{"id":12317,"date":"2015-10-08T17:06:53","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T21:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12317"},"modified":"2015-10-08T17:06:53","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T21:06:53","slug":"br-satan-bug-the-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12317","title":{"rendered":"BR: Satan Bug, The (1965)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"SatanBug_BR_s\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Kino Lorber<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0A<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 September 22, 2015<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Science-Fiction<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A special agent is sent to hunt down the madman now in possession of a stolen vile of lethal germs that could wipe out humanity within a period of months.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 Audio Commentary by film reviewer-historian Glenn Erickson \/ Theatrical Trailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Sturges\u2019 film version of Alistair MacLean\u2019s novel (written under the pseudonym Ian Stuart) is a highly underrated and important entry in the virus or bio-thriller film, and finally makes its deserved Blu-ray release after being ignored on home video for far too long.<\/p>\n

MGM\/UA\u2019s laserdisc remained the best source for genre fans, but an Italian DVD release offered a crisp transfer that far exceeded the MOD disc MGM put out, which sported a reportedly dated transfer no one was satisfied with. KINO\u2019s BR features an excellent HD transfer, but the film\u2019s soundtrack remains a pinched mono mix that lacks genuine oomph \u2013 a drawback when the movie sports a superb Jerry Goldsmith score.<\/p>\n

According to commentator \/ reviewer \/ film historian (and DVD Savant<\/a>) Glenn Erickson, while popular with the crowds that bothered to attend screenings, Satan Bug <\/strong>was written off by snooty critics of the period as a straight-faced James Bond riff, if not a lackluster thriller that offered a few tense moments in spite a slow opening and threadbare resolution, but the jabs at his solid thriller are unfair, especially when it features a solid script by James Clavell (Shogun<\/strong>) and Edward Anhalt (The Young Lions<\/a><\/strong>), and absolutely superb compositions by cinematographer Robert Surtees.<\/p>\n

The slow-burning thriller has a lunatic steal a flask of deadly biohazard material designed for germ warfare \u2013 dubbed a Satan bug, because it perpetually reproduces itself \u2013 and an agent who sort of doesn\u2019t exist tasked with hunting down the culprit and getting each of the biohazard flasks back to the lab where they were authored. The script neither passes judgment nor offers any critique on the use of germ warfare; it\u2019s just a lean thriller with a mostly bullet-proof template that\u2019s served the genre well.<\/p>\n

The most recent comparisons are Steven Soderbergh\u2019s Contagion<\/a><\/strong> (2011), which stumbled in its finale and featured a fairly useless storyline in China; and Wolfgang Petersen\u2019s complete B-movie Outbreak<\/strong> (1995), where action governs all aspects of the narrative rather than the more procedural approach in Robert Wise\u2019s excellent film version of Michael Crichton\u2019s The Andromeda Strain<\/strong> (1971) \u2013 still the benchmark in virus thrillers because the origins, effects, and solution to neutralizing a killer bug is reduced to a few characters and a simple, if not labyrinthine locations.<\/p>\n

Screenwriters Clavell and Anhalt transposed MacLean\u2019s original London location to the desert, with the finale eventually taking place in south Los Angeles, but with the exception of a sequence at the then 2-year old Dodger Stadium, L.A. is really a minor character, as 90% of the film occurs in the desert where isolation, desolation, and unforgiving landscapes both hide the bio warfare lab, and the culprits who engage the U.S. Government on a chase as helicopters and tailing agents attempt to keep track of who\u2019s got the flasks and the kidnapped agents Lee Barrett (George Maharis) and Ann Williams (Anne Francis).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a hint of a prior romance between Ann and Lee, but it\u2019s effectively stillborn, as business must trump any emotions between the couple, especially since Ann\u2019s pop, General Williams (an appropriately grey and grave Dana Andrews) is the one coordinating the search and reclamation of secret government killer bugs.<\/p>\n

The desert\u2019s provided a creepy backdrop in a number of fifties sci-fi thrillers \u2013 notably Jack Arnold\u2019s It Came from Outer Space<\/strong> (1953), and Gordon Douglas\u2019 similarly desert-borne \/ L.A. endangered Them!<\/a><\/strong> (1954) \u2013 and Sturges exploits the lean lines and amorphous rock formations in a perfectly framed widescreen thriller, with evocative lab sets by Herman Blumental and sometimes Bava-esque lighting, especially the use of red in the lab to allude to the Satan bug flask\u2019s red stopper.<\/p>\n

