Why Superman's First Feature Film Is Still One of His Best
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- Опубліковано 8 сер 2023
- A critical retrospective of Superman and the Mole Men, the first feature film about Superman, starring George Reeves and Phyllis Coates.
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#superman #supermanmovie #georgereeves #videoessay - Розваги
A Superman that calls out people for acting like Nazis and takes guns away from people who would misuse them? We need this Superman in real life!
A lesson for the GOP!
"WhEn DiD sUpErMaN gO wOkE?" LOL If we have that superman again this is what the right would say.
@@SplaxxHe was created woke!
ua-cam.com/video/EgtOeuE2qYY/v-deo.html
I am right here except for the flying & bulletproof bits....
In that time, all the Texans would have been democrats.
I was a 7 year-old black kid when I saw this, then recently released, two-parter on our new Philco B&W TV. And even my kid's mind was able to substitute the Mole-Men for "Colored" people. Superman, as portrayed by George Reeves has been my hero ever since.
And to think; the angry mob was lashing out with violence under the veil of “protecting the children" in their community (which they probably wouldn't give a shit about otherwise).
A false justification for intolerance that echoes even today.
The look Superman gives after being shot, that disappointed "are you that stupid?" look. It's just... *chef's kiss*
Imagine if they had made a crossover between George Reeves' Superman and Adam West's Batman
World's Finest indeed!
There's a DC Comics series called "Batman '66 Meets ( Insert Franchise Here)" wherein the TV versions of Batman characters encounter the casts of other television shows, such as "The Man from U.N.C.L.E" and "The Avengers" [the one with John Steed and Mrs Peel, not the Marvel supergroup]
I don't know if they've done a "Batman '66 Meets Superman '51," but if they did, I'd read it.
George Reeves died in 1959, way before 1966 Adam West's Batman era. The 1966 Superman was primarily Bob Holiday in the Broadway musical It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! and in a short The Daily Planet Presents The Story of Superman (1966). ua-cam.com/video/ycWdulECNhI/v-deo.html Adam West as Batman appeared with Milton Berle as Superman on The Hollywood Palace (1966). ua-cam.com/video/N9EDR90Yvd0/v-deo.html
They did!
@@haydentcem No, they didn't.
I had no idea this was a "feature film" when I first saw it.
We didn't get the channel at our house, we didn't have a big antenna on the roof at the time, but my piano teacher next door did. I started going over half an our early so I could watch Superman with her son who was two years younger than I was.
This was the first episode I watched which was split up into a two-part episode. This was about 1965. The "Mole-Men" has always been one of my very favorites!
Wish George Reeves had lived to see how much he was loved by the world for giving us his portrayal of Sups !!
Jeff Corey (Luke Benson) fought his own battle against bigotry by standing up to the House Unamerican Activities Committee* and its own bigoted rabble-rouser, Sen. McCarthy. Corey was also a teacher and friend to Leonard Nimoy (so there is a Star Trek connection here too).
*Never has a committee been more accurately.
He was also in the Star Trek episode "The Cloud Minders" as Plasus, the leader of the Stratos cloud city. 🖖😎👍
The Golden Age era of Superman just makes me smile. A true social justice warrior, and George Reeves embodies it so well.
I will say that there is one other thing I find hard to believe. That Luke Benson wasn't on the payroll of the oil man. Maybe that's just because where I grew up the guys who nailed owls to trees were on the payroll of the logging companies, and that was honestly the first thing I thought of when the oilman came to tell Clark that the well was closed.
Fun Fact. Luke Benson was played by Jeff Corey.
Jeff Corey appears in the special features for the for the 1978 Richard Donner, Christopher Reeve Superman. Corey provides the performance of Lex Luthor in the casting screen tests.
This makes me wonder if Jeff Corey was in consideration for the role of Lex Luthor if they hadn’t gotten a big name actor like Gene Hackman.
This is how Harrison Ford got the part of Han Solo.
Ford was simply the actor hired for the screen tests of the other actors but he wound up winning the role.
Jeff Corey was also a renowned acting teacher in Hollywood. Among his many roles was a small part in one of my favourite films, “The Wild Geese.”
The Salkinds wanted Gene Hackman right from the start, but he didn't take the role right away. It's possible Jeff Corey was among their second choices.
