The World, The Flesh And The Devil [Remaster]

I saw this film as a child and have waited decades for its reappearance on DVD or even VHS. I was not disappointed by this release long awaited. I would only ask that future releases have sub-titles. Otherwise the film did a fine job of showing life on Earth after nuclear Holocaust minus the ruin to cities that would be leveled by blast and fire. There are also no bodies to be seen, the population having fled before the end occurred. So it is a world of ghost and faint memories of life on Earth prior to the end. This film was ahead of its time in many other ways, which the viewer will appreciate when watching. I rate it as a five star film based on my concern for the characters and the atmosphere the film created. Vast loneliness portrayed by New York City being utterly soulless and void of all life including birds and animals. I was haunted by this film when young and am again haunted by its imagery. One wonders why it took so long for this forgotten gem to return to public viewing. Highly recommended.

I love me some Harry Belafonte!!! I also always liked Inger Stevens. Interesting movie about nuclear war with only a few left with a racial twist that was acceptab!e long ago.

This rarely seen film is a very well made and fascinating (although dated) post-apocalyptic science fiction classic.Made before the civil rights movement of the 1960s, The World, the Flesh and the Devil posed the question to 1950s era audiences: What if the last two people on Earth consisted of a black man and a white woman?Although the question hasn't great impact on us today, it was a controversial subject for this film to tackle back in it's own time--a time when, believe it or not, the studio codes wouldn't allow any display of romantic affection between characters of different races to be shown on screen. This film pushed the envelope as far as it could be taken in that far less enlightened era.This high quality, beautifully made science fiction film portrayed it's black lead as an intelligent, well spoken, self sufficient mining engineer who is a clever problem solver and is knowledgeable enough to fix practically anything mechanical or electrical--a man who uses his very bright mind very effectively.This was a call out to the people of a thankfully gone era of racially segregated neighborhoods and schools, and asked whether two people of different racial heritages could put aside their prejudices once the society which gave birth to, and reinforced, those prejudices no longer existed. And it, hopefully, made everyone who saw it reconsider the validity of their own personal prejudices in light of these revelations.Of course, nowadays, if the last man and woman on earth were of different races, they'd scarcely give it much thought--but, to the America of the 1950s, the subject was, of course, still a very controversial one.The World, the Flesh, and the Devil was a visually expansive film with massive scope and high production values. It included the incredibly popular international star Harry Belefonte as the black male lead, Ralph Burton, and the then very popular young actress Inger Stevens as the white female lead, Sarah Crandall (Stevens' suicide only a few years later was such a terrible waste).The World, the Flesh and the Devil was the very first movie to show the vast empty vistas of a very convincingly deserted looking metropolis to film audiences. Although it's something we've seen in post apocalypse films made since it, back then, the eerily deserted streets and massive empty buildings of New York City produced startling imagery that was entirely new to movie audiences. Critics had never seen anything like it before and they responded to it very positively.The acting in the film was of a high caliber (although Inger Stevens, who was such a talented young actress, does manage to show the young Harry Belafonte up as an actor more than once in this movie).This was no throwaway, quickly made, cheap exploitation science fiction film like most from that era, but was one of the few rare high-quality studio productions of the 1950s made within the genre.Now more of a fascinating post-apocalyptic science fiction cinematic time capsule than a pertinent statement piece, the movie did speak to the pervasive racism issue still yet to be tackled by the society that existed back in the era when this film first premiered. Racism was still such a huge issue in those days that many theaters in the southern parts of the United States actually refused to even show the film! Perhaps it's one-time so very controversial nature is what kept it out of circulation on television and resulted in it's being so rarely ever seen over the subsequent decades.Re-imagined in recent years as the film Z for Zachariah, the remake was updated and more character focused, yet lacked the vast sweeping visual scope of the original. Z for Zachariah was a much smaller, more intimate and personal look at this concept. All in all, though, I find that I still greatly prefer watching the original.A very well done motion picture in all of the technical areas, the Blu-ray rendition of The World, the Flesh, and the Devil looks surprisingly good, presenting the film in full widescreen and high definition for the very first time. The audio is very good for a film from it's era as well, with crisp and well prioritized dialogue presented within a Dolby Pro-logic surround sound track. The score was composed by renowned film composer Miklos Rosa (the composer of the score for the epic Charleton Heston version of Ben-Hur, as well as for a number of other beloved film classics).For an on-demand Blu-ray title the quality of this disc is excellent.Even though the message of this film may be somewhat past it's time, I'm still very glad to see this very well made and visually striking classic science fiction film finally available for viewing in the excellent Blu-ray format. Hooray to Warner's for giving us all the opportunity to finally watch this fascinating and very well produced, but unfortunately rarely ever seen, science-fiction 1950s classic in all of it's spectacular widescreen visual glory! Highly recommended.

