The Swarm (1978)

I saw this at a local arthouse cinema that was showing a curated "Dystopia" series. This was a bit of a tongue in cheek selection. I kinda like 70's disaster movies and decided to see this even tho I was aware of it's bad reputation. I went in with open mind and was prepared to be positively surprised as I even own movies like Airport (all four), Towering Inferno, Rolleroaster, Earthquake etc, so I genuinely was prepared to like it.So, there was something good about it. It looks good, I saw an original 35mm copy. There are slow-mo shots that really look pretty good and the fx are really good. All of the bee shots are extremely well made, be it close ups or wides with the whole swarm. I guess they used real bees and a lot of them and the swarm was some kind of super imposed thing, but they really did look good. Music was ok, but nothing remarkable by Jerry Goldsmith.And the bad, almost everything else. The script is amazingly dumb. From dialog to anything that happens really. There were so many face palm moments that it makes no sense listing them. It's also very much politically incorrect with the "africans" as villains and all white cast, that alone would make this a bomb. I can't imagine it being ok even in the late seventies.Acting was bad, but that is mostly due to the dumb script and characters. Michael Caines character must be one of the worst protagonists ever. He's not very likable and he doesn't even make very good decisions in the movie.What bugged me a bit tho while watching this film was that part of the audience was clearly laughing because they thought this is a movie you have to laugh at every scene. To me it wasn't a movie that is bad enough to be laughable for the most part, it was just bad. Sure there were a few scenes which did spark a non intended smile, but some people were laughing their asses off when kids were dying in slow motion.Difficult movie to judge. They clearly knew that killer bees might be a bit hard to accept as a real threat, but there were scenes that had tension. It was mostly everything that happened between those scenes that made the movie bad. I saw the original "short" version and it felt really long. Glad they didn't show the longer cut as I would've surely fell asleep.

Adapted from a novel of the same name by Arthur Herzog, this science fiction monster horror film directed by Irwin Allen AKA the Master of Disaster, didn't have the buzz, it thought it should had been given when it was release in 1978. The film was a notorious box office bomb upon its release, barely making it two weeks in theaters. It's pretty clear, to say, with that fact, honey; that this 'Bee-list" horror movie wasn't Queen B, at all! Without spoiling the movie too much, I have to say, it was really nice to see, that they were able to find thousands & thousands of real life European honey bees, as shoes-in, for the dangerous real life, African honey bees swarm. It really gave the film, its look. I also love how the bees were manage for the most part of the film, throughout the film. It must had been a huge challenge for production to find several bee keepers who had bees that had their stingers off. I heard that about 800,000 bees were "de-stung" for the close-ups and medium shots filmed with human actors by incapacitating the insects in freezing temperatures. While, most of the 'de-stung', however, some of them, were somewhat missed; so they had to doctors with allergic medicine, just in case. I also love the production story of main actor, Michael Caine eating bee poop, after mistaking it for honey. It must had been very hilarious at the time. However, contrary to popular belief, regarding the bees. Most bees don't really sting, much people, unless they have to. If they do, the bees mostly likely will die as well. This science fact was really missing from the film. Another myth about Africanized bees, is that they're super aggressive. Unlike the over-the-top bees depicted in the film that seem to attack everything, from everywhere by roaming, the real-life African bees are local to the hive. The reason, why is because the banana-scented pheromone which give signals to other bees to attack would be, too weak, the farer, it gets from the main hive. Most bees can only go as far, as ¼ miles from their main source; unless, the bees feel like migrate as part of a seasonal response to lowered food supply or likely to "abscond" in response of deep stress. Seeing how the movie takes place in Texas, I really doubt, they will move as much, due to the extremely dry late summers & harsh winters that state has. In my opinion, the plot would actually have made a lot more sense had it involved wasps rather than bees. Still, seeing these deeply disturbed bees take out, passenger trains, helicopters, and nuclear power plants is bit too unrealistic and ludicrous for even me to take serious; despite how cool, it might seem. Another mistake, this movie made about the bees, is the venom. Africanized honeybee venom is not more painful or voluminous than normal honeybee venom. It wouldn't make you, hallucinate giant insects or any nonsense like that. The only way, to truly die from them, is to be deeply allergic to bees, or to be, total cover, by them. Not only is, the logic behind the science of the bee, seem to be kinda lacking in this film, but the logic by the supposedly on-screen scientist, as well. Dr. Bradford Crane (Michael Caine), is a total moron. Not only, does he repeatedly endangers countless lives in favor of the environment; but he gives in, to a lot of stupid idea that cause many people to die. By the way, setting the ocean on fire using oil is not environment friendly, Crane! I also hate the fact, that he waste time, trying to hook up with Dr. Helena Anderson (Katharine Ross), rather than saving people. Are we're supposed to cheer for him!? I'm not! Anyways, as much as I love Michael Caine as an actor. His character was too annoying. I don't blame Caine for this film failure. He did what he can. I blame, screenwriter Stirling Silliphant for the film direction. This movie has way too many side characters. Yes, it's nice to see certain celebs like Henry Fonda, José Ferrer, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Bradford Dillman in the film, but some of them, could had been cut. I hate the fact, that most of them, don't really push the plot, forward. When, they do, it doesn't make any sense, like how the teenager, Paul Durant (Christian Juttner) went back to the hive to taunt the bees, after seeing his parent die. Wasn't a minute ago, he was still hallucinating about giant insects attacking him!? It doesn't make sense. Anyways, the filmmakers really focus way too much on, the characters normal lives than the bee attack concept. Some good examples are the pregnancy angle and the love triangle; which goes nowhere. It's clear, by the writing, that most of them hardly have any pay-off. At least, 3 side characters as far as we know of, seem to just vanish from the movie without any explanation of their fates. What a disaster! This is not how you make a disaster movie with a big cast. I'm deeply disappointing on how lack-lusting, most of these supporting characters are. Another problem with the film is the length. The film is not well paced for a simple plot about killer bees. There was really no reason for this film to be, 116 minutes for the normal theater cut & 156 minutes for the extended DVD cut! That's way too long! The movie's effects are also not that good. Model trains and planes blowing up. Day for night shots & matte painting, make this film, somewhat dated. Even terms like calling the bees 'Africans' seem a bit awkward to watch. Overall: This killer bee invasion movie is not a great watch, but not too bad. It's just below standards

