Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

It Came from Outer Space 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 14, 2016

Before jumping into the review, it would behoove readers to take a few minutes to glance through a couple of relevant links in support of the movie and its Blu-ray presentation. This link offers a nice little overview of the film and its preparations for release on Blu-ray, while this link offers a more in-depth discussion of the movie's restored soundtrack. The Blu-ray release is excellent, with engaging 3D picture, the original restored soundtrack, and a couple of high quality extras, making this a terrific example of vintage cinema brought to new life for home viewing.

In Sand Rock, Arizona, amateur astronomer and writer John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and his would-be bride Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) peer into the stars through a backyard telescope and see something incredible: an object hurtling towards Earth and crashing nearby. John initially believes it to be a meteor, but further investigation leads him to believe it to be more than a space rock and instead an extraterrestrial craft. Unfortunately, the evidence is buried, and nobody believes him. He's labeled a quack and an opportunist, someone hoping to sell a story off the spectacle. But evidence slowly begins to mount in his favor. The truth of the crash is slowly revealed, but can man be trusted to understand the realities and consequences of what is unfolding in the arid Arizona desert?

It Came From Outer Space stands as one of the classic vintage Sci-Fi films that hardly requires an introduction. Polished and with the genre formula down to a science -- including a classically styled musical track, though this film was one of the first to make use of the type -- the picture is an impressive reminder of film's simpler times when a few tricks of the trade, some well-timed screams, shadowy environments, mystifying clues, doubt, and an underlying fear of the unknown were enough to drive a movie to success. Indeed, the film is terribly simplistic by modern standards, but it finds charm, efficiency, and success in working around its core rather than succumbing to unnecessary dynamism that takes emphasis away from the core and characters. The film is smart in the way it builds tension: quick to get to the point but just slow enough to maintain uncertainty while characters slowly come to realize the truth of what they're seeing, what's happening around them, and what the consequences of both action and inaction may be.

Beyond its linear approach and mostly straightforward plot unravelling cadence, the film delves into some interesting "what if" scenarios between men and between man and alien being. Much of the film's back-and-forth comes from the concept of trust: whether those around John trust his knowledge and instincts and whether he can trust the aliens in what they eventually say to him. Unlike many of its 50s Sci-Fi brethren, the movie's antagonists aren't necessarily the aliens but rather man's inability to deal with, and unwillingness to understand, that which is different than he. A key scene between John and the local sheriff, with a desert spider assuming the role of the mysterious aliens, encapsulates the theme in a nutshell. Social and political overtones are clear, but not intrusive. What the movie might lack in the spectacular it more than makes up for in smarts and ability to find and define its purpose with a unique angle and telling plot.

The film's 3D elements walk that fine line between "gimmick" and "critical" while often playing as both. The picture makes excellent use of perspective and juxtaposition to better shape shots for the 3D element, yes, but also in advancing the story in a meaningful way, adding little touches here and there that better define a moment of character nuance without being intrusive in doing so. The 3D works very well -- seamlessly, for the most part -- and helps draw the viewer in as it expands the sense of scope, place, and detail on the screen, all the while the explanations and truths for what's happening shrink. Performances are fine, much like the movie's most rudimentary structure not particularly novel but serving the movie's plot, style, and cadence very well.

It Came from Outer Space 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It Came from Outer Space arrives on Blu-ray with two presentations: a 2D version of the film and a 3D presentation. The 3D is certainly the main draw, and it's spectacular. Framed at about 4x3, the transfer will place vertical "black bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 HD display, retaining the movie's original aspect ratio. The 3D elements are spectacular. There's a fine sense of identifiable and relatable depth throughout, whether in expansive desert shots, looking down into the cavernous crater, or simply through a fireplace in a house seen in the film's opening minutes. The basic sense of space and volume is very well defined on characters and props, too, with each taking in a realistic shape that's only really not very noticeable in severe close-ups or "full frame" shots, here meaning when foreground objects, like two characters, fill practically the entire frame and essentially crowd out the opportunity for a more expansive sense of space, which is true for all 3D presentations.