Only recently did I find the wonderful flick on DVD. Unlike others I spent some time traveling around NYC watching some of the filming. Most went without incident BUT. Several of my friends and myself were at the Wall Street filming and a very funny incident occured. While Ralph Burton ( Harry Belefonte ) was pulling his wagon down Wall St from Broadway and shooting off his pistol and calling out for a never to be heard answer, LO and behold someone working in one of the buildings on Wall Street opened their office window and shoited back for him not to make so much noise that everyone in the area could hear him. Needless to say shooting stopped and someone from the film crew was dispatched to silence the person in question. Of all the places we went to watch the filming in the city I believe this was really the one incident that stood out. But it let Harry sigh many autographs including one for me. Lennart C Gadde

One of the earlier TEOTWAKI movies, and the fist I remember...it was aired around 1970 on CBS as their Late Night Friday movie of the week...I remember Harry Belafonte dancing a jig in front of the newly electrified flood lights. That is good movie making, when a single image like that sticks in the imagination for decades...Inger Stevens is lovely, and Mel Ferrer plays the arrogant foil to Belafonte's affable Ralph to perfection...rather heavy handed in its racial themes by today's standards, but remember, this was made in 1959, and the Civil Rights Act would not be passed by (a Republican majority) Congress for another five years...so from that perspective a rather ground breaking work...

I was disappointed by the film. It was kind of boring. Very much like Arch Obler's film "Five". The blu-ray looks and sounds great. But, the film just wasn't that good.

Talk about a movie way before it's time! Todays generation should rediscover this great apocalyptic gem. It's the haunting story of the last 3 people on earth. Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens & Mel Ferrer had a lot of guts to act in this movie in 1969. Basically Ralph Burton is a miner who, after several days of being trapped after a cave in digs his way out only to find a post apocalyptic world in which everyone seems to have vanished....well ALMOST everyone! All 3 of these actors are themselves screen legends. And Inger Stevens was known for her stunning beauty and fantastic talent. Her suicide was a great loss to all who watched her performances!

I saw Peace, Principles and Hope in a World that is New. The Human factors yearn for.

great movie from he sixties

I hadn't seen this film since I was in my teens [a long time ago] I was then utterly fascinated with this story. It was then that the cold war between Russia and the West was beginning to take a hold. Plus the black and white controversy was also at its peak. Considering how old this was the backdrop setting was very convincing. Quite an unusual story. I have always liked Harry Belafonte a good actor and singer. One can always find fault whether anyone could survive after a nuclear exchange but non of us knew very much about that at the time. I found it an enjoyable film to watch and no bad language compared to modern films.

prince of players very disappointing dvd -my fault for not reading a review -- would not have purchased had I done so -- dreadful screen aspect -- advertised prominently on case in advertisement as CinemaScope -- in reality hacked and chopped into half the screen aspect.

i remember this film from my youth in a time before cable and satelite televishion and it was a talk with a late night security man about the film (i am legand) and what that ment to him and the fact that i liked (omega man) much better and i could not get the memory of this older film out of my head /now i own this film and i understand the message of this film and it is much stronger and sublime than (i am legand or omega man) this film is a haunting film it will stay with you for years to come as it did with me /racisam /loneliness/bitterness/the list is endless watch this film a true classic

Good for price considering rare film.