Like many films in the "killer animal" subgenre, THE SWARM ignores many of the plain facts about its alleged subjects. For example, Africanized "killer" bees are no more venomous than ordinary (European) bees: they are more easily stirred up, remain angry longer, and attack in greater numbers; but one-on-one, a bee is a bee (tee-hee, tee-hee/and no one can talk to a bee but me--hmmm, I have an idea for a TV sitcom). Also, swarming bees, having no hive to defend, are actually quite docile.
Unlike most films in any genre, THE SWARM ignores one fact that *everyone in the entire world* knows: bees die when they sting. Of course, it pretty much has to ignore that fact, because it makes the events of the film completely impossible.
The fact that a bee's sting remains in the wound (continuing to pump venom) when the bee is dislodged is a brilliant adaptation: it permits a single bee to do much more damage than it would otherwise be able to. And the death of a single bee (or a dozen, or a hundred, or a thousand) is far better than permitting the hive to be destroyed or seriously damaged.
However, it also means that "going on offense" is a very poor survival strategy for a bee colony. What possible motive could a bee colony have for launching unprovoked attacks on humanity, when such an attack would be suicide for every bee which stung?
For most people, this hideous piece of moronitude is likely to be one of the least-annoying aspects of THE SWARM. Michael Caine's awful performance, the idiotic script, the embarrassment of the great Richard Widmark, the laughable special effects, and the horrible geriatric love triangle are even worse.
If you're an Ed Wood fan--if you can sit through *Battlefield Earth*--if *Can't Stop the Music* doesn't make you gouge your eyes out with your fingers--you may enjoy this film. Otherwise, flee from its presence as if your sanity depended upon it.
And remember: there is no *bee* in this room!
Unlike most films in any genre, THE SWARM ignores one fact that *everyone in the entire world* knows: bees die when they sting. Of course, it pretty much has to ignore that fact, because it makes the events of the film completely impossible.
The fact that a bee's sting remains in the wound (continuing to pump venom) when the bee is dislodged is a brilliant adaptation: it permits a single bee to do much more damage than it would otherwise be able to. And the death of a single bee (or a dozen, or a hundred, or a thousand) is far better than permitting the hive to be destroyed or seriously damaged.
However, it also means that "going on offense" is a very poor survival strategy for a bee colony. What possible motive could a bee colony have for launching unprovoked attacks on humanity, when such an attack would be suicide for every bee which stung?
For most people, this hideous piece of moronitude is likely to be one of the least-annoying aspects of THE SWARM. Michael Caine's awful performance, the idiotic script, the embarrassment of the great Richard Widmark, the laughable special effects, and the horrible geriatric love triangle are even worse.
If you're an Ed Wood fan--if you can sit through *Battlefield Earth*--if *Can't Stop the Music* doesn't make you gouge your eyes out with your fingers--you may enjoy this film. Otherwise, flee from its presence as if your sanity depended upon it.
And remember: there is no *bee* in this room!