Lord Liaden Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair This thread got me thinking about the special effects in that film. To me one of the most effective elements in the movie is the long time taken to reveal the giant ants. The early scenes where we only hear their eerie high-pitched keening, and their victims are killed off-screen, build up anticipatory dread marvellously. But how much of that was a necessary result of the limited effects available at that time? Almost certainly if the film was done today, the ants would be revealed much earlier and in much more detail, but IMHO that would be a loss compared to the original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Ants Save Mates Trapped in Sand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair This thread got me thinking about the special effects in that film. To me one of the most effective elements in the movie is the long time taken to reveal the giant ants. The early scenes where we only hear their eerie high-pitched keening' date=' and their victims are killed off-screen, build up anticipatory dread marvellously. But how much of that was a necessary result of the limited effects available at that time? Almost certainly if the film was done today, the ants would be revealed much earlier and in much more detail, but IMHO that would be a loss compared to the original.[/quote'] The same effect came about in Jaws, due to the shark not working most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Heh - I think you deserve an honorary membership to our British science fiction appreciation society for that I'd be honored to be an honorary member. For a good story about non-giant ants going on a rampage, look for the short story "Leiningen versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson. One place you can find it is in the anthology Great Tales of Action and Adventure edited by George Bennett. This story and the movie THEM! are what started my obsession with ants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair That is a great story. Did you ever see the film adaptation of it, The Naked Jungle, starring Charlton Heston? This is what I meant earlier when I said you don't need to make ants giants to make them scary. If anything, an oncoming tide of carnivorous living creatures that's effectively unkillable and immune to fear is even more terrifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair That is a great story. Did you ever see the film adaptation of it' date=' The Naked Jungle, starring Charlton Heston? This is what I meant earlier when I said you don't need to make ants giants to make them scary. If anything, an oncoming tide of carnivorous living creatures that's effectively unkillable and immune to fear is even more terrifying. They made it into a movie? Starring Charlton Heston? I must see it! Thanks for telling me about it, I had no idea. Repped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yansuf Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair They made it into a movie? Starring Charlton Heston? I must see it! Thanks for telling me about it, I had no idea. Repped. Not only that, the movie is as good as the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair That is a great story. Did you ever see the film adaptation of it' date=' The Naked Jungle, starring Charlton Heston? This is what I meant earlier when I said you don't need to make ants giants to make them scary. If anything, an oncoming tide of carnivorous living creatures that's effectively unkillable and immune to fear is even more terrifying. You mean lobbyists? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hierax Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair This far in the thread and no Giant Ant HERO System write-ups?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair I remember another movie about ants. I don't remember what it was called. Some scientists do some experiments on ants and they become super-intelligent, and one escapes the lab and "infects" a colony, who gradually build stuff outside the building to attack the scientists. The details are vague. I'd IMDB it if I had anything to go on. It was pretty scary, without the ants ever having to be giant-size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hierax Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair The Sandkings were ant-like creatures, that while not giant were definitely scary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair I remember another movie about ants. I don't remember what it was called. Some scientists do some experiments on ants and they become super-intelligent, and one escapes the lab and "infects" a colony, who gradually build stuff outside the building to attack the scientists. The details are vague. I'd IMDB it if I had anything to go on. It was pretty scary, without the ants ever having to be giant-size. Phase IV, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair I remember another movie about ants. I don't remember what it was called. Some scientists do some experiments on ants and they become super-intelligent, and one escapes the lab and "infects" a colony, who gradually build stuff outside the building to attack the scientists. It sounds like Phase IV. The book's not bad, either. Though not as good as Lennigan vs the Ants. I loved that story when I was a kid. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Phase IV' date=' I think.[/quote'] Damn! Beat me to it! And I was all proud an' stuff to remember the title, 'cos I read the book back in about 1979! cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair You mean lobbyists? Now you're getting into Lovecraftian sanity-blasting horrors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Phase IV' date=' I think.[/quote'] Yep! That's the one. I just read the IMDB entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevenall Posted November 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair First off' date=' ants don't really care if part of it collapses, they just repair it and move on. But, if you look carefully, the amount of solid dirt (before the scientists removed it) is many times more than the amount of dirt missing from the tunnels. As long as the dirt is already compacted, the dirt above is held up by the surrounding structure. It's why the instincts of the ants to build very long, thin tunnels and lots of little round rooms. The ant colonies that wanted to build small dense colonies with huge rooms and tunnels all collapsed and died. [/quote'] Very good points. I remember a movie that MT3K did very early on about some scientists who got killed by a bunch of intelligent ants. I believe the ants shut down their air conditioning and then built some kind of giant reflectors to cook the humans. Kind of poetic justice, but I may be misremembering things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 11, 2009 Report Share Posted November 11, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair The ant colonies that wanted to build small dense colonies with huge rooms and tunnels all collapsed and died. Except the one where Zee lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted November 12, 2009 Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Very good points. I remember a movie that MT3K did very early on about some scientists who got killed by a bunch of intelligent ants. I believe the ants shut down their air conditioning and then built some kind of giant reflectors to cook the humans. Kind of poetic justice, but I may be misremembering things. Yeah. That's Phase IV, the one we were talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Anybody here of the giant ant movie in which the ants controlled humans with the chemicals which they communicate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Anybody here of the giant ant movie in which the ants controlled humans with the chemicals which they communicate? That might be Empire of the Ants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted November 14, 2009 Report Share Posted November 14, 2009 Re: Giant Ant Lair Just saw this. Wow, that's extremely cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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