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James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens ... see more see more... , Sean McClory , Chris Drake , Sandy Descher , Don Shelton , Fess Parker , Olin Howland , John Beradino , Willis B. Bouchey , Marshall Bradford , Alexander Campbell , James B. Cardwell , Roydon E. Clark , Booth Colman , Walter Coy , Richard Deacon , Eddie Dew , Ann Doran , Cliff Ferre , Norman Field , Frederick J. Foote , Joe Forte , Russell Gaige , Mary Ellen Hokanson , Gayle Kellogg , Charles Meredith , Jack Perrin , William Schallert , Ken Smith , Douglas Spencer , Victor Sutherland , Dub Taylor , Harry Tyler , Dick Wessel , Harry Wilson , Richard Bellis , Lawrence Dobkin , Hubie Kerns Sr. , John Maxwell , Leonard Nimoy , Charles T. Perry , Walden Boyle , John Close , Dean Cromer , Otis Garth , Warren Mace , Chad Mallory , Joel N. Smith , Janet Stewart , Dorothy Green , Robert Berger

A little girl is found wandering in the desert, in a state of complete shock. When she finally revives, she can scream out only one word: "Them!" Any aficionado of 1950s horror films can readily tell ... read more read more...you that "Them" are giant ants, a byproduct of the radiation attending the atomic bomb tests of the era. Extremely well organized, these deadly eight-to-twenty-foot mutations converge on the storm drains of Los Angeles in the finale. Forming a united front against the oncoming ant battalions are New Mexico police sergeant James Whitmore, FBI representative James Arness, and father-and-daughter entomologists Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. Since the details of Them are fairly common knowledge today, the mystery-thriller structure of the film's first half tends to drag a bit. Things liven up considerably during the search-and-destroy final reels, as the audience is barraged with convincing special effects and miniature work-not to mention that eerie ant-induced sound effect, so often imitated by subsequent lesser films. Fess Parker appears in a starmaking cameo as a pilot driven to the booby hatch after witnessing the ants in action, while an uncredited Leonard Nimoy is seen pulling info out of IBM machine. Definitely the high point in the careers of director Gordon Douglas and scenarists Ted Sherdeman and George Worthing Yates, Them is also one of the handful of vintage science-fiction thrillers that holds up as well today as it did when first released. (Sidebar: Though filmed in black-and-white, Them is alleged to have been released with a Technicolor opening title, the word THEM! hurtling towards the audience in a vibrant red). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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70% liked it

7,891 ratings

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100% liked it

24 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Gordon Douglas

Release Date: June 19, 1954

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DVD Release Date: August 6, 2002

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Them! People vs. radiation-giganticized ants. Them! Les monstres attaquent en ville
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Flixster Reviews (640)

  • FilmFanatik
    February 29, 2012
    FilmFanatik
    I seriously didn't know what to make of Them! when I first saw it. On the one hand it's probably one of the more better made sci-fi B movies from this era, but then on the other hand it tends to be pretty boring. There's some heavy emphasis on plot: what the characters are doing,... read more where they're going, what they have to, ecetera. There aren't that many scenes physically involving the atomic ants, and probably for good reason. I'm sure they realized that people would just find them silly (and they did), but it doesn't make for a very exciting time at the movies. Then again, perhaps I'm just reading to much into it. It's not a pile of crap or anything. The dialogue is mediocre to terrible at times (despite a few decent moments) and the acting isn't award-winning either. It just is what it is. Most of the time I prefer my monsters in the shadows as that tends to make them scarier and more interesting, but in this type of movie, I want my monster right out front where I can see it and often. I didn't get that with Them! which was why it was mostly just disappointing.
  • fb100002359227440
    August 11, 2011
    fb100002359227440
    A Great horror film with a wonderful screenplay and a message anti-war that gonna fascinate the audience, until the people that in beginning don't expect too much. Fresh.
  • rayman0071
    December 21, 2010
    rayman0071
    The hallmark of the great monster movies of the 1950's is one of the best from that genre. "Them!",a chiller about giant mutant ants terrorizing a nearby town that was so good, initial efforts to film it in color and 3-D were scrapped. Tight and suspenseful today and it was when ... read moreaudiences went to see it in 1954,it pits James Whitmore along with James Arness and Edmund Gwenn against a force that has razed a desert town. These giant ants were scary......very scary indeed.
  • ajv2688
    November 9, 2010
    ajv2688
    Watch out! What is it? Oh, those are just ants... This movie is silly, and started the trend of giant creatures attacking people, which was a popular theme in the fifties, mostly for the spectacle of it. Not a great movie, but pretty cool looking.
  • SirPant
    June 18, 2010
    SirPant
    One of the first and one of the best Atomic monster movies from the 50's. I'm very fond of these movies and was quite disgruntled at a recent screening where the audience laughed and jeered throughout. It was like watching people make fun of an old man just because he couldn't ke... read moreep up and it made me feel sad. Although the effects etc are dated, they are still based on creative and intelligent ideas. At least it didn't have a gratuitous love story going on and the gi-ants were not defeated by teenagers, it tapped into a very real paranoia of the time. B-movie brilliance!
  • jjnxn
    January 24, 2010
    jjnxn
    Enjoyable earnest for it's day, now campy, sci-fi thriller about giant ants. Well directed and played completely straight by a cast of familiar actors with no sense of irony which makes it all the better. Edmund Gwenn is marvelous as the scientist with all the answers.
  • rubystevens
    January 2, 2009
    rubystevens
    the original 'giant monsters caused by radiation' film from the 50's. the creatures look fake of course but it's still fun. a big influence on spielberg among others
  • Deano78
    November 1, 2008
    Deano78
    A very good B movie film about giant ants!
  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    Classic 50s B-movie in which the ever reliable atom bomb spawns a plague of oversized ants bent on the destruction of humanity. The scenes in which the US army invade the ants underground passageways to destroy them is actually rather well done, and it was obviously a big influen... read morece on James Cameron's Aliens.
  • staindslaved
    February 28, 2012
    staindslaved
    At the time of its release Them! was an incredible success but no one thought much beyond its high-concept giant-ant creature feature fest. To think it would be one of the more well known films of 1954 would have been a ridiculous notion then. The Greatest Show on Earth was a s... read morepectacle in its time, a star studded crowd-pleaser that set the box-office world on fire and was beloved by all who saw it. How do we look back on this film today? Not nearly as fondly. Time, creative advancements and general changes in taste and appeal have crippled the films reputation to a bit of a punch-line. Why than has a film like Them! which by all rights should be lost and forgotten is a sea of likewise low-budget Sci-Fi fair not only endured the years but has strengthened it's reputation and appeal? Difficult to say. Even more difficult is how one should judge it. If I were in 1954 I'm not sure I'd give Them! a positive review. Even in present day I can't see myself recommending the film to anyone as a "Hey watch this film, I bet you'll like it". Is its appeal only for cinema snobs and Sci-Fi junkies who enjoy it only for its nostalgia appeal? Lots of questions ran through my mind as I watched this 90+ minute film which does showcase solid effects for its day (earned an academy award nomination for them) and a graciously more talented cast then you'd ever expect in a film like this. Them! is easily the best of the comparable films from its day, but that's not saying much. I don't think it has a legitimate audience anymore but I just can't force myself to give it a rotten rating.

