# ID this SF movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 10, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891 "2023-09-10T19:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/1 "2023-09-10T19:04:07Z")
The aliens kind of looked like giant oil derricks and made a really creepy noise. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/2 "2023-09-10T19:06:46Z")
_ **The Great Martian War of 1913** _, maybe? But that was a TV miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/3 "2023-09-10T19:12:47Z")
I was thinking derricks because they were extracting resources as they marauded. (I think) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/4 "2023-09-10T19:20:05Z")
Re watching Half Life videos I might be getting them mixed up with Striders. But they were definitely reminiscent of derricks. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/5 "2023-09-10T20:57:08Z")
Isn’t this War of the Worlds? ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/6 "2023-09-10T21:05:05Z")
Kronos? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GUwEUStlwtA/hqdefault.jpg "Kronos (1957)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUwEUStlwtA) ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/7 "2023-09-10T21:12:23Z")
[Kronos trailer here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ErOqYD-i3Q) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/8 "2023-09-10T21:18:26Z")
My first thought too. > [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Kronos? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/9 "2023-09-11T15:33:57Z")
**Kronos** was one of my favorite SF movies from the 1950s, largely because it’s so offbeat and weird. It’s not “aliens”, just a single large alien robot that steals electric power from generating stations. It’s visually impressive as hell, the work of the same team that gave us _Forbidden Planet_ You wouldn’t think that what’s basically two big boxes separated by a central pillar, with a half-dome and two antennae on top and four legs (three square shafts and one rotating round one) would be visually impressive, but it was. Especially in its death throes. Brad Bird was obviously impressed by the film. The basic concept of **The Iron Giant** is the same, and the first appearance of TIG at sea is influenced by the first appearance of Kronos. Also, in **The Incredibles** , not only is “Kronos” the password to Syndrome’s computer file on the project, the Omnibot is also a giant black metal robot made of simple shapes (a sphere, in that case) that flies down into a city (apparently from space) and starts destroying things. I have to admit, if the OP isn’t thinking of Kronos it’s not clear what it is. But Kronos was kinda derrick-like, first appeared in the water, and made a weird noise when it moved from place to place. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/10 "2023-09-11T18:28:00Z")
I nominate Kronos as the cheesiest SF movie ever. The design and idea is definitely similar, but that’s not it. Imagine something like this but better special effects and creepier. I’m starting to wonder if I dreamt it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/11 "2023-09-11T18:53:37Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I nominate Kronos as the cheesiest SF movie ever. With all due respect, there are LOTS of sf movies that are infinitely cheesier. Were the aliens themselves like oil derricks, or were they robots or transports, liked the Martian tripods in _War of the Worlds_? Were you thinking of the Giant Invading Crystals from **The Monolith Monsters**? > [@](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufCfEu9jFs0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufCfEu9jFs0) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-sf-movie/989891/12 "2023-09-11T19:30:40Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Isn’t this War of the Worlds? The Tripods were the first thing I thought of. The ones in Jeff Wayne’s version made a creepy noise fairly faithful to the book: _“Ulla ulla ulla”_