The Magnetic Monster

This review is for the Blu-Ray version of 'The Magnetic Monster' released by Kino Lorber in 2016.'The Magnetic Monster' is one of three movies produced by Ivan Tors in the 1950's that featured OSI (The Office of Scientific Investigation.)This movie has been released previously but this is the first time on Blu-Ray.The focus here is on the science in science fiction.BLU-RAY & EXTRA'S: The picture was shot with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The pictures is clear but as noted below, the extensive use of stock footage is more noticeable because of the excellent picture quality. There is an audio commentary, which is always welcome, by Film Historian Derek Botello. This is not the best commentary track you will ever hear. I prefer commentary tracks that stick to the movie at hand. This one has the usual biographies of everybody involved with the movie and not a whole lot about the movie itself. Nevertheless, it is there and is better than nothing. There is also a bunch of trailers of other science fiction movies from Kino Lorber.PLOT/SUMMARY: The movie opens with a scene in a hardware/appliance store where everything is going haywire. Magnetism seems to be disturbing everything. Two agents, Jeff Stewart and Dan Forbes, from OSI (Office of Scientific Investigation) are sent there. They discover that the source of the magnetism is coming from the second floor of the building. They find a dead person in a laboratory along with massive radiation in the room. They figure out through use of a Geiger counter and help from the outside that somebody has removed something from the lab and has boarded an airplane. The plane returns to the airport and A famous scientist is found dying from radiation poisoning. Before he dies he tells the scientists that he has bombarded a radioactive isotope with alpha rays. This isotope is doubles and releases incredible magnetic energy once every 11 hours. If something is not done to stop this pattern then the earth will soon be thrown out of it's orbit dooming the planet. The only hope is to neutralize the isotope by bombarding it with electricity but they have to find a source powerful enough as not even a city generator has enough electricity to do the job.PRODUCTION & COMMENTS: I liked 'The Magnetic Monster' as I liked all of the OSI movies. These movie have all been criticized for being slow and sometimes boring. It is fair criticism but I don't mind the slow pace. What I like is that all of these movies focus on science and scientific explanations for everything even if the science isn't accurate. I much prefer this than non-sensical action sequences and overly heroic protaganist's that rarely seem believable. WHAT ARE THE OTHER 'OSI' (OFFICE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH) MOVIES?: The other two OSI movies are 'Riders to the Stars' and 'Gog.' Of the three OSI movies, I like this one the least though it's close with 'Riders to the Stars.' I prefer 'Gog' over the other two. OTHER COMMENTS:-Even though there is no real 'monster' in this movie, there might as well have been. The scientist's had to come up with a way to defeat the radiocative isotope much the same way they do in most monster movies.In fact there are no monsters in any of the OSI movies in the normal sense of the word. 'Riders to the Stars' deals with a mission to outer space and 'Gog' deals with robots used for scientific purposes that have been taken control of by a foreign enemy.-This movie was made in 1953 and was released by United Artists. It is disputed as to who actually directed this movie. The editor Herb Strock is sometimes given credit because he was the editor and editing in this movie was a more important than other movies due to the use of stock footage for much of the climax. It is also said by some that Curt Siodmak was fired early on but others say no. Curt wrote many excellent screenplays and wanted to be known for directing like his brother, Robert, but did not come close to being a successful director.-Much of the footage from the climax of the movie was taken from a big budget German movie from the 30's called 'Gold.' The actors wore outfits that matched the actors from 'Gold.' I felt that they did a pretty good job of working the stock footage into the movie and making it meaningful.-I have watched this movie in standard DVD form also. The problem with Blu-Ray versions of old movies with practical special effects is that the effects don't 'blend' as well. It's a lot easier to see imperfections. The transition from stock footage to new footage is easier to see. An effort was actually made to make the newer footage look like stock footage.-This movie stars Richard Carlson playing Dr. Jeffrey Stewart. Carlson is a 1950's science fiction icon and starred in one other Ivan Tors OSI movie. That one was 'Riders to the Stars.' He is best known for his role in 'Creature from the Black Lagoon.' He also starred in 'The Maze,' 'It Came From Outer Space,' and 'Valley of the Gwangi.'-I don't believe it was ever made clear where the professor who created the isotope was taking it when he boarded the plane. He knew it had to be constantly 'fed' and I'm not sure what he was doing on the plane. Perhaps he was just trying to escape criminal prosecution for the death of his lab assistant?-There is a sort of forced romance between Jeffrey Stewart and his wife. I guess every picture from that time period had to have a romance angle. The only angle here is that Dr. Stewart wants his wife to eat more because she isn't 'fat' at 4 months pregnant. That's it for the romance.RECOMMENDATIONS: I'm giving this release 4 stars. Due to their brevity, I feel like most of these old movies should be packaged with another movie or should be priced lower but I am happy to have them available even if they are a bit on the expensive side. The movie is decent, the print quality is excellent and you get a commentary track so it's not bad, just not good enough for 5 stars.Recommended for all 1950's science fiction fans.