I know they wanted relatively unknown actors to play Clark Kent/ Superman and Lois Lane. I also know that Jackie Cooper was a last-minute replacement for a different actor to play Perry White. But I wonder who were the backup choices had they not gotten the services of Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman.
I grew up watching Superman reruns, but I haven't seen an episode in literally decades. Your reviews of this series are a welcome oasis of nostalgia!
When George Reeves showed up in the Flash it was the best moment in the movie.
This is a great video!!
I got the first season of the 1950s Superman TV show on DVD for my 10th birthday, and this movie was included in the set. I loved the whole show in spite of its low production value, and I'm very glad to see that other people still love it as much as I did/do
The majority of the movie is Clark and Lois being reporters. This is why this is why I love this movie so much.
As I’m watching this video, I think this is what Zack Snyder was trying to go for with his cynical Superman.
I always thought Lois’ last line was sad.. I took it as an indictment of the humans’ prejudice. Today that would have been a four minute speech about a missed opportunity to learn more about one another.
Perhaps it would have gone down a little easier if Superman had replied with a comment about the possibility that they could try to reconnect with them again some time in the future.
This is a fascinating film and amazing for the 50s, especially its messages in that era of history. Powerful. Something about this era of cinema is fascinating to me. I love this depiction of the character. Its what and how Superman should be.
I read old Superman stories in the little digest collections they used to sell at newsstands (*choke* I was once so young! *sob*), and from that experience I can say that this movie is a perfect example of the early Superman stories. Clark was originally a highly competent reporter who was just considered milquetoast by Lois, and he never minced words when dealing with people who were doing wrong while wearing the cape. The Mole Men were a perfect example of the old DC Comics way of portraying "alien" beings -- usually bald humans in one-color outfits with blue or grey or green skin, the latter detail not being workable in a black and white movie. Interestingly, the modern version of Superman in comics out _right now_ behaves just like this in 21st Century adventures. Siegel and Shuster's idealistic dream lived on, saved the world a thousand times over, got married and had a son who's living up to his ideals with a cape of his own. Progressive values _are_ family values.
This review is GREAT! Thank you. My two most favorite Supermans are George Reeve and Christopher Reeves. They were my first two Supermans as well. I was born in 1970 and so afternoon kids shows were very much the thing, once you got home from school. I watched The Adventures of Superman every afternoon. I saw this film, when I was very young. I only remembered parts of it. I love your breakdown here as to the positive moral messages it features. As a kid, I didn't catch those at all.
I feel that his telling the mole people to "Go back to where you come from" was meant as "Go back to your home world because many humans here will not value your lives and it is too dangerous for you." Not a go back to where came from because you are different.
But it does sound like a smart and thought provoking script and it is excellently played out by Reeve and the actress playing Lois. I like also how there are some people in the town that are not hateful, because they are not afraid, as even the sheriff tries to protect them as well.
I will look for this and go to watch it again. I haven't seen the Adventures of Superman in decades.
Remember! On Krypton they have no doors!
I got introduced to this film thanks to the reference made to it in Action Comics #1000.
Quite an excellent deep-cut within an excellent comic.
This feature film "Superman And The Mole Men" was actually turned into the only two part episode of the "Adventures Of Superman" TV series which was titled The Unknown People (#25 and #26). I enjoy watching this feature film and its edited down two part episode on the TV series.
This was not the last time a household item was used as a weapon on film. The first lightsabers were parts of a camera flash.
Great commentary! I loved how you pointed out not only the amazing things about this film but also made connections to the modern age. I especially appreciated how you didn't glaze over the violent history of this country. Too many (usually white) folks seem to think that things were *great* before a certain person became president and that things will snap back to being *perfect* if he doesn't govern again. That's just not true and I love how you always highlight it repeatedly and firmly in all your content.
Thanks Steve. George Reeves was my Superman. Did this film get cut in half and appear as a two-part episode of the series? I remember watching this as a little kid (sixty-something years ago-Holy Crap) and I sure didn't see it in a theater
I recall watching it on the tv run as well. At that time I wasn't aware that it was a theatrical release.
I met Kirk Alyn at a Classic Film Festival in Memphis in 1974. He was a very gracious gentleman.
Great take man. As a black kid growing up..this is spot on. Imagine if we had a Superman today.
This film also really continues the traditions of "The Adventures of Superman" Radio Show and the plot could have easily an assignment Perry could have sent them on during the run of that show.
