User reviews

The film maybe would have been able to escape its B-movie limits if Oboler gave signs of being a really good filmmaker, but the film is still burdened with a weak cast, or at least one Oboler can't get much from, and not much creativity in making the limited effects budget stretch. It has a tremendously weak ending and while the 3-D camera work is decent (the restoration looks nice), the filmmakers don't do much other than push things at the audience's face or do a couple other trick shots. As someone who likes both 3D and weird sci-fi, I found myself wanting to like this a lot more than I actually did.

I was a teen in the 60's and a big horror movie fan who saw and read anything I could get my hands on regarding horror films, and especially 3D horror films of the 50's. I distinctly remember reading the press releases in the Detroit newspapers that Arch Oboler, one of the technical pioneers of 3D films in the 50's, was in town to supervise the installation of special silver screens for his new 3D process.

It was not new because it used polarized lenses...those had been used in the majority of the 3D films in the 50's. The new process related to the projection of the film. (I don't recall the articles going into much more detail about that process, but now I know it was apparently the first to combine both images on a single filmstrip.)

I was so excited that Oboler himself was in my hometown to supervise the showing I made sure to go see it. I believe it was at the Adams in downtown Detroit.

The 3D was mind-blowing! The beer tray floating out over the audience has still (this is mid 2013) not been topped for jaw-dropping 3D. I have thought of it many times since, and I think the reason it worked so well, and so much better than explosions or other fast-moving moves out of frame, is that the tray moved slow enough to follow and keep in focus by our eyes. (This is similar to holding one finger in front of your face and slowly moving it toward your nose. Your eyes cross slowly as your finger gets nearer.) I remember little else of the film, but I know that I walked out feeling I got my money's worth, just for the 3D alone.

I always wanted to see a 3D Movie and I finally made it. It felt very odd wearing the funny glasses, but all in all it was well worth it. Some of the effects were amazing, especially the scene with the dancer. I liked that a lot. At other times the effect was more disturbing, especially at the beginning where there was an empty seat in the plane that seemed to be hanging in the air and looked really out of place. But sitting in row 10 and actually believing that you can touch something because it seems to be just in front of you is really amazing. The film itself was not really bad although there is not much of a plot. I enjoyed the eerie feeling, acting was adequate but I had the impression that some scenes were missing. The pilot disappears and reappears for no apparent reason and in the end the nightmare ends for no apparent reason. But if you do not expect to much from the plot you should be able to enjoy the experience.

Yes this is a awful movie however I was in it: This was my first movie I play(name not on credits) the little girl walking around and riding on the carnival ride in a complete trance. My uncle was a producer and assisted Arch Obler on this film. I was only 7 years old but what memories. Gilligans Island,Big Valley ,Its about Time were all being filmed and I hung out with all of the actors. Michael Cole and Debra Wally were in the Bubble and were great to me. I will never forget that time. I continued on until into my 20 in the Hollywood scene and then decided to move on. I now own a successful Ice Sculpting and Event Decor company on the West Coast. I was so surprised to see this on the amazon.com I had to laugh. I even went to the opening it was at a theatre in Hollywood i got to walk down the red carpet and could barely write my name when another child asked if i was in the movie and wanted my autograph I only new how to print not write.

This was not the first polarized 3-D movie by a long shot, as over 50 3-D movies were released in polarized 3-D in 1953 and 1954. Some of those were later downconverted to the inferior red/blue anaglyph format but they were not seen that way upon their initial release.

However, this was the first film widely distributed in a single strip/one projector 3-D process instead of the dual strip/dual projector system used in the fifties.

The film has been compared to an overlong "Twilight Zone" and that is an apt description. The widescreen 3-D is quite good. It's a bit slow, and the film was cut from the original 112m version to 90 mins for a wide 1976 3-D re-issue under the title FANTASTIC INVASION OF PLANET EARTH. Later 3-D video versions cut it further to 75 mins.

Rhino's DVD restores the original title but is the 90 min version, and has been downconverted from polarized to inferior red/blue anaglyph. Still, the red/blue presentation is better than most; and is worth a purchase for 3-D fans. Just don't expect it to look as good as the original polarized glasses version.

