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The Swarm (1978 Film)
''The Swarm'' is a 1978 American natural horror film directed and produced by Irwin Allen, and based on Arthur Herzog's 1974 novel. It stars an ensemble cast, including Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson, Lee Grant, José Ferrer, Patty Duke, Slim Pickens, Bradford Dillman, Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray in his final film role. It follows a scientist and a military task force who try to prevent a large swarm of killer bees from invading Texas. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb. It has been considered to be one of the worst films ever made.''Halliwell's film and video guide 2002'' edited by John Walker. London. HarperCollins Entertainment, 2001. (p. 804). Despite this, Paul Zastupnevich was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Plot In south Texas, a top-security United States Air Force ICBM command bunker is invaded and neutralized by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen (born Irwin O. Cohen, June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in science fiction, then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. His most successful productions were '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972) and ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974). He also created and produced the popular 1960s science-fiction television series ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'', ''Lost in Space'', ''The Time Tunnel'', and ''Land of the Giants''. Biography Early life Irwin Allen was born in New York City, the son of poor Jewish immigrants (Joseph Cohen and Eva Davis) from Russia. He majored in journalism and advertising at Columbia University after attending City College of New York for a year. He left college because of financial difficulties caused by the Great Depression. Radio and journalism Allen moved to Hollywood in 1938, where he edited ''Key'' magazine followed by an 11-year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Koenekamp
Frederick James Koenekamp, A.S.C. (November 11, 1922 – May 31, 2017) was an American cinematographer. He was the son of cinematographer Hans F. Koenekamp. Koenekamp worked in television and feature films from the 1960s, earning two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' He was nominated for an Oscar for ''Patton'' (1970) and '' Islands in the Stream'' (1977) and won the Oscar for ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974), along with Joseph Biroc. Other films shot by Koenekamp include '' Papillon'' (1973), '' Fun with Dick and Jane'' (1977), '' The Swarm'' (1978) and ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'' (1984). He was a frequent collaborator of director Franklin J. Schaffner. Early life and education Fred J. Koenekamp was the son of American cinematographer H. F. Koenekamp, ASC. Hans was the cameraman of Mack Sennett and his career worked with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and the Keystone Cops. Hans would late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. They were used extensively in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War for weapons facilities, command and control centers, and storage facilities. Bunkers can also be used as protection from tornadoes. Trench bunkers are small concrete structures, partly dug into the ground. Many artillery installations, especially for coastal artillery, have historically been protected by extensive bunker systems. Typical industrial bunkers include mining sites, food storage areas, dumps for materials, data storage, and sometimes living quarters. When a house is purpose-built with a bunker, the normal location is a reinforced below-ground bathroom with fiber-reinforced plastic shells. Bunkers deflect the blast wave from nearby explosions to prevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. Russia, the United States, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Early ICBMs had limited precision, which made them suitable for use only against the largest targets, such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against military targets (especially hardened ones) still demanded th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control. The United States Air Force is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force through the Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by both List of U.S. states and territories by area, area (after Alaska) and List of U.S. states and territories by population, population (after California). Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, states of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest; and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Houston is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas and the List of United States cities by population, fourth-largest in the U.S., while San Antonio is the second most pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award For Best Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for achievement in film costume design. The award was first given in 1949, for films made in 1948. Initially, separate award categories were established for black-and-white films and color films. Since the merger of the two categories in 1967, the academy has traditionally avoided giving out the award to films with a contemporary setting. Award The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is given out annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for the best achievement of film costume design of the previous year. Films that are eligible for the award must meet a series of criteria, including the requirement that the costumes must have been "conceived" by a costume designer. For this particular criteria, each submission is reviewed by the costume designer members of the Art Directors Branch prior to the ballot process. Fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Zastupnevich
Paul Zastupnevich (December 24, 1921 – May 9, 1997) was an American costume designer and assistant to movie producer and director Irwin Allen, active in film from 1959 to 1980. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for three films produced by Allen: '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972), '' The Swarm'' (1978) and ''When Time Ran Out'' (1980). Biography Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, his education included a degree in fashion design. Zastupnevich's early career was spent acting in stage productions and designing costumes for many of them. In addition to costume design in Irwin Allen's productions, Zastupnevich appeared in a number of Allen's movies and television series, such as ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' and ''Lost in Space''. Zastupnevich ran his own boutique, "The House of Z", in Pasadena, California, with his sister Olga, and he designed clothes for actresses. In 1994, he was the special guest of honor at a convention in England. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Films Considered The Worst
The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey Awards'', ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', Rotten Tomatoes, pop culture writer Nathan Rabin's '' My World of Flops'', the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the cult TV series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (alongside spinoffs ''Cinematic Titanic'' and '' RiffTrax'') and the Golden Raspberry Awards (aka the "Razzies"). Films on these lists are generally feature-length films that are commercial/artistic in nature (intended to turn a profit, express personal statements or both), professionally or independently produced (as opposed to amateur productions), and released in theaters, then on television, or more recently through video on demand or streaming services. 1930s ''Maniac'' (1934) ''Maniac'', also known as ''Sex Maniac'', is an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box-office Bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed and expensive to produce that ultimately failed commercially. Causes Negative word of mouth With the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, especially on the opening weekend. External circumstances Occasionally, films may underperform because of issues largely unrelated to the content of the film, such as the timing of the film's re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africanized Bee
The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and known colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera''), produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (''A. m. scutellata'') with various European honey bee subspecies such as the Italian honey bee ('' A. m. ligustica'') and the Iberian honey bee ('' A. m. iberiensis''). The East African lowland honey bee was first introduced to Brazil in 1956 in an effort to increase honey production, but 26 swarms escaped quarantine in 1957. Since then, the hybrid has spread throughout South America and arrived in North America in 1985. Hives were found in south Texas in the United States in 1990. Africanized honey bees are typically much more defensive than other varieties of honey bees, and react to disturbances faster than European honey bees. They can chase a person a quarter of a mile (400 m); they have killed som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Natural Horror Films
Natural horror is a subgenre of horror films that features natural forces, typically in the form of animals or plants, that pose a threat to human characters. Though killer animals in film have existed since the release of ''The Lost World'' in 1925, two of the first motion pictures to garner mainstream success with a "nature run amok" premise were '' The Birds'', directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1963; and ''Jaws'', directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1975. Following ''Jaws'', numerous horror films of a similar narrative were produced, including ''Grizzly'' (1976), ''Piranha'' (1978), and ''Alligator'' (1980). Arthropods See also the section on insects. Arachnids * ''Kingdom of the Spiders'' (1977; tarantulas) * ''Arachnophobia'' (1990; spiders) * ''Ticks'' (1993; giant ticks) * ''Eight Legged Freaks'' (2002; giant spiders) * ''Big Ass Spider!'' (2013; giant spider) * ''Lavalantula'' (2015; giant lava-breathing tarantulas) Crustaceans * '' The Bay'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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