User reviews

... and there are unforgettable images which have stayed with me, especially the horrific scene as Dr. Hubertus (Michael Fox, perfectly cast) finds himself trapped within the test chamber with the slowly oscillating window wiper, and the growing panic that follows with the grim realization that his screams for help cannot be heard. And then that stare through the glass as his spectacles ice over ...

Look for "Gog". There have to be copies out there somewhere.

Saw this film when I was about 10 years old. I loved Sci-Fi movies so naturally saw this one. But something was different. There was some unusually tense undercurrent in the story. Actually scared me. Years later I realized the nervous tension was due to the underlying theme of the 'cold war'. The Cold War was very real back in the 50's and as a kid you would hear, now and then, things that would scare the pants off of you. What came first? The chicken or the egg? Was this a sci-fi flick that used the cold war tension or was it overwhelmed by the omnipresent tensions of said war? Don't know but it scare the heck out of me back then.

Not a bad little movie, with a touch more suspense than most movies of this type. The names of the two robots that are controlled by.....,well you should see the movie for that, Gog and Magog, comes from the Bible, Rev.20:8. They are the two nations to be led by Satan in the final battle at Armageddon against the kingdom of God. Is Ivan Tors trying to tell us that the Soviet Union is SATAN? Well, it was 1954! Worth the time if you can find it.

In this 50s sci-fi thriller, some mysterious deaths occur at an ultra-top secret US base--a base that is controlled by a super-computer. Richard Egan is an agent sent to investigate and even after he arrives, several of the staff members are killed by equipment at this research facility. Egan thinks perhaps some sort of spacecraft or airplane above the base is responsible and the film takes on sinister Cold War overtones.

The film looks nice--even though the version I saw was not the 3-D version. The color was very nice and it helped that it was filmed at an air force base--complete with real planes and less crappy stock footage. While kids will no doubt laugh at the way computers and robots are portrayed, for 1954, this is pretty cool stuff and quite believable based on the way they saw technology headed. It also helped that the film had a decent cast, though a few of the actors were a bit dopey (like the lady who began screaming like a banshee after the guy was killed by sound waves). Overall, well worth seeing.

By the way, but didn't Gog and Magog the robots look a little,...um...phallic?!

I recently saw a restored 3-D print of this film at MoMA and have to say I enjoyed it. It seems so much of it's time, when the Cold War was getting warmed up and interest in space exploration was taking hold of our collective imaginations. I loved the costumes, and of course the lead female scientist running around in heels, and that they thought radiation could only travel in a straight line and that just a turn of the corner would keep you safe. I imagine that I would not have enjoyed this film as much had I seen it in its original release in 1954, but given the chance to see it now in the 21st century I found it great fun!

I was pleased to see Gog, after having been interested in it for some years, since I read a positive review in, if memory serves, the Radio Times Encyclopedia of Film. Watching it, it turned out that the plot elements mentioned in the review that made the film so enticing to me were in fact only revealed a fair distance into the film and that the review had more or less spoiled the big reveal, as it were. Still, having settled into the film I was just glad of the enticement to check it out, as it's a good little item, decked out in interesting concepts and solid performances. The plot centres upon an underground scientific research laboratory that comes under investigation when strange accidents fell its personnel. Seems like mere sabotage, but what's really going on...? What transpires is engagingly speculative and charmingly dated, explanation and action threaded through an inspiring joy in science. There's a good deal of scientific chat in this one and a number of interesting gadgets, to give many examples would spoil some of the turns of the film but I did rather enjoy an apparatus assembled for observing the surface of the sun. The interest in science and slightly dry tone here is down to Ivan Tors who came up with the source story. He was prolific in science fiction of this era ad a notable proponent of science fiction as a vehicle for relatively grounded speculation rather than space monsters or giant bugs. The screenplay has more chat than action for a lot of the time though, with the result that the film is slightly plodding and pacing lapses are the main problem with Gog. The acting is also rather stiff, though Richard Egan and Constance Dowling hit the right dedicated notes as the pair in charge of solving the mystery, while assorted scientists are essayed in suitably smart and buttoned up fashion by the likes of Herbert Marshall and John Wengraf. Director Herbert L. Strock brings the film together in agreeably tight fashion, with some effectively intense moments and an overall efficient claustrophobic intrigue. It all comes across nicely, just rather slight, it tightens the screws rather well at times but doesn't maintain them, the effects are handy but rarely wow making, the acting comes off but never really pops, the film just has a bit of a minor league feel to it, fun but never essential. Still, it's a good 'un by and large, definitely worth a look for anyone with an interest in B grade science fiction. So check it out!