1966's "The Bubble" became the first American feature to be shot in 3-D (called Space Vision) since Universal's 1955 "Revenge of the Creature," from the same writer-director who made the very first 3-D feature "Bwana Devil" in 1952, Arch Oboler, veteran radio producer and creator of the chilling LIGHTS OUT (Canada did come out with "The Mask" in 1961). Unfortunately, suspense is definitely lacking in this misfire, a young couple and their aircraft pilot forced to set down in a curious land of discarded movie sets filled with people who behave like mindless robots, like the cab driver whose only line is repeated ad nauseam: "cab mister?" How the couple's baby can be born in an understaffed hospital of such automatons is beyond comprehension, and even worse, our three protagonists barely bat an eye at the strangeness around them. Eventually it dawns on these dimwits that this community is surrounded by a transparent bubble that allows no escape, and since they flew in from the sky they surmise that the dome was temporarily uncovered. Speculation is that the people are caged animals in some sort of extraterrestrial zoo where experimental specimens can be plucked away from some higher power. Bewildered viewers at the time found the unexplained circumstances infuriating, particularly in light of the incredibly misleading new moniker "Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth" ("The Bubble" was, if anything, painfully accurate), no relation to Bill Rebane's 1972 cheesefest "Invasion from Inner Earth." No characters to identify with, no one behaving with any semblance of common sense, a multitude of drab props never letting the audience know that nothing is real, well it ain't "Strawberry Fields Forever," which at least packs plenty of drama into four minutes of listening pleasure over this overlong exercise in TV movie-style tedium (Oboler's plans for further 3-D endeavors wisely dissipated after this miserable failure).

This process needed only one camera and one strip of film, greatly simplifying production and projection. Besides eliminating the problem of dual-projector synchronization, a major advantage of the Spacevision 3-D process was making it more practical to have films running longer than 88 minutes with no need for even one intermission, while still using the superior Polaroid technology for encoding right and left images instead of red/green or red/blue "anaglyph" images.

Spacevision was the main process used during the 1970s-80s 3-D revival (and the film was re-released at that time under the title "Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth"). Like the 1953 Monogram production DRAGONFLY SQUADRON , THE BUBBLE demonstrates just how spectacular three-dimensional cinematography could be, even on a low budget, when the technicians knew exactly what they were doing and took the care to get it done properly. It also has the necessary element of a reasonably coherent narrative, unlike such trivial if amusing exploitive schlock that really re-booted 3-D movies, like COMIN' AT YA.

The plot of THE BUBBLE is reminiscent of a "The Twilight Zone" episode, or perhaps "The Outer Limits" or "Night Gallery." A small plane makes a forced night landing and the three people aboard find that the entire population of the nearby town seems to be in some sort of trance, doing and saying the same things over and over. Then they discover they cannot leave the area, as an impermeable Plexiglas dome covers the town and surrounding countryside. Moreover, their plane has mysteriously disappeared.

The story is intriguing but tends to drag in spots, despite the cutting of about 20 minutes after its initial theatrical run (the deleted scenes are not known to survive). Some meandering dialogue scenes help develop characterizations but do little to advance the plot, while some of the main townspeople characters are given important functions but left underdeveloped and not even satisfactorily explained. The lead actors (Michael Cole as the main protagonist, Deborah Walley as his very pregnant wife, and Johnny Desmond as the pilot) seem to be trying hard, and are all adequate, if not particularly memorable.

Like the last person leaving a comment I too have fond memories of this movie from my childhood. For over 20 years all I could remember about it was a giant dome and the haunting words "Kill the baby, kill the baby" echoing over and over from when I first saw the movie probably on Big Chuck and Lil John's late night show in Cleveland. I even "Stumped the Staff" with this plot description years ago when that was a feature of the young, fledgling IMDb.

Childhood memories aside, this movie is horrible. The plot is just plain stupid, the acting mediocre at best, and the ending a complete disappointment. But you can read all that in pretty much any review of this movie.