In the 1970s, Irwin Allen had a string of hits using the same formula. He'd hire a bunch of A-list actors to appear in his films as 'guest stars' and then put them in the middle of some disaster such as an earthquake, shipwreck or a giant fire. While these films were pretty mindless and silly, they made lots of money...until "The Swarm". In contrast to his previous films, "The Swarm" kept the public away in (dare I say) swarms. It lost many millions--so much that Allen stopped making these mega-budgeted movies*. Frankly, this wasn't such a bad thing as the noted producer/director had simply gone to the well one time too many and the public was sick of these sort of pictures. Still, you have to wonder if despite all this, is "The Swarm" a decent film? Read on....When the film begins, a variety of bee-induced accidents occur. When a top beeologist (or whatever you call them) tries to help, Dr. Crane (Michael Caine) is treated like dirt by the military, particularly General Slater (Richard Widmark). Grudgingly, they allow him to help but what can they do with some seriously nastified Africanized bees?! Not much--at least for much of the film, as you see tons of folks being attacked by these nasty bugs. Time and again, folks writhe about with bees or stunt bees buzzing about them.Technically speaking, this film really isn't much different from other Allen mega-pictures. The characters are shallow and underdeveloped and writing is certainly NOT a strong point in the film. What sets this one apart is the bee attacks. While Allen and his staff tried hard to make it look realistic, watching famous and respected actors writhing about and thrashing as they're supposedly being killed by bees is unintentionally hilarious! Seeing someone burned to death in "The Towering Inferno" or drowning in "The Poseidon Adventure" isn't funny and really couldn't be. That is the main difference between "The Swarm" and previous Allen epics. Seeing Olivia de Havilland (one of my favorite actresses) moaning is funny! How often can you see super- famous Oscar-winning actress embarrass herself like this?! And don't just blame her...lots of other very respected actors appear in this silly film. However, the funniest acting is by the extras--as folks being attacked by bees invariably drive into walls (and explode), run about screaming as they're engulfed in flames and generally just run amok!!"The Official Razzie Movie Guide" listed this film in their book of biggest mistakes in Hollywood history. Given that their list is heavy on the films of the last 40 years and how much money the film lost, I think it's a reasonable inclusion. But this does not mean its a horrible film--far worse have been made over the years. But few lost as much money as this one did and made bigger fools of a bunch of famous actors. *Allen did make "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" a few years after this film but with many more B-listers in the film and a budget a tiny fraction of "The Swarm".

The last major offering from Disaster Master Irwin Allen (Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno), The Swarm deals with an invasion of killer bees that threaten to wipe out humanity. Lots of stuff gets destroyed, plenty of people die and well, the Bees evolve, ready for the next attack.Overlong and incredibly padded, Allen's infamous 1978 'bee' movie earns its reputation via a story that keeps protracting via cheap contrivances and idiotic characters (you could make a drinking game out of how long it takes for these guys to come up with obvious solution to killing the bees, as well as what kind of deus ex machina the bees will magically pull to somehow survive the next attack), as well as a preachy and undercooked environmental message that does not deserve my attention when you've pulled every trick to drag this trainwreck out longer than needed, and given me nothing but dimwits to watch.Furthermore, we also have very hit-or-miss special effects (shocking, considering Allen's experience, and that this was released the same year as Donner's first Superman), with the bees ranging from fairly well done to pathetically tacky, with the model work and bits of bluescreen suffering similarly. However, the all star cast of actors do try, with special note going to Slim Pickens and Henry Fonda who do bring some emotional weight to their roles, even if Caine just comes off as really whiny, and the late great Jerry Goldsmith's unsettling yet effective score adds more tension and atmosphere than the film would have otherwise.Beyond a noted curio of bad cinema, you have other so, so, so many options for your monster and disaster movie fixes, so why really bother here?