It's great to rediscover what Superman is about. We'll hopefully be getting more of him back day by day.
I agree with you "Steve Shives" Superman's first feature film is still "still" one of his best! It still holds up well to this very day in many ways. It's very film noir-ish!
I saw this on TV when I was a kid (PBS was showing the old B&W series and it was shown as a set of episodes in that)... It was great. It's probably the only story I remember from watching it.
What a great review! I even agree with the critique of the ending. It might have been better for Lois to say something like, "Maybe one day our two peoples will find a way to get along," which would be at least a hopeful resolution. But George Reeves is what makes this shine. He's so believable in the role that if there was a Superman in the real world, he would have to look and act like this - which is different from Chris Reeve, who who looks like he jumped off the pages of the comic book and is the closest to the real life embodiment of the DC hero. But Chris Reeve, nice guy that he is, could never touch George Reeves' tough guy believability. That line, "I'm going to give you one last chance to stop acting like Nazi stormtroopers!" is so well delivered that Clint Eastwood would envy its ballsy-ness.
I was born in '56 and Superman & series live in my earliest memories. I'm pretty sure his ethics shaped mine. truth, justice and the American way/better tomorrow kind of motto
Of course, Superman famously decked Hitler in the comics (after Captain America had his go?), and his creators were Jewish, so he's not exactly sympathetic to bigots.
Which is just one more reason why Superman is awesome. Always has been. Always will be.
We could really do for a good Superman.
It'S infuriating when they give us "Battle Rage" or "Dictator"-Superman. (I mean Battle-Rage-Superman is cool but I don't need a whole storyline about that)
George hives us a serious Superman with no tolerance for bigotry or mobs
The director, Lee Tabor Sholem (1913-2000), was something of a legend for his efficiency. He directed a lot of television, including The Adventures of Superman. The IMDB reports this trivia: "During the filming of the episode "Night of Terror" of the original Adventures of Superman (1952) TV series, actress Phyllis Coates (who played Lois Lane) was accidentally knocked out cold by a fellow actor. Sholem promptly revived her himself and hastily had her finish her scenes before her face swelled up."
His name suggests he might have been a Jew. I mention this only to point out that he might have been aware of the resonance between Nazism and the behavior of the mob in this film.
That Superman was built all on heart
I remember watching the mole men when I was a kid in the 1960s but never new it was the first feature show for the superman show but loved it anyway
This is the second video of yours that I watched today, never knew of your channel. I am so blown away by how entertaining you make everything and your infectious glee with this movie has me searching for it ASAP. I have subscribed, keep up the good work.
Best description of why George Reeves matters to so many people and why the show has such staying power. Well done.
WHile watching this I was struck by the similarity to "The Hungry Earth" episode of new Dr. Who. Matt Smith as the Doctor trying to prevent war between the Silurians and initially a small town who has dug a hole into the stasis area of creatures living deep in the Earth.
If Silirians are Doctor Who's Molepeople, Zygons are it's Skrul.
Reeves defined the role. Will always be kids of the 50's one and only Superman
Yes I had one of those Old Electrolux Vacuum Cleaners 55 years ago LOL
Superman standing up for those who can't defend themselves. That's my Superman. The Nazi insult is just a bonus.
The Nazis insult was because it was filmed in 1951 not that many years after WWII (1945).
I didn't know this was movie. I always thought it was an episode. My favorite and most memorable one. As a little kid watching, the ray gun was believable and scary. The sound fx (and music) were good. And I'm OK with the ending as it leaves a mystery and unanswered questions. What's it like in that underground world? How did they evolve? Do they have tax-paid universal healthcare? Are there restrictions on who can own and carry a ray gun in public???
Been saying for years that SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN is an underrated gem. And while Christopher Reeve is "my" Superman, I did watch the 50s TV series after school before and after the Donner movie came out and its easy to see why George Reeves embodied the character for my Dad and his generation. The guy seemed effortlessly charming and charismatic.
George Reeves was my favorite Superman. All others are judged against his version.
Great review Steve. I enjoyed watching & listening to your commentary. I first watched the Mole Men when I was 6 years old back in 1960. This series had such an impact in my life growing up. Cried my heart out when George died. Had so much charisma & so likable. George Reeves best Superman ever & Christopher Reeve second.
