Coming to Blu-ray in the UK, from 1010 Films, in May 2020: and in a standard Blu-ray edition in November 2020:

More Apocalypse-related films on Blu-ray and DVD reviewed (click review buttons to also see comparisons where applicable) from our article Films From The End of the World:

Review by Gary Tooze

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This gripping film, part science fiction, part philosophical musing on man’s place in the universe, has gained cult status. Michael Murphy (Manhattan) stars as James Lesko with Nigel Davenport (A Man For All Seasons) as Dr. Ernest Hubbs, scientists in search of answers to an evolutionary shift in the ant population that’s adopted a hive mentality allowing the ants to team with others of their species to create a super colony. In an effort to better understand the intelligent and powerful new life form, Lesko and Hubbs are faced with the choice of either communicating with, or eradicating their antagonists. Lynne Frederick is cast as Kendra, an ant attack survivor who’ll play a pivotal role in deciphering the ants’ mysterious existence.

Phase IV is written for the screen by Mayo Simon (Futureworld), photographed by Dick Bush (Ken Russell’s Tommy and Mahler) and scored by Brian Gascoigne (The Emerald Forest) with contributions by Stomu Yamashta, David Vorhaus and Desmond Briscoe.

Phase IV opens with a short, ambiguous account of how the ants’ revolution began: A natural occurrence far removed from the hands – and the responsibility – of human beings. We’re offered this information in a voice-over monologue by James Lesko, who we will shortly meet, and played against beautiful Kubrickian shots of a sun moving between two heavenly bodies, one set precisely in front of the other—an image that not only defies the make-up of our universe but one that will appear again throughout the film. Immediately after this planetary alignment is achieved the camera’s focus shifts to a smaller universe: an intricate network of rooms and tunnels constructed completely underground by millions of ants. This six-minute montage – of hundreds of those tiny insects, each a different size and color and, to a degree, personality – displays the sudden alliance between all species of ants and is shot with a precise eye. In fact, these shots are captured with stunning, and inexplicable, precision, as many of the ants sport prop attachments between their antennae and move as though choreographed by the director himself to crawl and stand and communicate..

Gary Tooze

October 19th, 2015