Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

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

StyleSk8r 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.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Stevieboy666 Due to some cosmic event ants in the desert become highly intelligent and wage a war on all other inhabitants, including humans. OK, so plot isn't the films strongest point. What makes this film such a classic is the stunning camera work, especially of the ants and other creatures, the use of very vivid colour and a very effective soundtrack. It is a superb movie to watch late at night with the lights out. Having a cast of only three main characters also helps create some great tension, though sadly Lynne Frederick's inability to do a convincing American accent is a negative.

Aaron1375 I watched this film again for the first time in many many years. I watched it with my fiancé and she told me, "That was strange..." I then referenced a Family Guy episode that talked about one of those old 70's science fiction films with the ambiguous endings and said, "This is a near perfect example of one of those and the music is just like one of those!" Yes, this film is a bit ambiguous, a bit vague and it is also very unique. Not like other ant films of the times, the ants here are no simple killers like in the movie where the ants overrun a hotel nor does this one feature giant ants like in Them or Empire of the Ants. No, here the ants are becoming more intelligent and the changes subtle at first as the first five or so minutes of the film almost play out like a nature documentary. My fiancé asked me during this stretch whether there were any human characters at all in it, which soon answered itself when a truck was shown driving along the rode.The story, basically has a planetary alignment causing problems. Not in the form of massive worldwide disasters, but in a more subtle way. Ants, seem to be communicating in ways thought impossible as they begin to communicate with every species all working together. A scientist who has been studying this phenomenon and a man who is good at cracking puzzles and codes head to a facility in Arizona where they are going to try and figure out what is happening and how much of a threat the ants may pose. Unfortunately, a family that had been ordered to evacuate remains and their staying will end up causing a lot of problems that put the men behind in their studying of the ants and the ants seem a lot more capable of survival and fighting everything the humans throw at them! I am not going to say this film is a favorite of mine. I will not even say it is my favorite killer ant movie as I like Empire of the Ants more, though it is admittedly more cheesy. This one is very unique though and interesting. I just do not like certain elements to it. It is a bit strange; though, I was able to understand it more this time than I was the first time I saw it as a kid and that scene where the scientist falls into the hole is a bit creepy. It also had creepy scenes where they showed the ants doing stuff. Strangely effective scenes. Still, just needed a bit more to bring it all together...definitely more science fiction than horror.

briandoering86 When one hears of a sci-fi film about the massing of hyper-intelligent ants one immediately constructs a mental imagine of something akin to Them! (1954) with its ridiculous, though iconic, monster ants barely functioning well enough to move. However, Phase IV is an entirely different movie…and ant for that matter. Phase IV is nothing short of a sci-fi film for the "thinking man". While being fully aware of the genre's motifs its cinematic approach is that of the art-house – a 70s psychedelic sci-fi trip shrouded in hordes of ants directed by the famous Academy Award winning graphic designer, Saul Bass. For all this, its status in film history is nothing but a tragedy. It's the only feature film directed by Bass and it's almost completely forgotten and certainly isn't readily available for viewing.The story is fairly simple: some undefined cosmic event occurs and augments ant evolution. This particular desert colony ascends to an intelligent collective consciousness making the ants capable of communication and great terror. The colony, per its aggressive expansion, drives out the local human population. A scientific lab is established with our main scientist protagonists. The proceedings eventually lead to a division between the two scientists and some inevitable chaos.The brilliance of this film is the visual component. The cinematography by Dick Bush (not kidding) is in line with the best of the 70s. Furthermore, there are also a lot of interestingly beautiful shots of the colony and ant behavior. Straight away at the start of the film we are presented some truly striking images of the ant intelligence movement for several minutes – no dialog, no humans, just cinematic language.In short one could say, If you're the type of person annoyed by a Space Odyssey or even Blade Runner, then you're the type of person that shouldn't watch Phase IV. However, if you're a total film buff and/or sci-fi nerd I highly recommend you seek out this hard to find, underrated, masterpiece – you will not regret it.Review from Beguiled: http://brianbeguiled.blogspot.com/

Raphael_Sarker I watched Phase IV in the 1970s when I was probably too young to understand it but I was hooked on it anyway... It's the ants.This film has a lot to offer and is deeply rewarding when watched again and again over the years. I only recently realised that this is one of the very few films directed by Saul Bass, whose production, titles and graphic designs defined the coolness, and the cool, of the 1950s, 60s and 70's American cinema. Mad Men? Not without Saul Bass.And Phase IV is very much a design cinema, the kind that Don Draper would watch several times over. It's Sci-Fi for sure. It could be an extended episode of a never-realised 1970s visit to the Twilight Zone. It's a type of American film that makes you think of the low-budget Americana of Easy Rider, Corman, and early Coppola. It's very cool. If you can imagine an American SF film reconfigured as world cinema nature documentary with aspects of Cronenberg horror, then you have only just begun to embrace this film.A few years ago I listened to a Blue States album and the cover reminded me of this film so I watched it again. And I keep watching it. It's haunting, worrying, apocalyptic, cool, beautifully photographed and minimalist in its attitude to conventional drama and character. The actors are amazing, though. Michael Murphy. Understated and subtle. Nigel Davenport. A Don!Finally, If you are afraid of ants, DO NOT watch this film. The idea that they could truly harm humankind is outlandish and beautiful. I love ants, so it's OK.