In a secret desert location, deep underground is an advanced laboratory that is fighting a schedule to get the first deadly parabolic mirror into space.

Seems that there are too many accidents and scientists are being dispatched like flies. They have sent for a security agent to help sniff out the culprit. Naturally, everyone seems guilty and the guiltiest looking has glass tubes named NOVAC; I never did trust those giant computers.

The movie gets its name from two innocent-looking robots "Gog and Magog" that just follow orders from paper tape. But the tape is idle!

Of significance to movie buffs, this is the third installment of creator Ivan Tors's series of science-fiction films, which include "The Magnetic Monster" and "Rider to the Stars."

Myself, I was appreciating all the technical dials and gadgets there was even an IBM paper terminal.

Like most reviewers in my age group, for reasons difficult to explain, this film terrified me as a kid. In hindsight there's too much of a guided tour for the first half of the picture but it is nostalgic enough for me to give it a solid 7. It's like a film equivalent of the metal space toys I had in the early 60's. A good cast with Mr Egan at the helm gives it some gravitas. There's a great copy on YouTube.

A great movie for a rainy Saturday afternoon. For reference, a great copy is able to be viewed on Youtube.

Perhaps I imagine the scene (I saw this movie on TV when I was 7-9, 45+ years ago), but my favorite recollection was when they suspected there was an aircraft spying on/manipulating their affairs, someone grabs a radio transmitter microphone and broadcasts the equivalent of: "Flying wing, flying wing, are you there?" ((Stock footage of YB-49)) "Roger" "Do you see anything unusual?" ((Stock footage of air force pilot)) "No." The movie proceeds apace.

I must find a tape or DVD!

(As it happens, IMDb has extremely rigid submission guidelines. I always understood, and agreed, that the brevity was the soul of wit. IMDb claims they will also object to "blah blah blah", so I am forced to meta-comment on their guidelines. Really. I was just hoping some other aero-nerds would appreciate supporting roles from a YB-49!)

In the Early 1950's the Sci-Fi Genre was just Getting Started in Earnest and Hungarian Born Ivan Tors was there.

Hired as a Writer in Hollywood and Later a Producer.

He was on a "Mission" to bring as much Science-Fact to Science-Fiction as Possible in the Entertainment World.

Known Mostly for a Movie Trilogy...

"The Magnetic Monster" (1953)..."Riders to the Stars" (1954) and "Gog" (1954)

He also Produced TV's "Science Fiction Theatre" (1955-57) , and the Unique and Totally Serious "Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers" (1956).

"Gog" is a Handsomely Produced Color 3-D Movie, that is a Slick and Steady Entertainment that, some say, is Too Talky, and Overblown with its Now Laughable "Facts"...

Like "Radiation moves in a straight line" and other Dated Technology.

But the Intention was Noble and the Films and Work of Ivan Tors Play Fine Today.

If Taken in the Spirit of the Era and makes His Efforts a bit Different than the Contemporaneous Stuff.

The Productions of Ivan Tors are always Interesting and have a Fun Colorful Template.

The Trilogy is Worth a Watch along with the others in His Filmography.

Note..."Gog"is a vainglorious Title that is not easily forgotten.

I was expecting 1950's cold war schlock, and that's what I got.

But there were some other unexpected details.

While they got atomic physics wrong and clearly didn't understand the concept of orbital mechanics, they otherwise did an above-average job of sticking to real science. Way above average for its genre.

The robots LOOKED LIKE functional robots, not even remotely human-shaped. And in an early scene, you see the computer operator removing and examining something from a rack, that looks a LOT like a PCI card with some sort of memory module on it (very reminiscent of the "hard drive sled" in my old Mac Pro). And a pretty ingenious solar optical system with very-convincing parabolic mirrors.

Not bad!