Godzilla is a 1954 Japanese epic kaiju film directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the first film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, Japan's authorities deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster, whose attacks trigger fears of nuclear holocaust during post-war Japan.
Testament is a 1983 drama film based on a three-page story titled "The Last Testament" by Carol Amen (1933–1987), directed by Lynne Littman and written by John Sacret Young. The film tells the story of how one small suburban town near the San Francisco Bay Area slowly falls apart after a nuclear war destroys outside civilization. It was one of the films, along with The Day After and Threads that portrayed life after a nuclear war, mostly in response to an increase in hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union.
James Stuart Blackton was a British-American film producer and director of the silent era. One of the pioneers of motion pictures, he founded Vitagraph Studios in 1897. He was one of the first filmmakers to use the techniques of stop-motion and drawn animation, is considered a father of American animation, and was the first to bring many classic plays and books to the screen. Blackton was also the commodore of the Motorboat Club of America and the Atlantic Yacht Club.
The submarine film is a subgenre of war film in which the majority of the plot revolves around a submarine below the ocean's surface. Films of this subgenre typically focus on a small but determined crew of submariners battling against enemy submarines or submarine-hunter ships, or against other problems ranging from disputes amongst the crew, threats of mutiny, life-threatening mechanical breakdowns, or the daily difficulties of living on a submarine.
Godzilla Raids Again is a 1955 Japanese kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the second film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus. In the film, Japan struggles to survive Godzilla's return, as well as its destructive battle against its ancient foe Anguirus.
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon is usually a projectile, missile or bomb that is optimized to destroy submarines.
Charles Urban was an Anglo-American film producer and distributor, and one of the most significant figures in British cinema before the First World War. He was a pioneer of the documentary, educational, propaganda and scientific film, as well as being the producer of the world's first successful motion picture colour system.
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a 1956 American science fiction film from Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Fred F. Sears, and stars Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. The stop-motion animation special effects were created by Ray Harryhausen. The storyline was suggested by the bestselling 1953 non-fiction book Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Maj. Donald Keyhoe. The film was released as a double feature with The Werewolf.
Exposure is a short-film oriented science-fiction anthology series that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel between the years of 2000 and 2002. The series showcased the short sci-fi films of both unknown and known filmmakers, giving rise to the channel's own Exposure Studios. Hosted by actress Lisa Marie, the films presented a wide range of science fiction subject matter. The series received poor ratings and was canceled in the fall of 2002. The series was originally shown on Sundays at 10:00pm EST and was repeated the following Saturday at 2:00am EST, later on the time was changed to 11:00pm EST and still repeated the following Saturday well after Midnight, which probably is a major reason for the poor ratings this show received. The series also had two guest hosts. Terry Farrell would host the "Best of Season One" episode and director Kevin Smith hosted the "Star Wars Short Films Showcase".
Battle Beneath the Earth is a 1967 British sci-fi thriller film starring Kerwin Mathews. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film also features character actor Ed Bishop.
The War of the Worlds is a 1953 American science fiction film directed by Byron Haskin, produced by George Pal, and starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. It is the first of several feature film adaptations of H. G. Wells' 1898 novel of the same name. The setting is changed from Victorian era England to 1953 Southern California.
Skyline is a 2010 American science fiction disaster film directed by Greg and Colin Strause and co-produced and written by Liam O'Donnell. It stars Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Crystal Reed, David Zayas, and Donald Faison as a group of Los Angeles residents who witness an alien invasion while in a condominium.
Walter Robert Booth was a British magician and early pioneer of British film. Collaborating with Robert W. Paul and then Charles Urban mostly on "trick" films, he pioneered techniques that led to what has been described as the first British animated film, The Hand of the Artist (1906). Booth is also notable for making the earliest film adaptation of A Christmas Carol with the silent film Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901).
The '?' Motorist is a 1906 British short silent comedy film, commonly called "The Mad Motorist" or "Questionmark Motorist" and directed by Walter R. Booth. Released in October 1906, the trick film is "one of the last films that W.R. Booth made for the producer-inventor R.W. Paul," and, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "looks forward to the more elaborate fantasies that Booth would make for Charles Urban between 1907 and 1911, as well as drawing on a wide range of the visual tricks that Booth had developed over the preceding half-decade."
Satellite in the Sky is a 1956 British CinemaScope science fiction film in Warner Color, produced by Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger, directed by Paul Dickson, and starring Kieron Moore, Lois Maxwell, Donald Wolfit, and Bryan Forbes. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Special effects were by Wally Veevers, who would later work on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Independence Day is a franchise of American science fiction action films that started with Independence Day in 1996, which was followed by the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016. The franchise revolves around extraterrestrials invading Earth and seeking to eradicate mankind while the remaining human resistance uses everything at their disposal to defeat the invaders and take back the planet. Now considered to be a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, the original film was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 on limited release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996 and, briefly, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide of all time behind 1993's Jurassic Park. Currently, it ranks 69th on the list of highest-grossing films, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s. The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.
Rocket Attack U.S.A., also known as Five Minutes to Zero, is a 1958 propaganda espionage/science fiction film produced, directed and edited by Barry Mahon who intended to exploit the launching of Sputnik.
The Aerial Anarchists is a 1911 British silent science fiction film directed by Walter R. Booth. It is the third and final film in Booth's science fiction series seeking to present a picture of futuristic aerial warfare. Aerial Anarchists followed on from Aerial Torpedo and Aerial Submarine and is the first real science fiction series made in the United Kingdom. The story focuses on an attack against London by a fleet of airships from an unknown country.
Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers is a 1956 independent Japanese tokusatsu science fiction film directed and written by Shinichi Sekizawa, with special effects and cinematography by Sadao Uemura. Produced by Kokumotsu Films and distributed by Shintoho, it is Sekizawa's sole directorial credit and stars Tadao Takashima, Junko Ebata, Taiji Tonoyama, Hiroshi Sugi, Shigeru Amachi, and Junji Masuda. In the film, a group of Japanese scientists deal with a sudden alien invasion by inventing a rocket in order to save the planet.
