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The Swarm (1978)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 5/21

Swarm
5/21: Irwin Allen wasn't called the Master of Disaster for nothing.

Four years after the success of The Towering Inferno, The Swarm was released, and this time, it's African honey bees upending people's lives. Unfortunately, the film wasn't a moneymaker like The Towering Inferno or The Poseidon Adventure, signaling the end of Irwin Allen's career.

Well, that's too bad because it's a terrific movie with a true all-star cast (ten Oscar wins for seven thespians out of nine with twenty-five nominations). Only Michael Caine, Richard Widmark, and Henry Fonda make an impression while the rest are so-so.

At first, I thought The Swarm was going to be a B-rated sci-fi flick because of the cheesy neon-colored uniforms. But as soon as Michael Caine took over, it's when the movie started to improve considerably. Then, the story got more interesting as the events unfolded. The philosophical battles between Michael Caine's and Richard Widmark's characters are among the highlights.

I was thinking of viable solutions to the problem, and the on-screen characters eventually came up with them which produced negative results. Finally, one worked out: the sound of a mating call, causing the bees migrate to wherever it's coming from. At the same time, the script is intelligent, so I appreciate the dialogue. Ditto for making a lot of kids die which is part of life.

However long the movie is, which is 156 minutes, I don't mind the running length, but because of Olivia de Havilland, Fred MacMurray (in the final role of his career), and Ben Johnson failing to match the acting intensity of Michael Caine, Richard Widmark, and Henry Fonda, their romance triangle subplot is a digression as compared to the overall situation.

All in all, The Swarm has been frequently called one of the worst movies ever made, but I disagree and think it's well-made with some strong performances, an intriguing storyline, and excellent special effects which included twenty-two million real bees.