bensonmum2 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.

Scott LeBrun Five disparate individuals from across Earth are contacted by an alien intelligence (Arnold Moss). They are American newspaperman Jonathan Clark (Gene Barry), English woman Eve Wingate (Valerie French), German scientist Professor Klaus Bechner (George Voskovec), Chinese woman Su Tan (Marie Tsien), and Russian soldier Ivan Godofsky (Azemat Janti). Each is given a "box" containing capsules with tremendous power - the power of life and death. If all five people can refrain from exploiting the destructive power of the capsules, Earths' people will be spared by the aliens, who are looking for a new planet to colonize.Scripted by John Mantley from his novel, and directed without frills by William Asher, "The 27th Day" is marked by an intelligent and interesting premise. It won't be to every taste because instead of dazzling us with action scenes or special effects, it instead focuses on examining the human tendencies towards xenophobia, paranoia, self destruction, and conflict. Naturally, people in power do end up discovering the amazing "gifts" bestowed upon the five strangers, and learn of their potential. Events escalate towards a tense showdown with the Russians, who see the annihilation of the Western world within their reach.Jonathan and Eve, all too aware of what reactions will be once the world at large learns their identities, attempt to hide out (and predictably, fall in love, although this subplot remains appreciably minor). The most important breakthroughs are made by Professor Bechner, who means to study the capsules in greater detail.The performances are solid from the well chosen cast. Likable leads Barry and French are extremely well supported by actors such as Stefan Schnabel as the warmongering Russian general, Friedrich von Ledebur as the sincere Dr. Neuhaus, and Paul Birch as an American admiral. Paul Frees and Mel Welles appear unbilled; the greatest contribution is by Mr. Voskovec, one of those actors who makes exposition worth listening to.This definitely merits a look from fans of '50s science fiction.Eight out of 10.

lecody I actually enjoyed this movie. It was a surprisingly sophisticated movie for its time. Giving 5 everyday people the power to destroy large areas of human life without destroying all other life and the environment was intriguing. And although making sure that the whole world knew who the five were was essential to the movie, for some reason I didn't quite expect it. The actions of each government was formula and the better dead than red rhetoric was infused throughout the whole movie. My complaint is probably one more of the times in that they could not help but inject an improbable love relationship between the British lady and the American man. Still well worth watching...But I think it is time for a modern remake of it. With today's extreme special effects and a very Geo-politically different world it would be a winner.

sol1218 (There are Spoilers) Cold war alien from space sci-fi thriller that has five people from different parts of the earth entrusted with the power of destroying the entire human race. Being abducted by an alien space ship the five earthlings L.A reported Jonathen Clark, Gene Barry, young British woman Eva Wingate,Valerie French, German scientist Prof. Klaus Bechner, George Voscovec, Chinese peasant Su Tan, Marie Tsien, and Red Army private Ivan Godofsky, Azemat Janti. These five are given these strange glass encased capsules by the Alien spaceman, Arnold Moss, that only they can open and activate.Told by the Alien that they have just 27 days to either destroy themselves, by opening up and arming the capsules, or if they don't it would mean curtains for the aliens in their plan to make the earth their new home away from home which is to be destroyed by their sun, turning into a super-nova, in 35 days. The aliens who are dead set against violence of any kind don't have it in them to kill anyone much less wipe out the entire human race. In order to have the earth all to themselves the aliens know that the humans, from studying them over the centuries, are more then willing to do themselves in. With just a little push on their part, the aliens, in giving the human race the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, it will only kill human beings and leave everything else on earth alone and they'll be more then happy, by their not using the wisdom and common sense that nature or the lord gave them, to mindlessly self-destruct.The Alien for some strange reason broadcast, on live TV, the reason for his coming to earth and even more puzzling the true reason for the destructive capsules that he gave the five humans. The Alien also gives out their names and addresses and making it almost curtain that they'll be marked men, and women, by everyone from neighborhood kooks to secretive and shadowy spy agencies as well as ego-maniacal power hungry world leaders. As you would expect all the people who received the capsules become targets of the very country's that they live in but are saved from either being killed or suffer severe mental or psychical damage since they, those who received the capsules, are the only ones who can open, with their individual minds, and use them.With the 27th day soon upon them the two earth super powers, the USA & USSR, feeling that each of them are now in possession of this super-neutron bomb. With reporter Clark of the USA and Private Godofsky of the USSR, in possession of the capsuls it's now only a matter of time before the human race, with the help of the space aliens, blows or neutrons itself out of existence until the very wise and observant German scientist Prof. Bechner, one of the five earthlings who received them, notices something cryptically etched onto the capsules that the aliens who put it there hoped would be deciphered.The 1957 movie "The 27th Day" is in many ways ahead of it's time in not being so over-the-top in trying to paint the former Soviet Union, the Evil Empire dubbed by the future President Ronald Wislon Reagan, as pure evil. Both Willing and able to go so far as killing every man woman and child on earth, including those within it's own borders, in it's mindless and mad rush to achieve world domination. We only have the power mad Soviet general Stefan Schnabl and his hand picked stooges trying to have the deadly capsules used to wipe out the entire Western Hemispher. It's the brave and good Red Army private Godofsky, also one of them, who turns out to be the real hero in the film by freely giving up his life by jumping to his death to prevent that from happening.You get the strong feeling in watching "The 27th Day" that it's message is that it's only the power mad leaders on both sides of the Iron Curtain, not the majority of people of their respected country's, who are the one's more then willing to bring about Armageddon upon the world. These insane actions are order to fulfill their mad dreams of being the first person or world leader to conquer the entire planet