The 27th Day

Five Earthlings from different countries (including Gene Barry of "War of the Worlds" and lovely English actress Valerie French) are kidnapped by a Klaatu-like alien who gives each of them a palm-sized transparent case containing three silver capsules. The capsules have the power to make millions of humans vanish, without harming animals or causing destruction.

The alien's race desperately needs the planet Earth, but they are morally opposed to conquering it, so they give the war-pron Earthlings the ability to finish themselves off without devastating the planet in a nuclear war.

Don't expect any special effects except for two brief clips from "Earth versus the Flying Saucers", one space scene from "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and a small-scale test of the alien weapon. But the interior of the spacecraft is nicely done. This is an intelligent and uplifting movie, done on a small budget, although it's a bit too talky and actionless for some taste. John Mantley wrote both the screenplay and the original novel. In the novel the capsules had a somewhat more far-reaching (and disturbing) effect on humans than they do in the film. [Originally co-billed with "20 Million Miles to Earth"]

One of those 1950s sci-fi movies that plays out as a kind of morality play. Five people from all over the planet are taken on a UFO and provided with a mega-weapon as a kind of experiment to find out if mankind will destroy itself in a month. When they're returned, each adopts a different method to cope with their newfound powers. Inevitably this soon adopts a Cold War bent and builds to a climax with incredible - not to mention eyebrow-raising - implications. This reminded me of a TWILIGHT ZONE story.

Grossly undervalued, under-marketed and overlooked piece of Scifi. Intellectually right up there with THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and presenting in some ways many of the inter-racial and socially irresponsible foibles that human-kind finds so entrenched. Made at a time of the escalating Cold War, the film unashamedly picks its sides but hey, its an American production!

I saw the film on its initial release when I was just 12, I could hardly then lay claim to knowledge of all things political, but I KNEW a good film when I saw one. In the viewings since (and it is shown way too infrequently on cable) I have come to admire its message and inherent brilliance.

An alien civilisation whose planet is pretty much the next dead thing (WAR OF THE WORLDS, THIS ISLAND EARTH, etc) looks to speed up destruction of the human condition by giving a representative of each of the five super-powers the ability to eradicate life in totality. For the purpose, an alien drops in with a few vials of 'wipe-out' and hands them out to the chosen five before retiring to the referee's corner to watch the game.

Gene Barry, who played it so cool in WAR OF THE WORLDS is the US agent with the chiselled chin and all the right accreditation. The supporting cast are all good and with hands-on direction, about the only thing to let it down are the micro-cosmic budget-restrictions. It remains though a classic film of the genre and is deserving of a much higher profile than that it currently enjoys. Probably due for a remake about this time.

This movie is an underrated gem that has been overlooked by science fiction buffs. The 27th day rates with such films as: The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Thing From Another World. This movie was too cerebral for its' time. It examines the possibility of a superior life form, from another galaxy, providing mankind the power to obliterate life or to salvage life from our planet. The handling of this subject is done with intelligence, a good cast and a decent script.

The movie portrays the constant struggle between good and evil. In this case, with the paranoia of the cold war, the Russians are the ones who seek world domination. All in all a good movie to watch and enjoy. An 8 out of 10!!

THE 27th DAY replaces the cliched threat of aliens blasting us lasers with the chilling fact that a handful of earth people have the power to destroy the world. Of course, one is an upright American citizen, the ohter is a robotic Russian soldier, etc, etc. It gives a wonderful view of how these people would be feared, treated and simply how they would react. My only squabble with the film is that the filmmakers didn't hide their low budget well enough. An example there is a scene where movie characters address the United Nations. The close up of the characters is done in a well lit studio, the cutaways of the UN assembly are handheld and grainy.

Gene Barry and Valarie French are wonderful leads. Look for Roger Corman regulars Paul Birch (NOT OF THIS EARTH) and Mel Welles (Gravis Mushnick from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) in cameos.