I think the version I originally saw so many years ago was the non 3-D version, so I was sort of curious what it would look like in 3-D. The Rhino DVD's red/blue 3-D effects are pathetic; the result is much more distracting than rewarding. After 90 minutes my eyes were very strained. I even tried viewing on three different monitors and adjusting the color but to no avail. The only thing saving this movie from my second ever "1 outta 10" rating is that I've read the original polarized 3-D effects were quite good.

2 outta 10 stars.

Very hokey alien invasion plot but was the first (I think) 3-D movie to use polarized lenses as opposed to the old red/blue 3-D glasses. The effects were , for 1967, awesome and we were duly astounded. We went opening night and the theater in downtown New Orleans was packed. If this wasn't a 3-D movie, however, you could use it as a sedative. They kept the effects paced just enough to keep us all interested. Today it's a curiosity, conversation piece at best.

My beloved grandmother took me to see this movie at the theater. She was well into her 70s at the time and pretty fed up with movies but she (and I) had fun with this one.

The movie is very slow paced and tedious. One early line from the male lead got a big laugh in the theater: When his wife is in labor (in a plane I think) and about to give birth, he desperately asks her, "can't you hold it in?" What I really remember is the 3D. Even Grandma was amazed, excited and laughing like a kid (along with everyone else in the theater) at the way things really came out of the screen at you. At one point, a tray of beer glasses floats off the bar and into the audience, very slowly. It gets closer and closer until it looks like you could touch it if you stood up and reached over. Many people in the theater did just that (myself included).

What fun. Great memories of a very happy afternoon. Thanks, Grandma :-)

Maybe this movie was OK in 3D, but I just watched it on a 65-inch flat screen and wow, it is just awful.

The Bubble opens with a man and his very pregnant wife flying in a small private aircraft for no apparent reason (like why not drive to the nearest hospital?) The plane is in an extreme thunderstorm, when wifey starts to have contractions. It is night, the pilot informs the couple that the closest airport has no lights and the radio is broken, so he lands the craft on what turns out the be a residential street.

Next scene, morning. The woman is in a hospital bed, the baby in an incubator, and the husband is looking for a phone to call the in-laws. But all the town's residents are more or less mute, able only to speak the same three or four words over and over, e.g. "Cab mister?" And make the same movements. Even the doctor who presumably delivered the baby can barely speak. It's an uncredited role, probably because the actor was embarrassed. More disturbing the townspeople wander about like zombies in what looks like a badly maintained back lot full of movie props and buildings from every era

Here is the truly annoying part. Neither the wife, husband or pilot seems to think anything is especially odd. Even in a saloon when a tray of drinks starts levitating and headed for the camera - the wires are very plain to see - it's not deemed out of the ordinary to the pilot and dim hubby. Same when a 1890s style dancer, for no reason, comes down the stairs and starts kicking her legs at the audience like she is doing the Can Can at the Moulin Rouge. All just a typical day in mute town.

Not much else happens from here. They slowly discover they are in, yes, a bubble. Sort of like the dome in the Stephen King movie or whatever was covering the Truman Show town. Then they stumble on to what has to be the lamest ending in any science fiction I have ever seen.

A further note. The television version print is washed out, as the scenes are in a bright sepia tone.

I later learn that this movie was made in 3D, so that explains some of the gratuitous movements. And maybe the odd color. But without that this movie is not even up to a very bad Outer Limits or Twilight Zone episode. I give it a 3 just because it was probably "just OK" with a third dimension added.

I have a real soft spot for this awful movie. I had nightmares for weeks after seeing it on its release; I was 6 years old. I remember ripping the 3D glasses off my face in abject terror. I would have run screaming from the theater if I had not been in the company of a large group of friends. Years later, I still had a rather vivid memory of the images that had terrified me and I searched high and low for this movie. When I finally found a VHS copy I was astounded at how cheesy and tame the whole thing was, though when I came to the part that had originally traumatized me, I still found it rather unnerving. I can't recommend it to the average viewer, but genre fans (that bad 60's horror genre) and 3D enthusiasts might want to take a look.

... this will certainly be on it.

The landscape in this movie is a bunch of dirt roads, with weird stuff stored by the side of the roads. Like you would find stored by the side of the roads in the back lots of a movie studio. Things like the bottom half of the Lincoln Memorial.

