Rent Them! (1954)
3.7 of 5 from 104 ratings
1h 29min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Man has split the atom and ushered in a new era. But how could he know he would also create Them!? A landmark movie about giant radiation-mutated ants that gets better with age and boasts remarkable Academy Award - nominated special effects. Starring James Whitmore, James Arness and Edmund Gwenn, Them! begins in New Mexico with a child wondering in shock, a ransacked general store - and a battered corpse full of enough formic acid to kill 20 men. It ends with an epic struggle in the 700 miles of storm drains under Los Angeles, where the insect hordes are beaten. But they're not conquered because they spawned a generation of films about radioactive creatures. Some approximate the terror but few have equaled the artistry of Them! - Actors:
- James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens, Sean McClory, Chris Drake, Sandy Descher, Mary Alan Hokanson, Don Shelton, Fess Parker, Olin Howland, Richard Bellis, John Beradino, Robert Berger, Oscar Blanke, Willis Bouchey, Richard Boyer, Waldron Boyle, Alexander Campbell
- Directors:
- Gordon Douglas
- Producers:
- David Weisbart
- Writers:
- Ted Sherdeman, Russell S. Hughes, George Worthing Yates
- Others:
- Warner Bros. Studio
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Classics, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 1, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 1, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 2, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Ridley Scott
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 03/10/2016
- Run Time:
- 92 minutes
- Languages:
- Castilian Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- Castillian, English Hard of Hearing, French, Latin American Spanish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Behind-the-Scenes archive footage montage on the design and operation of giant ants
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Reviews (1) of Them!
Very Entertaining SciFi/Horror From the 50s - Them! review by GI
The effects of hydrogen bomb tests and the dangers of radiation resulted in a string of films in the 1950s that dealt with the huge fear of America living in the atomic age. Some of these were cheaply made B movie 'creature features' but some have become classics of the period and were very well made. Them! is one of the best of this cycle of films that were released in this period. It's surprisingly well produced and directed and has a great story that borders the realms of horror and science fiction. It's easy enough to laugh at films like this when viewing them today especially as they rely on models that today would be rendered with digital effects. But these films form an important period in cinema history and many, like this one, are exciting, fun and if you're a cinephile, very interesting too. In New Mexico a local policeman (James Whitmore) finds a small girl wandering alone in the desert, she is suffering from severe shock and the only reaction she gives is to scream "Them" over and over. When several bodies are also found the FBI is called in and a Government scientist (Edmund Gwenn) has an astounding theory which soon reveals Los Angeles to be in extreme danger. The film co-stars James Arness, who later went onto star in the long running TV series, Gunsmoke, and if you're observant you'll spot a young Leonard Nimoy too. This is marvellous fun and a great story. It has mystery, shocks and heroics and yes a film of its time but one that has a place in the history of American cinema.
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