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Phase IV (1974)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 6/22

Phase4
6/22: When I first saw who the director of Phase IV was and it read "Saul Bass," I did a double take.

Yep, it's the very same Saul Bass who designed the title sequences and posters for Alfred Hitchcock's and Otto Preminger's pictures. This is the only film he had ever directed. If there's anything I'm most surprised at, he didn't design the title sequence this time.

Phase IV starts out well in an intelligent manner and has impressive ant photography, but it gets worse over time. There are two problems: idiots for academicians and lack of organization. Of the former, why only two? The operation should've required more people, especially from the military front. Of the latter, the ideas don't flow well as everything seems haphazard. In fact, "trippy" might be the most proper adjective.

I don't understand the need for a cryptologist who specializes in number theory. It isn't the right profession for this sort of situation as it should be a linguist with some mathematics background, especially in pattern detection. Anyway, Nigel Davenport is useless, but Lynne Frederick is worse who has zero acting ability to speak of. I can't believe her character was willing to walk barefoot across the desert that's crawling with lethal ants.

All in all, Saul Bass should've spent more time on the drawing board before setting out to film Phase IV.