When this movie came out, the so-called Atomic Science was murky in the public minds. As in WAR OF THE WORLDS, a Geiger Counter was still a "ticking time bomb" to post-WWII Americans. Scientists were both respected and feared, with good reasons. Einstein was still the term for a genius. We could forgive the errors in the movie's publicity and artwork because most people didn't care, but wanted to be thrilled. It worked then, before annoying film-school "Historians" were born. You can still enjoy this movie, as long as you skip the horrible Audio Commentary. Unless of course you WANT to throw up.The movie deserves 5 stars for its remastered HD, which cleans up most optical trash except for an occasional vertical line. I saw it in the theater and on TV more than a half-century ago, and now it looks great. HD does magnify the shortcomings of old movies that had just a couple of special effects guys working in their garage. "You know," as the Historian always says, it takes a long time at the end of today's movies for the effects credits to roll. (Not many stay in their seats, unless there is a reward at the very end.)But "now back to the" headache-inducing Audio Commentary, as the "Film Historian Derek Botello" would say several times in his hoarse voice between coughs and irrelevant audio inserts from the actual movie. (Timed when he had nothing to say.)This has to be the worst, most incompetent, error filled, plagiarized commentary I have ever heard. He obviously reads straight from old science fiction encyclopedias. Only one autobiography is actually properly attributed. He jumps all over the place, back and forth, about the actors and director(s), and often provides short giggles on what he finds hilarious. He uses the phrase "you know" in most sentences, making you wonder if he knows. When the explosions stock footage appears at the end of the movie, he admits to not knowing if it was from the German film GOLD, which I think is like a church pastor not knowing if something is from the Old or New Testament. He might as well have read the box liner for his misinformation. For examples: "a young scientist's experiments with a new radioactive isotope cause it to double in size every twelve hours, a nearby town's existence is threatened by the deadly radiation." 1) The scientist who actually created the isotope was in his 60's and not played by Carlson. 2) The doubling cycle was 11 hours not 12. 3) The threat was the enormous burst of magnetic attraction, not particle radiation. Three strikes, you're out!If you want to subject yourself to the Audio Commentary, take an anti-nausea pill. The Historian is critical of "the fact the monster is not seen," but goes on to say that the main character's eyes might be harmed by looking into "a periscope" at it. He is pained by "kind of having unintended consequences" and by "proactive morality kinda like most science fiction." He uses phrases like "at the end the tide is turned" and avoids "blowing up half the planet." The planet is NOT going to blow up if the isotope is permitted to keep cycling; the planet might have become unbalanced and flown out of its orbit. At the end of the movie, he jokes again: "What kind of realtor would have a sign like that?!" The sign simply said that the house was for sale. What an awful mistake! Imagine the panic as the Director tries to get a real house sign, fails, and has to have a painter do one. Time is money, and Historians forget that. Studios have Standby Painters now.Not satisfied by trashing just this movie, the Historian claims that Carson died as a skeleton in the movie he directed, RIDERS TO THE STARS, which was actually the fate of another character. Does the Historian ever really watch these movies? I quickly became convinced that this narrator was only watching the movie out of the corner of his eye. How many times can anyone say 12 hours instead of 11?The Magnetic Monster was NOT "born of electricity." The isotope was created by bombardment of a lower element with alpha particles for 200 hours, making Serranium (which probably is like the similar L. A. street name). Historians do not know nuclear physics? Not taught in film school?The most "works okay" comment that is NOT okay: stock footage mismatch with the new footage. He quotes a joke from the modern movie ED WOOD about making a whole movie around just stock footage. MM had a low budget, shot in 11 days, and Ed Wood himself had almost no budget. Is it kind to make fun of MM and the late Ed Wood for doing their best? The Historian apparently prefers straight horror movies to science fiction. He refers to the hash written about in Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria, werewolves, etc., stuff the late Forrey Ackerman loved. He characterizes MM as being too much a mere scientific documentary. Well, I have worked with so-called Lone Wolves in high-energy physics, and if the American Tax Payers knew how their money was wasted, they might appreciate more scientific documentary-style exposes. Science fiction came close to educating, and we should appreciate that often-futile attempt by a dedicated company way back in the 1950s. Science is taught by football coaches today, right?"You know" there is a bodily function that could be used appropriately on this sickening Audio Commentary, but Blu-ray discs cannot be safely edited with corrosive fluids. "You know."

Very enjoyable and absorbing black and white 1953 Sci-Fi movie, starring the likeable Richard Carlson (Creature from The Black Lagoon) in the first of many such roles in films and on TV. In this, he convincingly plays one of the nuclear scientists (A-Men) at the OSI, who investigate atomic phenomena. King Donovan (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), an actor I particularly like, plays his side-kick. The story concerns a maverick scientist who has inadvertently created a radioactive isotope (not a monster as such), which is gorging on the earth's energy and will soon throw the planet out of orbit. So the race is on to neutralise it, and Carlson and his colleagues use every means at their disposal to achieve this, including consulting the M.A.N.I.A.C. computer (cue shots of the real thing at Los Alamos) and using a giant, nightmarish 'Deltatron'. The spectacular Deltatron scenes include footage from a 1934 German film, but I won't spoil things by saying any more about that. This movie is apparently the first in a trilogy of Ivan Tors productions about the OSI, the others being 'Riders to The Stars' and 'Gog'.It's very dated, of course, and I don't know whether all the science is authentic, but it's absorbing stuff, and I loved the comedic touch in the early part of the movie, a scene of magnetic mayhem in an electrical store, with clocks, washing machines and vacuum cleaners taking on a life of their own. On a trivial note, look out for a very young Strother Martin as an airline pilot. My husband really enjoyed the science (real and speculative), but I found it a bit 'talkie' to begin with and would have quite liked a more conventional, fleshy monster, rather than a metaphorical one. As for the DVD itself, the print and sound quality are good, and, although it's a Spanish product, it's easy to play in English without the Spanish subtitles.

Only 1 star as this is a Region A disc and is not compatible with UK Blu-ray players.I also suspect that of the reviews I read on the Amazon UK site were actually from the Amazon US site; this I think is hugely misleading!!In my opinion, Amazon UK should highlight when an incompatible/ non UK region disc is advertised/purchased in UK.

The transfer to BluRay is excellent, as you would expect from Kino Lorber, but after a few minutes I had to turn off the commentary. It might be informative, but I could no longer stand the droning voice and repeated ers and ums.

i love these old sci fi films..so another one fo my collection.great price..fast delivery.

Great product and quick delivery