films that cost a lot more money to make. I know that this review will be cross posted, and so I should point out that this is for the black and white original version by MPIC.Earth is visited by UFOs which the World Governments keep hushed up, but the aliens persist, after all they have a message. Deciding to try Plan 9 the aliens start to raise up the dead, to start raising attention. They have come to warn us to give up our ways of building ever more destructive weapons and continually fighting, especially as they believe we are building an 'Ultimate Weapon' that could destroy the Universe. As you can see, the plot is as good as most other B movies of the era, but of course, this was written, produced and directed by Ed Wood, Jnr. With footage shot from other things, terrible acting, bad special FX and even head stones that wobble and fall over there is just so much to laugh at.Unintentionally comedic, Ed Wood by accident created a very good comedy here, that will have you laughing how ever many times you watch this. On this disc you also have original trailers for other of Ed Wood's movies, as well as a documentary, which like that on the film  Freaks [1932] [DVD ], is longer than the movie itself. If you are into cult movies, or just want to have a laugh at something badly made, then this will be for you. The picture and sound quality here are perfectly okay, apart from one very short blast of static, that couldn't have lasted more than half a second, just over an hour through.

Plan 9 is rated as one of the worst films ever made. It isn't. Bad films are boring, and Plan 9 is never boring. It's wonderful, from the cardboard sets to the terrible acting and dialogue. Everything about it is so awful, it's a camp masterpiece.

Plan 9 From Outer Space is poorly crafted. The acting is atrocious. The special effects are pathetic. The script is beyond catastrophic. The film's biggest star Bela Lugosi died before production started and they replaced him with a double wearing a cape over his face - The real Bela only appears briefly in prerecorded footage. It's all deadpan with actors seemingly oblivious to the film's shortcomings. Flawed dialogue is delivered without irony and there are no winks to the camera.However these things work to the film's advantage. The inconsistencies and mistakes are funny and very watchable, whether it is bad acting or a rubbish flying saucer on a string, Plan 9 is really entertaining - You will be amazed how many mistakes you will spot in every scene and this accidental feature in the film will keep you watching until the end. Plan 9 is loved by many and I value my copy as much as anything by Stanley Kubrick.This edition of Plan 9 also contains the rather splendid 2 hour documentary 'Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion' featuring interviews with Vampira, Joe Dante, Conrad Brooks, Sam Raimi and many more.