'PHASE IV'......ANT-POCALYPSE NOW

Phase IV (1974)   1970's sci-fi movies usually dealt with dystopian, depressing futures.........welcome to the 21st century, folks......you're all gonna die.

             Then Lucas and Spielberg put an end to this parade of apocalyptic woe in 1977 with the release of 'Star Wars' and 'Close Encounters'........

              Most of those '70's' End-Of-Days movies aged badly........but 'Phase IV' a brilliantly imagined pure science fiction experience, had endured and grown in reputation and stature over the decades.

             A stunning, totally visual experience from beginning to end, it's the one and only film directed by the legendary Saul Bass, renowned for his striking main title sequences and iconic poster-logos for major films of 50's and 60's......

              Unlike the clunky, clumsy sci-fi films of its era ("Logan's Run", "Soylent Green"), 'Phase IV' unfolds more like a direct throwback to Kubrick's '2001'.........steeped in moodiness, mystery, and stunning photography that implies a world thrown out of balance by cosmic forces beyond our control.

              Those unknowable galactic glitches have somehow infused desert ants with all-powerful intelligence.......and since nature already gifted them with ruthless organization, superhuman strength and self-sacrificing courage, they're now dedicated to ruling the earth.....at any cost.

              In other words, it's the ants' world We only live in it.

              And that's all you need to know. Just sit back and absorb the experience......which includes jaw-dropping macro-photography of the ants as they go about their new agenda of world domination........

               You'll long remember what we consider the film's most poignant and yet most disturbing sequence......worker ants, one after the other, absorbing a deadly insecticide in order to feed to their queen.....who'll spawn a whole new army of ants resistant to the poison......

               Sadly, the film's studio, Paramount, tampered with it, eliminating its mind-tripping climax that imagined a world conquered by the ants. Young mogul Robert Evans, the champion of "Chinatown" and "The Godfather", couldn't relate to the distant, cold remoteness of 'Phase IV's bleak view of failed humanity........the film quickly turned into a buried, long forgotten cult classic.......

                But never forgotten by BQ. For seekers of great cinema and challenging science fiction, it remains a 5 star (*****) FIND OF FINDS.