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The Swarm (film)

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The Swarm is a 1978 American monster horror film about a scientist and a military task force who try to prevent a large swarm of killer bees from invading Texas. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, although praise was given to the costume design. It has been considered to be one of the worst films ever made.

Directed and produced by Irwin Allen. Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, based on the novel by Arthur Herzog.
It's more than a speculation - it's a prediction! Taglines

Brad Crane

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  • [About the killer bees] We have been invaded, by an enemy far more lethal than any human force.
  • Look, what I do for a living isn't important. What is important, critical, is that there are probably other invading swarms and what these bees did here, they can do again, all over the Southwest and, ultimately, all over the country.
  • We've been fighting a losing battle against the insects for fifteen years, but I never thought I'd see the final face-off in my lifetime. And I never dreamed, that it would turn out to be the bees. They've always been our friend.
  • Bees, bees, what a lot of bees.

General Slater

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  • Houston on fire. Will history blame me, or the bees?
  • By tomorrow there will be no more Africans... at least not in the Houston sector.

Maureen Schuster

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  • Attention! Attention! This is Miss Schuster. Please listen very carefully. A swarm of killer bees is coming this way.

Dialogue

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[Crane has found something at the ravaged picnic site]
Brad Crane: [Holding it up] Plastic. It's a piece of a plastic cup. There are pieces all around here. [He starts pointing out the other fragments] Look. Look, there. There. There.
General Slater: What's so significant about that?
Brad Crane: I'm afraid to speculate. But, I think, the bees, did this.
General Slater: Are you saying these bees eat plastic?
Brad Crane: No, no.But I'm wondering. Your American Honeybee has a weak mouth, that couldn't even break the skin, of a grape. But it looks like this species, is tearing up, plastic cups, possibly to line their hives. Now, if this is true, they didn't, just get here. I mean, the invasion, didn't, just now begin. They have been here some time. Breeding. Increasing.
General Slater: So?
Brad Crane: Well, suppose these bees, are using plastic, to insulate their hives.
General Slater: No bee is that smart.
Brad Crane: Suppose these African bees are.
Brad Crane: These bees, General, are of joint concern, and they are killing Americans, without reference as to whether or not they have a serial number and are expected to salute you! So there will be no air drops of any kind until I give the OK.
General Slater: Your OK, huh? Then it is just possible I can persuade you to attack this particular swarm, now that we know where it is. Attack and eliminate it!
Brad Crane: Possibly, if you can explain to me, how you air drop chemicals, without killing the native insect life. If your chemical will kill the African bee, it will also kill the American bee, right?
General Slater: Right. And better a few American bees than a lot of American people!
Brad Crane: That is the point, general. The honey bee is vital to the environment. Every year in America, they pollinate six billion dollars worth of crops. If you kill the bee, you're gonna kill the crop. If you kill the plants, you'll kill the people. No. No, general. There will be no air drop, until we know exactly, what we are dropping, and where, and how. Excuse me. [Crane storms off]
[Slater is about to attack the swarm with a highly toxic pesticide]
Brad Crane: General, if you use that, nothing will grow out there for the next ten years.
General Slater: Why worry about shaving when somebody's going to cut your head off?
Brad Crane: Are you endowing these bees with human motives? Like saving their fellow bees from captivity, or seeking revenge on Mankind?
General Slater: I always credit my enemy, no matter what he may be, with equal intelligence.
Airman #1: [radioing from a helicopter] Air Search One to Top Kick. We have visual contact.
General Slater: Identify.
Airman #1: A black mass, sir. A moving black mass. Zero altitude. Dead ahead. They're hitting us! Oh my God! We're out - we're out of control! Ahhhhhhh!
General Slater: I can tell you right now, we're going to have trouble with that nuclear power plant. No way they'll shut down voluntarily. Millions of people in the area need the energy.
Dr. Hubbard: If we don't shut 'em down, the bees will.
Dr. Andrews: Billions of dollars have been made to make these nuclear plants safe, fail safe! The odds of anything going wrong are astronomical, doctor.
Dr. Hubbard: I appreciate that, Doctor. But let me ask you. In all your fail-safe techniques, is there a provision for an attack by killer bees?
General Slater: The bees have formed almost a complete circle. Billions of 'em. And that's what we've been waiting for.
Brad Crane: Waiting for what?
General Slater: The battle plan is to get 'em all into one area - and then zap 'em.
[As helicopters drop special sound-emitting floats to attract the swarm to its doom]
Capt. Helena Anderson: Won't the noise of the helicopters drown out your sound?
Brad Crane: No. It's an entirely different sonic level.
Capt. Helena Anderson: Did we finally beat them? Or is this just a temporary victory?
Brad Crane: I - I don't know. But we did gain time. If we use it wisely, and if we're lucky, the world might just survive.

Taglines

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  • It's more than a speculation - it's a prediction!
  • ... is here!
  • Monsters by the millions - and they're all for real!
  • This is more than a movie. It's a prediction!
  • The most terrifying thing about THE SWARM is that it is based on Fact: It exists. Fact: It has awesome destructive power. Fact: We don't know how to stop it.

Cast

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