Yes, I think it is fair to say that some movie exec looked out the window and said, "There's a whole bunch of weird junk stored behind the movie studio. Let's see if we can film a movie back there, for free, where we never film any movies." The only reason this was not as dreary as it could be was that it was possible to re-release it in 3-D, and there is one scene (the "floating tray of beer" scene) where that was a little fun.

Around that time, the Guy (Michael Cole) was starring in The Mod Squad. And as for the Girl (Deborah Walley), well there was a time when guys would line up to see her in a movie. Amazing that Cole and Walley got talked into this movie.

When I saw this film, it was in the 1981-1982.

It was titled Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth. It was the first of two movie bill at a local theater in Dayton, Ohio. I don't remember a lot of the movie.

What I remember is the events around the 2nd movie a new movie was released and the title was John Carpenter's The Thing one of the star's in The Thing was Kurt Russell.

He had just recently made a movie about Elvis Presley Most of the people in the audience were women with their kids and the Elvis gear on.

Once the Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth was over the women were excited and they stayed until the husky dog got ripped open they left running in droves.

That's my best memory for The Bubble aka Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth

The plot sounds interesting, like a Twilight Zone episode. However, the acting and script fail to deliver.

The special effects (aside from 3d) leave a lot to be desired. For example, in one scene, they use floating rubber masks... like cheap rubber masks you can buy at any Halloween store in October in the United States.

So, do not rent this movie for the plot.

Where this movie shines is in 3d. This is the type of movie where the plot and acting were incidental. It's entire theme is to show off 3d. You'll be treated to things like a guy raking thin air, with the garden rake filmed to be coming out at you.

You have two scenes of a bucket of dirt being lifted towards you, solely included because it looks somewhat cool in 3d.

The 3d effects are much better than most 3d movies of today. Things have depth and actually seem to come out of the screen.

However, let me reiterate once again, that is the only thing going for this movie.

[Also release as: "Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth"]

Director Arch Oboler ("The Twonky") pioneered a new 3-D process called "Spacevision" which used polarized glasses to separate the right-and-left images for the audience. The 3-D effect works remarkable well, especially in a scene involving a serving tray which floats out of the screen and (apparently) right up to the viewer's face.

Oboler obviously made "The Bubble" just to show off "Spacevision"; the plot is practically nonexistent, and the film is littered with scenes that poke objects out of the screen at the audience. In Deborah Walley's first scene, she holds her arms out to the audience and exclaims "Darling!" to husband Michael Cole.

The token plot is about a small town which alien invaders have isolated inside a spherical force field (the bubble of the title). A small plane piloted by Johnny Desmond and carrying newlyweds Michael and Deborah is forced to land during a storm, and the trio end up trapped in the town. The town's citizens act like broken robots, repeating routine tasks over and over, oblivious to everything around them. Olan Soule has a small role as one of the automaton Earthlings. The alleged alien invaders are never shown.

Music by Paul Sawtell and Bert Schefter (the team which provided mucic for "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" and many other 1950s classics). Arch Oboler served as producer, screenwriter, and director -- so he has nobody to blame but himself.

If I recall correctly, this movie, when shown "flat" on TV has some perplexing moments when characters inexplicably move objects toward and away from the camera, apparently for no reason other than to create a 3D effect, like in the old Second City TV skit "Doctor Tongue". If you're looking for a big budget aliens attacking flick like Independence Day in 3D, you'll be disappointed. It's a little more cerebral, creating atmosphere and suspense instead of thrills. In order to appreciate this kind of a movie, you have to be willing to work with it.

A young couple (the guy is Michael Cole) find themselves in a mysterious town.

I am guessing many retro sci-fi fans don't even know this film exists for the simple reason that the title - The Bubble - does not give any hint as to what genre of movie this is.

Hit and miss best describes this flick. Cole does some great acting, the backlot town looks creepy enough, the moody musical score fits in well and there are some very well done moments that Under The Dome (2013) may have pinched.

But this is a long movie that really needed to be a 25 minute or 50 minute TV episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. The ending is a bit average. Also, the 3D tricks (actors pointing things at the camera) are not welcome.

I would suggest a late night viewing when you are not feeling very demanding.