Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Some people wake up in a city like Chicago and miss a mass evacuation that took place. One is a woman who tried to take her own life. Another was a victim of a mugging who was passed out. What is interesting is that in a city of this size, with hospitals and other facilities that would have been difficult to evacuate, a handful of people are left and virtually no sign of anyone. Well, robots from Venus have arrived and are annihilating the populace. Two party people are having a great time drinking champaign at hotels and bars that are left behind. There are two other figures that show up, including a cowardly man and a gangster. Of course, both of these create issues for the main characters. Meanwhile, the army is trying to figure a way to kill these robots which have a death ray. A very typical fifties sci fi movie. The robots are pretty ridiculous in appearance--just guys in robot suits.

An advance party of a robot army from Venus has invaded earth choosing as its ground zero an unnamed midwest city. The city has been evacuated but some folks have been left behind. Kathleen Crowley, Richard Denning, Richard Reeves and Virginia Grey for one reason or another missed the evacuation.Action switches back from the story of these four to the scientists and military trying desperately to find a way to defeat these seemingly invincible metal creatures.There are holes a plenty in this cheap science fiction film. But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the quartet of survivors. They are really what Target Earth a real treat.

"Target Earth" is a a potential minor classic that falls short when the screenplay falters and the budget just can't back up the proper execution of the scenario.The director can be proud of the first ten minutes or so. The premise is set and the story is told with an admirable flow and economy - the impact of the eerie, deserted cityscape and the increasing unease of the heroine are well conveyed. When she finally bumps into the only other living human in the city (I liked this guy immediately - he had a intense eyes and a haunted expression that conveyed volumes) right after encountering her first corpse, and he chases her into an alley, it's a very cool climax. Then about 5 minutes later, we get our first glimpse of the invading alien.It's ridiculous, and the mood collapses almost entirely. The movie is still pretty good in fits and starts after that. But IMO it was a mistake to bring in the whole second story line with the army scientists looking for a miracle solution. Whenever the 1st story thread starts to build any momentum or atmosphere, the movie ruins it by stopping everything for marathon jabber/exposition sessions with a bunch of actors mouthing lines about cathode ray tubes and such. I think the movie's creators wanted to add to the suspense, but instead this kept dispersing the paranoia and claustrophobia that the first story line was trying to create. (Yes, a couple of fine character actors, including Whit Bissell, are in these scenes, but they can't save them.) Plus the fact that the characters in the second thread are completely disconnected from those in the first thread - they don't interact with them at all, or even know they exist. That makes for some problematic narrative structure for someone like me who is accustomed to movies where all the characters in the screenplay are part of an ensemble dealing with a situation,from modern big budget mega pictures like "Independence Day" to creaky "classics" like "The Beginning Of the End" (where special effects included post cards). There are some strange lapses in the plot now and then (for instance, the hero thinks of breaking into an electronics store to get a portable radio so he can get some idea of what is going on, but it never occurs to him to also break into a drugstore or a hardware store to get a battery for the radio). This doesn't help, but I can understand the need to keep the cast in the dark about why they are alone in a deserted city. Still, the climactic sequence at the end is pretty good, with the original couple are cornered by an alien and are about to be barbecued. But then the army up with its miracle science gimmick and easily disposes of it and the movie's ending deflates like a balloon.Too bad. I'm not sorry I saw it, but I can't say I am anxious to see it again.

Target Earth is the very first of Herman Cohen's exploitation cheap low budget Sci-Fi films. To put it bluntly, the movie was so lousy that I felt cheated for having bought the DVD based on other user comments here on this forum. The invasion force was only one man dressed in a Robot Suit. There were no sound effects of the robot whatsoever, except for a clink noise when it walked. Most of the movie was dialog from the supposed alcohol intoxicated characters, which was annoying. There was no charm or cult intrigue, which is characteristic in many of the adorned fifties Sci-Fi flicks. This film lacked anything that would make it a worthwhile purchase. I could not even laugh at this movie. My Target Earth DVD went into the trash, would not give it away.