Anytime I'd see this movie title I'd roll my eyes and think, tedious, but the lessons in heroism and morality hold up well. Thanks for this interesting review!
One of the great things about the "cheap" film was its respect for its core audience. They did not have to give us an origin story like ALL superhero movies of the last 30 years have felt the need to. "Hey fan base, here is how the character you have loved all your life got started!!" "Ya, we KNOW that .
1972 - 1973
I remember watching this
on
wpix
channel
11
NYC TV 📺
Very enjoyable. Great Job Steve!
I always wondered what was going on down where the mole people live that they needed that Electrolux deathray contraption 🤔
Maybe it was an inefficient drilling laser that was quickly repurposed as a death ray? I say inefficient because it was taking an awful long time to kill that guy.
@@Weazel1 Keep in mind nothing sucks like an Electrolux...
It is socially relevant even today (sadly) and not over reliant on special effects unlike most modern super hero movies.
I see why it's your favourite Superman film. I wish modern filmmakers would take a cue from this.
The concept and morals are srill good, and still works for today.
Great review and commentary, Steve! “Superman and the Mole Men” is my favourite Superman film. Having grown up with the series, I always felt that the first year (1951) had the best episodes. This included an edited version, “The Unknown People,” as a two-part season finale (with the established TV music). It was only in 1988 - Superman’s 50th Anniversary - that the complete feature became available on VHS, along with the Kirk Alyn serials.
I share your admiration for the star. No one was able to invest more humanity, more dignity, into the role than George Reeves. It was that certain “something,” a combination of face, voice, and overall bearing that won him the role. At the same time, he conveyed an air of mystery during these early episodes. His Clark Kent had a personality and strength all his own, something no other actor has matched. He even shows a flash of temper against Lois Lane - which quickly evaporates. (There were more urgent matters to settle!)
The supporting cast is excellent, especially Phyllis Coates. She had one of the best screams in the business, but played a tough, no-nonsense character. Her Lois was a more believable reporter than Noel Neill’s. (Frankly, Neill became a bigger pain-in-the-ass; as the colour scripts became more insipid, so did she, along with Olsen and White.)
The screenplay by “Richard Fielding” (pseudonym for producer Robert Maxwell) still has the power to stir emotions. I’ve seen the film with adults who groaned when the first Mole Man was shot, and wondered whether Superman would rescue the second one from the fire. In fact, this latter point is one of my criticisms of the film. The chase goes on far too long; hard to believe that Superman would be absent all that time. And (not to nitpick) I would have added to his mysterious aura by hiding his face, until he emerged from the house to confront the mob. Just thinking aloud . . .
It’s easy to sneer at the flying effects, but they don’t diminish the dramatic impact of the story. Certainly they’re an improvement over the grade-school cartoons of the Alyn serials, and are not far below the Christopher Reeve films.
The musical score is bland, as are the opening credits. (I had no idea that the solar system contained so many Saturns!) But it’s good that the first view of Superman/Clark Kent was carried over to the series.
Your analysis, Steve, is sound. I would add that the film stands as a metaphor for the “witch hunts” of the filthy McCarthy era. The fear of the Silsby townsfolk ably represents the anti-Communist paranoia of the 1950s. Thank you for this video; it’s always enjoyable to hear from another George Reeves fan!
Oh, one more thing - where can I find one of those t-shirts?
I have one of those Electrolux vacuums, minus the funnel for the death ray. Does that make it a "Ghost Ray"? I wonder if I can 3D print the parts. 😄 LOL. Great review!!!
Nice job! Love your George Reeves style shirt.
You neglect to mention that this movie was eventually rearranged into a two-part episode of the television series. I saw it in reruns, probably when I was seven or eight. The whole things is creepy and weird, what with all the fake night-time photography, but those mole men simply freaked me the fuck out.
Also, I think Reeves is still the best Clark Kent. No one else comes close.
Thank you!!
If this film came out today that line of Superman's about taking away the guns would have resulted in an insane rant from one of the lunatics at Fox "News"
Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson would team up to do a 3 hour rant about how Superman was being used for the "liberal agenda". Kind of like they all did when Superman declared that he was no longer a representative of the United States in the comics a while back.
You sir are a brilliant narrator!!!!! Thank you…
Robert Maxwell was the supervising producer, and wrote the screenplay {with Whitney Ellsworth} under his alias, "Richard Fielding". He was the original producer of the radio series- and, of course, season one of the TV show.
