I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Good concept, poorly executed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Here we go with another truly terrible movie.This one fails in every possible way. First of all it should have been called The Giant Mantis,how did that not happen? For some reason the main characters are paleontologists.They are brought in to try to identify a piece of the mantis that has broken off but they become the focus and we are thrown into their lives,which have nothing to do with the story. The female paleontologist holds up a picture of a squid(with the word "squid" written under it)and calls it a jellyfish. They call a military outpost in Canada and the guy does a horrible British accent(no doubt because no one in America has any idea what a Canadian sounds like). Anyway,we never see the full mantis on screen unless it's flying and then it's very dark and blurry. It can fly 200mph but prefers to trudge along the ground like a snail.Exactly halfway through the movie they start having fog or smoke in every scene to obscure the mantis.It's truly pathetic. A fighter jet crashes into the mantis and you can clearly see that it goes behind it.The pilot ejects and it takes 10 seconds for the cockpit to open then he slowly drifts out as the jet continues to go straight ahead. It cuts straight to firemen pumping smoke into the Manhattan Tunnel.They have decided the best way to deal with a monster that smashes buildings and eats people is to send guys on foot to throw land mines at it. Garbage.

Summer 1978 or 77, and I'm with a friend at his parent's old Victorian home in a quiet part of town. It's late, and soon midnight rolls around. And that means Creature Features with Bob Wilkins.A giant insect rampages across the US and finds its way into what my friend then described as the BART tunnel. Only the film takes place in 1957, so it couldn't be that, or if it was, then apparently no one had laid down any tracks. Go figure.Usual 1950's monster fare. The acting is okay and solid, but nothing to write home about. It's a B-movie that was given an A-quality gloss like a lot of other scifi and monster films out of the 1950s.I'm not sure I'd recommend it or not ... I fell asleep when the final scene came ... it was close to 2AM, so take that for what it's worth.

With a film like this you know what to expect - a large bag of pop corn and your brain being left in neutral gear . Science doesn't have to be brought up in a film called THE DEADLY MANTIS but there's still the need for a suspension of disbelief in the storytelling . I don't believe in life on other planets because there's no evidence that there is . That doesn't stop me from being compelled by a television drama from someone like Nigel Kneale because his almost superhuman storytelling technique of spinning an idea out is so intelligent and well done it's impossible not to be caught up in one of his plots . An unexploded bomb being found in London and revealed to be a Martian spaceship is pure fantasy but done so well and with a dramatic realism it's like watching a fly on the wall documentary take place . THE DEADLY MANTIS is an anti-thesis to this From the opening scene the film shoots itself in the foot . A voice over informs us that Northern Canada and the Artic Circle is protected by a ring of radar stations . The Cold War was in full swing and the film has an almost rabidly reactionary edge watching it today , almost as if it's screaming for these damn communists to start something . It also screws up the internal continuity and logic to the movie where the eponymous monster attacks bases and planes and yet it doesn't show up on radar until the story requires it The narrative structure itself is a problem . A base is attacked and a plane brought down but no one except the audience know what's going on . This means the audience are one step ahead of the characters in the movie and are left to twiddle their thumbs until the characters join up the dots . When someone says " Gentlemen we're going nowhere fast " you can't help but nod your head in agreement The classic giant bug film THEM may have also suffered from the same slight problem but that was such an atmospheric film containing moody scenes like the policemen finding the wrecked diner that there was more than enough to hold the audience's attention . Here it isn't and it's not until 33 minutes in to the movie we get to see the giant mantis . As I said continuity is often ignored . For example while attacking a plane earlier in the movie the mantis managed to knock of a chunk of itself but later when it's attacked by rockets and shells it's impervious to them . Let me see a giant mantis can injure itself attacking a plane but something travelling faster than the speed of sound with a warhead of something explosive won't damage it in the slightest ? I know suspension of disbelief is needed but couldn't the screenwriters have thought things through a little more ? Next thing you know they'll be writing a screenplay where a country can protect itself from a zombie attack by building a very high wall There is a market for this type of giant bug sci-fi / horror B movie and I sometimes have affection for these type of films . However to be effective there still needs to be a modicum of intelligence . There's very little in THE DEADLY MANTIS which has a very lazy narrative technique and starting a film by referencing the butterfly effect and Newton's third law doesn't make a dumb film any smarter . There's also a rather militaristic aspect to it but if the American military can't find a giant insect with all their technology how could ever defeat a pre-emptive strike by the Soviets ?

Monster Movies out of the 50ties how enjoyable.Okay lets be fair it is yeah one of those and you know the monster effect is actually quite acceptable. There are problems like certain moments fall dead, the begin is way to slow.. allot of stuff about Radar. And more Radar and more..And yes stock footage allot, but the acting is good. The story is very acceptable. I can't call it bad it is enjoyable for its faults and its good part.I would say it isn't as good as the thing from outer space 1951 I belief. But it has good moments, basic fun giant monster movie moments and isn't that what you want. To be entertained. It could do with cutting out some slower passages, it isn't as if these 50 movies really do allot with developing characters anyway. Some areas of this movie easily could be cut. But you know So you know popcorn time, I put it somewhere in the middle of the movies of that age. Not super great neither really bad just average.So yes watch it!