thinker1691 In 1971 a film arrived at our campus and our school was privileged to see it. Witness, would be a better word as what we learned was so fantastic. To ignore what was being shown and investigated, would be to doom our existence to the fact, we were warned of the impending doom and did nothing. The star of this film is the incredible and versatile insect as illustrated by a narrator/biologist Dr. Neil Hellstrom (Lawrence Pressman). His research takes the audience around the world in a desperate attempt to awaken our poor understanding of the mightiest creatures on the planet. Despite the fact man has the potential to destroy the world and its populations with his awesome weapons, it is the Insect who will eventually reclaim what's left. The film is informative and insightful as well as incredible with it special cameras going where only the mind can venture. Want to learn who our greatest enemy is? See this film and then guess which species will inherit the Earth. ****

Dr Wily For 10 plus years, "The Hellstrom Chronicle" was regularly plugged into the 2am/4am movie slot on a local station in the middle 80's through 90's. Too bad it couldn't get more coverage, because this is how a documentary should be made. The problem with documentaries is if you focus too much on the clinical data, it becomes dry. If yo try to interject drama into it, you run the risk of sending up the piece, into parody or even farce. Hellstrom interjects just the right amount of fiction, in the form of Lawrence Pressman, that links the documentary portions at a pace that keeps it from losing one's interest. It's obvious that "Dr." Hellstrom, a fictitious entomologist, is paranoid that insects will take over the world through their superiority over men. The most interesting thing, though, is he may very well be right! If the insect world footage has any say in how future matters may turn out, it will. Of particular interest is the portion of the footage devoted to the driver ants. As has been quoted in other reviews, this is a prime example of "How DID they film that?!" documentary in motion. It's an inspiration out of "Leinengen Vs. The Ants," only it's real! If you can find this "movie," give it a roll. Expand your mind a bit with some facts, while at the same time, become entertained by Dr. Hellstrom... even if he isn't a real doctor, but, he plays one on TV! (Actually, he did! Pressman went on to play one on Doogie Howser, M.D.)

Bou I saw this when it came out, and I remember that I was mightily impressed with both the cinematography and the science. Alas, this film had a misleading marketing campaign that made it sound like it was not a bug movie, but a bug-eyed monster movie. The theater was packed with people expecting the latter, and you can imagine the noise level. (Why don't such people just go home?)

realchapman By far, one of the best, if not the best, documentaries I have seen. Incredible story of man vs. insects in the battle for survival and it doesn't look good for man. This documentary tells why. Brilliantly narrated and photographed, I thought this movie had more suspense than an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, especially when you consider, this stuff is for real.