God, i love this seties so much. Every single Best Superman Ever just fills me with so mucb hope and optimism and is such a great intro to Superman stories i didnt know and reminder of everything i love about the character
Great analysis!
I loved this move, but I watched as The Adventures of Superman's only 2-part episode arch of the series. A product of the time in regard to special effects, but the message of tolerance was ahead of its time.
If they can do such a fun film in two weeks 70 years ago, then all the actors and writers currently on strike should be able to start making their own content just as easily. They should stop negotiating for peanuts and start creating small, fun shows just like this one and reap 100% of the profit. There are a million comic books and other ideas that would love a small indie studio to turn them into a movie. We could have a renaissance of content.
Mark Ruffalo has been suggesting leaning hard into indie productions for weeks now. And A24, a small studio that mostly does horror, has agreed to honor all of the strikers' demands. If A24 can do it, why not the big studios? Oh, right, greed and power.
I believe that "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" was created in the last writer's strike because all the actors were bored and had time on their hands, so they made a super-low-budget project for online distribution.
At least they nailed Superman's iconic white, red, and no blue at all outfit.
I absolutely agree with tour final thoughts about smaller stakes superhero movies/shows. I think the MCU tv series could learn some good lessons there. WandaVision still tops many folks lists because while it meandered a bit and overcomplicated itself, it was still a pretty focused and tight story that didn't try to shift the levers of the world. In a way, Loki almost did too- focused pretty tightly on the TVA mystery, only broadening out when the solution to that was world/time spanning. The series that failed worst all tried to be world shifting conspiracy tales, and could never pull together a coherent or compelling throughline.
For years I've been begging for a Batman film that is just the Greatest Detective solving a mystery, and at the end of the day Gotham ends up slightly safer. No need for a supervillain plotting to take over, just a bad guy determined to keep doing a bad thing over and over, and needs to be stopped.
TIL the movie came before the tv show, thanks Steve! I remember watching the Mole Men on our local OTA independent TV station back in the early 80s.
Great content. 👍
I liked it too. I saw this when it was on TV. I even remembered the "death ray" that the molemen had fired at the bad guy. I always wondered what kind of people they were - now i know. Thanks!
A five year old does not look at movie looking to find things he does not approve of. He does not look at a movie with the eyes of a film critic. He just tries to enjoy the movie. All my childhood friends who were young grade school kids loved this movie and now as adults we still love this movie.
Totally agree with you on this review. Well done look at a fun movie.
This is one of the best !! Loved the "Mole Men" and I loved when Superman was shown in Black and White, it was more real to me as a kid than the color versions but I still loved the show anyway. 👍
Fantastic rundown of the film. I first saw it as a 13 year old who loved Superman, some 45 years ago, and was moved by it for all the reasons you stated. Even the things you mentioned that felt off the mark caught me the same way. Years ago, I looked up the actor who played Luke Benson (Jeff Corey, if I remember). Turns out he got caught up during the McCarthy hearings and was blacklisted because he acted honorably and refused to “name names”.
Superman knows what it's like to be misunderstood outsider.
I have a soft spot for these old films.
They have more of a quality of theatre about them than modern cinema.
The effects aren’t great today (though often great for their time), but it didn’t matter. It didn’t pull people from their suspension of disbelief because nobody was primed like they have been since the late 70s to expect cinematic realism.
I once saw Richard III performed on stage with a budget so low the horse was a sack truck, and it stands as one of the greatest and immersive plays I’ve ever seen.
And old cinema was like that.
When we see superman swooping down as an obvious animated figure and find it cheesy, those audiences mostly wouldn’t have. They’d have just lapped it up, like watching Richard pushed around on a sack truck on stage and just going “yep, that’s a horse. He’s on a horse. He’s about to fall off and say his famous line. I can’t wait.”
I’m not going to decry the death of “old cinema”, because I don’t think it died.
It still informs and influences cinema today, but I do worry that modern audiences don’t get to enjoy it and discard it like used candy wrappers.
I worry that spectacle has taken over in modern tastes so much that production values count more than story and characters - and consequently the level set for the suspension of disbelief leaves little for people’s imagination to take over.
Even in the 50s, cinema was still largely theatre being filmed.
You’d still go to see plays, and so you were still primed to view cinematic works like you’d view a play.
