Must See Movie...

Best movie ever!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Five seemingly random individuals find themselves mysteriously on board an alien craft. The alien gives each person three capsules. Each capsule is capable of wiping out vast sections of the Earth's population, but will not harm anything else. The five are sent back to their homes with their powerful weapons and told that they have 27 days in which to either use their devices to destroy humanity or find a way to live in peace. If they should chose to wipe-out the Earth's population, the aliens will take over the world. If not, the aliens will move on and look for another home. Each of the five is left with a horrible dilemma – how to handle this kind of power?I was going to get into detail on a whole political thing about some of the deeper aspects of The 27th Day, but I've since thought better of it. I usually write about the entertainment value of a film and what I liked and didn't like. I tend to leave the deep thinking for people who are much smarter than me. All I say on the subject is I would hate to see anyone allotted this kind of power given the current state of affairs in the world where words are considered a form of violence. I'd hate to see what someone would do with these capsules just because they felt slighted, etc. The ending of the films is especially troubling. So the people in the film discover how to use their devices to kill only those they consider evil because they do not support freedom? How do you decide who is in favor of freedom and what is your definition of evil? Were all those communists you wiped out really evil? Or were some of them living under a regime they did not agree with? Just a silly, illogical, nonsensical way to end the film. On to other things. So, was The 27th Day an entertaining film? Reading through some of the comments on IMDb, I know it has its fans, but I'm not really one of them. The film is well made, it has a reasonably interesting premise, and it features rock solid acting. But, unfortunately, it is all pretty much a bore. I found most of the movie as dry as dust. I had to fight with myself to stay awake. The relatively short 75 minute runtime just seemed to drag on and on forever. People talking and talking and talking with nothing much happening. Not what I call entertainment. And then there's that ending I've already discussed. What a mess. My one sentence summary: The 27th Day is a well-made film that suffers from a deathly dull script and an ending I find especially troubling. An unfortunate 4/10 from me.

An alien gives five humans from different countries capsules that are essentially weapons of mass destruction. You see, the aliens want to move to Earth because their world is dying, but they don't want to kill all of humanity. Rather, they want us to kill ourselves! If the people don't commit genocide within 27 days, the aliens will politely leave. Cold War science fiction film with the usual alien threat of "get along or else." Not a special effects-heavy movie but, like the best sci-fi, it's more about ideas than spectacle. There's also not many recognizable faces in the cast besides Gene Barry and he was no A-lister. So there's really nothing working for or against the film but its script and that was interesting enough.Dated perhaps but I could easily see this being reworked for today or any day in the future as I doubt things will ever change that much. Or maybe I'm just cynical. Anyway, on the surface this is a Red Scare film. Certain Types will whine about the anti-Communist message, but that didn't bother me. The two people from Red countries given capsules chose not to use them. One committed suicide and the other was tortured and eventually sacrificed himself to prevent his government from using the weapons. The most villainous character in the film is the Stalin stand-in. And, to be honest, I have to give the side-eye to anyone who has a problem with that. My only real gripes are with the pacing and the hokey ending. If you're into classic science fiction from the Golden Age, you should check this one out. It's not one of the best but it's worth a look.

The 27th Day is a great character study (my favorite type of movie, always prefer a good story to good special effects any day) about an alien that gives 5 people from the 5 superpowers the means to destroy each other.All they have to do is not use it for 27 days and the earth will be saved.Naturally filmed when it was there is a lot of hostility among each others. The story revolves around the realization of the evil power in their hands and how everyone stands to lose.Just as they make this realization their respective governments find out that one of their citizens holds this destructive power and governments being what they are ...... Really enjoyed it.

Five ordinary earthlings are given a box by a benign alien (a fine and credible performance by Arnold Moss) containing capsules capable of killing millions of people. If they can refrain from using the capsules with twenty-seven days, then the earth will be spared from annihilation.Director William Asher relates the intriguing story at a steady pace and maintains a serious thoughtful tone throughout. John Mantley's compelling script offers an intelligent and provocative exploration of human nature as well as mankind's capacity for either self-destruction or self-preservation. Gene Barry as cynical reporter Jonathan Clark and Valerie French as the sweet Eve Wingate make for appealing leads; they receive sturdy support from George Voskovec as the kindly Professor Klaus Bechner, Stefan Schnabel as a sadistic power mad Russian general, Friedrich von Ledebur as the wise and noble Professor Karl Neuhaus, Paul Birch as a hard-nosed admiral, and Azemat Janti as resolute Russian soldier Ivan Godofsky. The ubiquitous Paul Frees has a small uncredited role as a newscaster. Henry Freulich's crisp black and white cinematography provides a nice sharp look. A solid little movie.