Erickson\u2019s commentary points out both the virtues and naivete of the film \u2013 it\u2019s very much a product of the mid-sixties, lacking the authenticity of Wise\u2019s Andromeda Strain <\/strong>\u2013 and contextualizes the film in the genre, within the spy-mad sixties, and director Sturges\u2019 C.V. The film was the first of a 3-picture deal with the Mirisch Corporation (the others being the bloated comedy western The Hallelujah Trai<\/strong>l, and the superior O.K. Corral retelling Hour of the Gun<\/strong>, also scored by Goldsmith), and from the quotes offered by Erickson, critics seemed ready to pounce on Sturges, as though he needed some deflating after the spectacular success of his prior film, the instant classic The Great Escape<\/strong> (1963).<\/p>\n

Satan Bug<\/strong> was a wise attempt to try out something smaller \u2013 a taut little thriller similar in scale to Bad Day at Black Rock<\/strong> (1955) \u2013 and yet it boasts a fairly substantive cast. Maharis, also written off as wooden by critics, is perfectly fine as a no-nonsense agent with a singular goal to stop a madman in his tracks, and Francis is a bit more than mere blonde d\u00e9cor. Andrews sells the role of a general with an expertise in strategy, and Richard Basehart is fine as the duplicitous Dr. Hoffman who may or may not be more than a common nutbar.<\/p>\n

Small roles are filled by a fascinating array of character actors, including Ed Asner (Lou Grant<\/strong>, Up<\/strong>) as a soft-voiced goon, Simon Oakland (Psycho<\/strong>) playing an unusually petty official, James Hong (Blade Runner<\/strong>) as a rather wry bio-chemist, Richard Bull (Little House on the Prairie<\/strong>) as a mid-level agent, hugely prolific John Anderson as a doomed security chief, and unbilled James Doohan (Star Trek<\/strong>) as a wry \/ non-verbal yet able agent.<\/p>\n

Erickson\u2019s commentary is fact-heavy and delivered a bit dry \u2013 much seems to be read from well-researched notes \u2013 but a missing ingredient for a real special edition is an isolated music & effects track, like the one which accompanied the old laserdisc. Little of Goldsmith\u2019s score survives beyond a handful of stereo cue, and hearing the score in uncompressed DTS would\u2019ve been an improvement over the laudable but old Film Score Monthly CD from 2007.<\/p>\n

KINO\u2019s other extra is the terrible trailer that may have worked for sixties audiences, but really tells little nor sets up the real thrills in this superior killer virus entry.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Anhalt also swrote the story for the underrated virus thriller Panic in the Streets<\/a><\/strong> (1950), whereas Clavell wrote the lean and compelling sci-fi classic The Fly<\/strong> (1958). Other MacLean novels adapted for the big screen include the WWII blockbuster The Guns of Navarone<\/strong> (1961), The Secret Ways<\/strong> (1961), Sturges\u2019 film version of Ice Station Zebra<\/strong> (1968), Where Eagles Dare<\/strong> (1968), When Eight Bells Toll <\/strong>(1971), Puppet on a Chain<\/strong> (1971), Fear is the Key<\/strong> (1972), Caravan to Vaccares<\/strong> (1974), Breakheart Pass<\/strong> (1975), Golden Rendezvous<\/strong> (1977), Force 10 from Navarone<\/strong> (1978), the CanCon classique<\/em> Bear Island<\/strong> (1979), The Hostage Tower <\/strong>(1980), River of Death <\/strong>(1989), and Night Watch <\/strong>(1995).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a>\u00a0— IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a> —\u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Sturges\u2019 film version of Alistair MacLean\u2019s novel (written under the pseudonym Ian Stuart) is a highly underrated and important entry in the virus or bio-thriller film, and finally makes its deserved Blu-ray release after being ignored on home video for far too long…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[3990,3834,3989,3619,545,3991,3988,3987],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3cF","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12317"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12338,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12317\/revisions\/12338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}