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Critic Reviews

May 29, 2007
Variety

This science-fiction shocker has a well-plotted story [by George Worthington Yates, adapted by Russell Hughes], expertly directed and acted in a matter-of-fact style. Full Review

A.H. Weiler
October 31, 2006
A.H. Weiler, New York Times

Definitely a chiller. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Decently budgeted and atmospheric, it's a sober accomplishment in a cycle that would quickly turn to self-parody. Full Review

Rob Humanick
October 2, 2011
Rob Humanick, Suite101.com

Smart and idiosyncratic, with enough climaxes for two movies. Full Review

James O'Ehley
November 6, 2007
James O'Ehley, Sci-Fi Movie Page

It isn't all that bad, except when the ants themselves show up. Full Review

September 24, 2007
Film4

This is first-rate pulp. Full Review

May 29, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Them! was Warner Brothers' highest grossing film of 1954 and inspired countless imitations, all of which were inferior to the original. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

By far the best of the '50s cycle of 'creature features.' Full Review

Christopher Null
October 2, 2005
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Who doesn't love a giant ant movie? Who? Full Review

Daniel Eagan
May 31, 2005
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International

Sci-fi shocker is surprisingly timely

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Facts

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    • Robert Graham: [the nest has been saturated with cyanide] Boy, if I can still raise an arm when we get out of this place, I'm gonna show you just how saturated *I* can get.
    • Robert Graham: Pat, if these monsters got started as a result of the first atomic bomb in 1945, what about all the others that have been exploded since then?
    • Dr. Patricia Medford: I don't know.
    • Dr. Harold Medford: Nobody knows, Robert. When Man entered the atomic age, he opened a door into a new world. What will he eventually find in that world, nobody can predict.
    • Jensen: Make me a sergeant in charge of the booze! Make me a sergeant in charge of the booze!
    • Robert Graham: And I thought today was the end of them.
    • Dr. Harold Medford: No. We haven't seen the end of them. We've only had a close view of the beginning of what may be the end of us.
    • Dr. Harold Medford: We may be witnesses to a Biblical prophecy come true - 'And there shall be destruction and darkness come upon creation and the beast shall reign over the earth.'
    • Coroner Putnam: Well, Old Man Johnson could've died in any one of five ways. His neck and back were broken, his chest was crushed, his skull was fractured, and here's one for Sherlock Holmes. There was enough formic acid in him to kill twenty men.
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Them! : Watch Free on TV

Them! Trivia

  • "You know what? I respect women! I love women! I respect them so much I completely stay away from them!"  Answer »
  • The flamethrowers used in what 1954 movie were standard World War 2 weapons and were loaned by the US Army? The actors handling the weapons were WW2 combat veterans who had actually used them in battle.  Answer »
  • When C.D. (Charlie) is challenged to think of 20 better jokes than "big nose", one of them is taken directly from the original scene in Cyrano De Bergerac. Which one?  Answer »
  • In the middle of the film "Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life", what do the film makers invite you (the viewers) to do with them?  Answer »
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