They’d use certain techniques only film would allow, but even those weren’t mostly about “making it look real”.
They were mainly just extra things you could do to theatre when you had the tools of film making behind you.
So here’s to the sack truck horse and the obviously animated superman, and the ability to tell a good story in its own right with the tools around you, and the audience’s ability to go along with it and love it not just on its own merits but because of what it does.
I was five years old when I first saw this movie and I still love it!!!! The ending is great!!!! I especially love the way it ends with Lois getting in the last word and Superman agreeing with her!!!
Remember things like this when people try to excuse others' bigotry as a "a product of their time." That's an explanation, not an excuse.
Love that one. Reeves really was better than most of the material he had to work with.i liked this Lois better than later.
Great job. I don’t remember it ever saying that Silby was in Texas. I’ll have to watch it again.
Liked the commentary and totally agree. Never saw it until I got the Season 1 DVD. Also, where’d you get the b/w Superman t-shirt?
George Reeves Superman was a badass
I had seen this before, but honestly just thought it was an episode of the tv show.
It was shown on TV as a part of the Adventures of Superman series. It aired as a two-parter titled "The Unknown People" at the end of the first season.
@@SteveShivesThanks Steve, I too thought it was part of the TV series. Excellent review of the movie too.
Superman stands for-“Truth, justice, and the American way.”
Corrigan, as in James Corrigan, The Specter? A fellow creation of Jerry Siegal, with Bernard Bailey).
Simply Amazing
That one line Supes says to the bad guy has more meaning than any dialogue Superman says to any humans in any of Snyders movies.
There is an original poster for this movie in a small theater in a small town on the island of Hawaii. It's in the men's room.
Wow watching your videos are amazing I never knew the early versions of Superman were so Rad. You made me a fan of this show I mean movie, that's really good . Lois Lane looks like a good actress in the first Superman!Ver independent , her counterpart Clark also amazing, very caring most of all he as his Superman calling out Luke Benson for acting like a Nazi stormtrooper! Turned out my great grandparents came from the Netherlands to escape them to Canada! Thank you so much Steve.😅❤
My first live-action Suerman experience was old reruns of The Adventures of Superman on a local independent station. George Reeves WAS my Superman...until Christopher Reeve came along, that is.
I spent a day in a small town in Texas recently.....and I too want nothing to do with humanity
Well, it may be cheesy, but it's good ol' fashioned cheesie! 😊 Aged cheese. Partake and drink with Pinot Noir. I like it!!
Love that shirt!
My favorite episode as a kid I thought one would come through my bedroom window.
When Truth - Justice - And, The American Way meant something
"Not a bird's eye view" - I saw what you did there! 😂👍
What I love so much about this (my #1 favorite) George Reeves Adventures of Superman tv series was the music tv version which in my opinion is much better than the original full length movie music score, because the music in the tv series had that action music sound which coincide with the film!
I think the unfortunate “stay over there” theme at the end is a product of them running out of time and money which might have afforded them the breathing room to invent a more subtle ending.
I think I saw this, as a kid. I know I've watched the TV show as often as I could. Because, honestly, back when I was a kid there was seldom anything better on. Even now, with all the options available to us, I honestly seldom found anything better. Heck, back in the 1970s and 80s, even after MTV - back when it was good - Superman was better than most of what was on. Sure, a - what? - 25 minute run time, didn't give us much plot development, but in many ways it also made them pare it down to the essential elements. There were some "hour" long stories that should've been cut back to 30 minutes... I guess I never was that into the relationship developments... to paraphrase Dragnet - "Just the acts, Mame..."
Solid Superman depiction. And it would be cool if this video specifically was FWDed to creative teams prior to the inevitable scrambling to make Superman "more relatable". I don't see the Resolution as a missed opportunity though. It suited the level of focus with which the story was told. Especially since there was no intent to turn it into a series or mini-series about interaction between Mole-People & Surface Dwellers. One may think humans can do better than a Separation solution in an anti-prejudice allegory, but cooperative action to fight bigotry only occurs after one group has cannibalized the other(s). This film took place at First Contact. Unlike real life, they had the opportunity to block further interaction before things went Off-The-Rails. It simply cannot be said convincingly that all the plunder, genocide, colonization, etc that has taken place via invasion would have been a sound risk if there was a force with the ability to Cut-It-Off-At-The-Pass.