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+---- Thread: Phase IV (Kanopy) (/showthread.php?tid=7956)
Phase IV (Kanopy) - thatguy - 01-19-2024
Directed by Saul Bass, came out in 1974…this is a (very) low budget thriller about intelligent ants. It’s very much like andromeda strain, but the acting is far worse. Some researcher his picked up on some strange ant activities and incidents, and while not many take him seriously, there is one scientist whose interest is piqued. They get some backing to study further and set up a research facility in the desert after evicting the neighboring townsfolk. Their facility is a silver geodesic dome with a generator and a bunch of equipment for the two of them to use in their studies. The main scientist is a little crazed like Captain Nemo.
There is a family that stays behind thinking their fire moat can stop the marauding ants, but no. Their granddaughter survives and is taken in by the researchers.
A lot of the excitement in this film is watching the second scientist load data from paper tape into a computer, plot data on a plotter and figure out the ant language. Then there’s further excitement when they send audio signals representing a geometric shape to the ants and they reply with a circle with a dot in it.
Lots and lots of ant footage and stop motion ant(ic)s.
It’s pretty terrible. The soundtrack has some heavy John Carpenter-like synth, but I wouldn’t call it music.
Not recommended…
—tg
RE: Phase IV (Kanopy) - thatguy - 01-20-2024
I forgot to mention this is #123 in Rolling Stone's top 150 Sci Fi movies of all time.
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-sci-fi-movies-1234893930/things-to-come-1936-2-1234930735/
RE: Phase IV (Kanopy) - Drunk Monk - 01-20-2024
This made a strong impression on me at the time. All I remember now is when they discovered the ants made the square pattern in the grass, when they ate some poison and changed color and the end, which was surreal. I have fond memories of it but only saw it once so it may not have stood the test of time. Maybe I’ll rewatch someday…