Beyond basic depth and shape is a rather large number of 3D images that offer that much more dynamic sense of pop from the screen. Here, it's all done tastefully and in an accentuating manner, not forcibly pushed to demonstrate 3D quality but rather to support a few critical scenes. The best in the film, and one of the best 3D images yet for home demonstration purposes regardless of source, comes when John and Ellen peer through a telescope early in the movie. The tubular object appears to stretch well out of the screen, almost like it's poking in through a window from the outside. It's a marvelous effect that will practically leave the viewer wanting to reach out and touch it. Other moments stand apart as well, including the sense of space along a ladder leading up to wiring, the curvature of a helicopter's windshield, stretching telephone lines, even an alien beam seen in the final minutes. Anyone looking for a compact reference 3D presentation that offers excellence both ways -- into the screen and out of it -- would be wise to seek this disc out.

As for the image's other attributes, they hold up well in both 2D and 3D. The original black-and-white photography is gorgeously nuanced with stark contrasts in the shades of gray in between, supported by positive black levels -- critical in some of the sequences towards film's end -- that never push too bright or crush out details. General detailing is fine, perhaps a shade more organic in 2D and certainly a touch grainier. Rocky formations and desert terrain, clothes and faces, automobiles, and other assorted odds and ends in a home or around the sheriff's station are nicely sharp and revealing, lacking the sheer intimate nuance of finer presentations but holding up very well under the 1080p microscope. A few stray vertical black lines and one or two speckles dot an otherwise clean and meticulous transfer. A hint of shimmering and uneven lines can be seen on a car at the 21:58 mark and again on Ellen's top around 28:30. Otherwise, the image is by-and-large beautiful and good-to-go, but do watch in 3D; it's the way the film was meant to be seen, and it's a true "definitive" experience on the Blu-ray 3D format.

It Came from Outer Space 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It Came from Outer Space lands on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 lossless soundtrack that's the result of an extensive restoration of the original stereophonic three-track magnetic audio. The results are wonderful, and what the presentation lacks in the expanded channel presentations of today, it excels with proper, sophisticated, and knowing use of the channels at its disposal. Directional details are fantastic; imagining across the front impresses a good deal in the opening moments as the ship crashes to Earth, its movement along the front plane precise and following the on-screen path, opening up the scene to wonderful effect. While some heavier details, like a rocky landslide, don't stand up to the precision of the modern engineered track -- such effects can come across a bit muddled or crude in sonic definition -- the sense of room-filling immersion supplements the raw clarity of the moment and it seems the rocks tumble straight form the screen and into the theater. Much the same can be said of crashes and gunshots later in the movie. Dialogue detailing is exacting and clear, while screams are piercingly fun and rich at the top of the spectrum.

It Came from Outer Space 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

It Came from Outer Space contains two trailers, a documentary, and an audio commentary track. No DVD or digital versions are included.

• The Universe According to Universal (480i, 31:36): Narrator Rudy Behlmer guides a look through Universal's place in film history as a source of alien visitation, extraterrestrial life, and other Science Fiction staples. The piece further looks at the political and social implications, parallels, and escapism in the movie. The piece spends much of its screen time on how It Came From Outer Space echoed and influenced the genre, its legacy, performances, adherence to Ray Bradbury's source material, 3D photography and presentation, score and effects, and more. This is a quality piece that informs and entertains alike, one that fascinatingly examines the film, and others like it, as both entertainment and echoes of real life.
• Theatrical Trailer (2D) (1080p, 2:41).
• Theatrical Trailer (3D) (1080p, 2:41).
• Audio Commentary: Film Historian Tom Weaver delivers a well-spoken (albeit prepared) and extremely insightful look into the movie, including its legacy and place in the history of its era, making-of secrets, cast and characters, project origins, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, shooting locations, and plenty more. The track is terrific and paints a wonderfully clear and detailed picture of the larger scope around the film.

It Came from Outer Space 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It Came from Outer Space is a classic, formulaic Sci-Fi movie that twists procedure not so much in structure but certainly in thematic approach and story detail. A basic cadence of discovery, mistrust, fear, and doubt dot the movie, but the core elements are enhanced by a thought provoking story with parallels that remain relevant even today. Universal's Blu-ray release boasts marvelous 3D picture quality, engaging restored sound, and a few quality extras. For the going rate of less than $10 at Best Buy, there's no reason not to purchase, even for those who are unable to enjoy in 3D. Very highly recommended.