The Swarm

The Swarm (1978)

Runtime: I saw the 155 minute extended cut

Directed by: Irwin Allen

Starring: Again, WAY too many to list

From: Warner Bros.

Yes, this movie unBEElievably bad... and plus, wasps are the real enemy anyhow: 

This was not only a bee movie, but also a B-movie... and a pretty bad one at that. To clarify, I saw the 155 minute extended cut, which is the far easier version to find these days. I did not watch the recent Blu release from Warner Archive but instead watched it in standard definition via a streaming rental from Amazon Video.

For years I had heard this was a stinker and yet it wasn't until the new Blu release was referenced elsewhere that I was finally brave enough to see how poor this was, and indeed it is no surprise the combination of this and When Time Ran Out not only ruined Irwin Allen's career but stopped the disaster genre dead in its tracks for years. I can't give it an extremely low rating as there are moments of tremendous comedy-unfortunately for the film it was unintended as this was played deadly serious-but much of the movie is so... damn... boring.

There are many famous faces in the cast (everyone from Olivia de Havilland and Henry Fonda to Patty Duke Astin (as she was known then), Bradford Dillman, Slim Pickens and Richard Widmark, but it don't matter much unless you want to see all these stars made to look foolish or have to spout poor dialogue. Time is wasted on such things as which old man will take de Havilland as his girlfriend, and it's all corny and it don't really matter in the long run. Then there is the ludicrous plot where entomologist Michael Caine is somehow granted all power by the United States government and has impunity... or how killer bees that apparently can eat through plastic don't go through hazmat suits... or someone can blackmail a General into entry on a military base, or different people hallucinate a giant bee after they are attacked separately.

Of course, there is the glaring issue that no bee ever acts the way they do here, killer or not. They don't go after helicopters or attack people in a nuclear power plant. All that killer bees are were products of genetic engineering gone wrong and they are more aggressive than the typical honeybee. Only like two people a year are killed by their attacks and their venom is not incredibly potent either. Plenty is scientifically inaccurate; at least an important truth was mentioned in that the typical bee is incredibly important to Earth due to all the pollinating it does-the issue to colony collapse disorder and other issues resulting in their populations declining has far worse catastrophic effects for this world than killer bees-although I am not sure how seriously audiences would treat that message considering it was delivered by Caine in one of his many epic moments of yelling.

Lord, Caine in this film... it's one of his paycheck roles. He at times comes across as a loon, he usually dresses either in a sort of leisure suit or turtleneck, and his work vehicle is actually a 70's Ford van that is pretty much a shaggin' wagon where you expect shag carpeting in the back. Then there is the finale and the portentous dialogue he has to deliver; that finale is incredible in many different ways. It was overwrought and it's great how the plan to destroy the villains results in an environmental catastrophe when the lead spent so much time stressing how he does not wish to harm the environment or its ecosystem. What a stupid film this is!

The rating not being even lower is due to the laughs that do happen amongst all the ennui, along with the usually good effects, there being some moments of mild terror (and the movie is not afraid to show children being killed by the bees) and a fine score from Jerry Goldsmith. But this is not enough for me to say that this does not deserve the reputation as a turkey that this has had for the past four decades now.