The Swarm
Encyclopedia
The Swarm is a 1978 disaster film
about a killer bee
invasion of Texas
. It was adapted from a novel of the same name by Arthur Herzog
.
The director was Irwin Allen
, and the cast included Michael Caine
, Katharine Ross
, Richard Widmark
, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland
, Ben Johnson
, Lee Grant
, Patty Duke
, Slim Pickens
, Bradford Dillman
, Fred MacMurray
(in his final film appearance), and Henry Fonda
. Despite negative reviews and being a box office failure, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and retained a cult following
for Jerry Goldsmith
's score, its all-star cast, as well as being part of the horror film genre.
) is ordered to investigate a basement level station which they believed was attacked. After Baker contacts his commander, General Slater (Richard Widmark
), they begin to investigate who drove a civilian van into the base. It is revealed to be owned by a scientist named Dr. Bradford Crane (Michael Caine
). Slater orders two choppers to check for a black mass (revealed to bees), and they are sent out of the sky.
in the 1980s, it was expanded to 156 minutes. This 156-minute version is the one available on DVD
.
s" ever made, along with Allen's subsequent films Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
and When Time Ran Out
(1980
). It was one of two disaster films (the other being 1979's Beyond the Poseidon Adventure), directed solely by the "master of disaster" Allen, who had experience directing several films and many episodes of his TV shows.
The film was a notorious box office bomb upon its release in 1978, barely making it two weeks in theaters. Michael Caine
, despite other failed films, claims it is the worst film he ever made (along with his decade-earlier film The Magus
and his later film Ashanti): "It wasn't just me, Hank Fonda was in it too, but I got the blame for it" he claimed in an interview with Michael Parkinson.
was composed by Academy Award winner Jerry Goldsmith
and used French horns and such to sound like the humming of bees.
The score was originally released on Warner Bros. Records
in 1978 at the same time of the film's release, but has since gone out of print. An expanded, remastered score was released in a limited edition by Prometheus Records
and contained over 40 minutes of previously unreleased material. It has also gone out of print.
. Roy Lee
of Vertigo Entertainment is producing.
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
about a killer bee
Africanized bee
Africanized honey bees, known colloquially as "killer bees", are a hybrid variety of the European honeybee , generated by a man-made breeding of the African honey bee, A. m. scutellata, with various European honey bees such as the Italian bee A. m. ligustica and A. m. iberiensis. These bees are far...
invasion of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. It was adapted from a novel of the same name by Arthur Herzog
Arthur Herzog
Arthur Herzog was an American novelist, non-fiction writer, and journalist, well known for his works of science fiction and true crime books.His novels The Swarm and Orca have been made into films...
.
The director was Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...
, and the cast included Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Katharine Ross
Katharine Ross
Katharine Juliet Ross is an American film and stage actress. Trained at the San Francisco Workshop, she is perhaps best known for her role as Elaine Robinson in the 1967 film The Graduate, opposite Dustin Hoffman, which won her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and her role...
, Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
, Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson (actor)
Ben "Son" Johnson, Jr. was an American motion picture actor who was mainly cast in Westerns. He was also a rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and rancher.-Personal life:...
, Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
, Patty Duke
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
, Slim Pickens
Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
, Bradford Dillman
Bradford Dillman
-Early life:Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930 in San Francisco, California, the son of Josephine and Dean Dillman, a stockbroker. He studied at Town School for Boys and St. Ignatius High School. Later he attended the Hotchkiss boarding school in Connecticut, where he became involved in...
, Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
(in his final film appearance), and Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
. Despite negative reviews and being a box office failure, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and retained a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
for Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
's score, its all-star cast, as well as being part of the horror film genre.
Plot
A group of soldiers led by Maj. Baker (Bradford DillmanBradford Dillman
-Early life:Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930 in San Francisco, California, the son of Josephine and Dean Dillman, a stockbroker. He studied at Town School for Boys and St. Ignatius High School. Later he attended the Hotchkiss boarding school in Connecticut, where he became involved in...
) is ordered to investigate a basement level station which they believed was attacked. After Baker contacts his commander, General Slater (Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
), they begin to investigate who drove a civilian van into the base. It is revealed to be owned by a scientist named Dr. Bradford Crane (Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
). Slater orders two choppers to check for a black mass (revealed to bees), and they are sent out of the sky.
Cast
Alternate versions
The film was released initially at 116 minutes. When released on laserdiscLaserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in the 1980s, it was expanded to 156 minutes. This 156-minute version is the one available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Reception
Many filmgoers and critics consider this film one of the worst "disaster filmDisaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
s" ever made, along with Allen's subsequent films Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is a 1979 American disaster film, a sequel to the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure. It was directed by Irwin Allen and starred Michael Caine and Sally Field...
and When Time Ran Out
When Time Ran Out
When Time Ran Out... is a disaster film released in 1980, starring Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, James Franciscus, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Burgess Meredith, Valentina Cortese, Veronica Hamel, Pat Morita, Edward Albert, and Barbara Carrera.Produced by the "Master of...
(1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
). It was one of two disaster films (the other being 1979's Beyond the Poseidon Adventure), directed solely by the "master of disaster" Allen, who had experience directing several films and many episodes of his TV shows.
The film was a notorious box office bomb upon its release in 1978, barely making it two weeks in theaters. Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, despite other failed films, claims it is the worst film he ever made (along with his decade-earlier film The Magus
The Magus (film)
The Magus is a 1968 film British mystery film directed by Guy Green. The screenplay was written by John Fowles, based on his novel of the same name. It starred Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, Candice Bergen and Anna Karina...
and his later film Ashanti): "It wasn't just me, Hank Fonda was in it too, but I got the blame for it" he claimed in an interview with Michael Parkinson.
Score
The musical scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was composed by Academy Award winner Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
and used French horns and such to sound like the humming of bees.
The score was originally released on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in 1978 at the same time of the film's release, but has since gone out of print. An expanded, remastered score was released in a limited edition by Prometheus Records
Prometheus Records
Prometheus Records is a Belgium-based soundtrack label, established in 1980 by Luc Van de Ven, which originally began as a film music magazine known as Soundtrack. The magazine ceased production in 2004, but the label still continues to issue film score CDs with the assistance of Ford A...
and contained over 40 minutes of previously unreleased material. It has also gone out of print.
Remake
The film is currently in negotiations for a remakeRemake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
. Roy Lee
Roy Lee
Roy Lee is an American film producer who regularly takes well known Asian films and remakes them for American audiences. Examples include The Ring, The Grudge and The Departed...
of Vertigo Entertainment is producing.
External links
- The Swarm – Movie Trailer
- Irwin Allen News Network (The Irwin Allen News Network's Swarm page)