Five seemingly random individuals find themselves mysteriously on board an alien craft. The alien gives each person three capsules. Each capsule is capable of wiping out vast sections of the Earth's population, but will not harm anything else. The five are sent back to their homes with their powerful weapons and told that they have 27 days in which to either use their devices to destroy humanity or find a way to live in peace. If they should chose to wipe-out the Earth's population, the aliens will take over the world. If not, the aliens will move on and look for another home. Each of the five is left with a horrible dilemma – how to handle this kind of power?I was going to get into detail on a whole political thing about some of the deeper aspects of The 27th Day, but I've since thought better of it. I usually write about the entertainment value of a film and what I liked and didn't like. I tend to leave the deep thinking for people who are much smarter than me. All I say on the subject is I would hate to see anyone allotted this kind of power given the current state of affairs in the world where words are considered a form of violence. I'd hate to see what someone would do with these capsules just because they felt slighted, etc. The ending of the films is especially troubling. So the people in the film discover how to use their devices to kill only those they consider evil because they do not support freedom? How do you decide who is in favor of freedom and what is your definition of evil? Were all those communists you wiped out really evil? Or were some of them living under a regime they did not agree with? Just a silly, illogical, nonsensical way to end the film. On to other things. So, was The 27th Day an entertaining film? Reading through some of the comments on IMDb, I know it has its fans, but I'm not really one of them. The film is well made, it has a reasonably interesting premise, and it features rock solid acting. But, unfortunately, it is all pretty much a bore. I found most of the movie as dry as dust. I had to fight with myself to stay awake. The relatively short 75 minute runtime just seemed to drag on and on forever. People talking and talking and talking with nothing much happening. Not what I call entertainment. And then there's that ending I've already discussed. What a mess. My one sentence summary: The 27th Day is a well-made film that suffers from a deathly dull script and an ending I find especially troubling. An unfortunate 4/10 from me.

An alien gives five humans from different countries capsules that are essentially weapons of mass destruction. You see, the aliens want to move to Earth because their world is dying, but they don't want to kill all of humanity. Rather, they want us to kill ourselves! If the people don't commit genocide within 27 days, the aliens will politely leave. Cold War science fiction film with the usual alien threat of "get along or else." Not a special effects-heavy movie but, like the best sci-fi, it's more about ideas than spectacle. There's also not many recognizable faces in the cast besides Gene Barry and he was no A-lister. So there's really nothing working for or against the film but its script and that was interesting enough.Dated perhaps but I could easily see this being reworked for today or any day in the future as I doubt things will ever change that much. Or maybe I'm just cynical. Anyway, on the surface this is a Red Scare film. Certain Types will whine about the anti-Communist message, but that didn't bother me. The two people from Red countries given capsules chose not to use them. One committed suicide and the other was tortured and eventually sacrificed himself to prevent his government from using the weapons. The most villainous character in the film is the Stalin stand-in. And, to be honest, I have to give the side-eye to anyone who has a problem with that. My only real gripes are with the pacing and the hokey ending. If you're into classic science fiction from the Golden Age, you should check this one out. It's not one of the best but it's worth a look.

Pretty typical of golden age sci fi, in that we get a basic story that follows an isolated group of characters.As you probably know by now, 5 individuals from different nations are each given a flask of "power", which only they can open. It rings much like an old Twilight Zone episode in the imagination of the story.The power is very devastating. If they use the power, the aliens claim they will invade. All five are very reasonable and sane in their viewpoints of this power, and the task which would have been easy is made much harder when the aliens hijack all the communications on Earth and announce not only that they have done this, but the names and locations of the five people.Aside from one insane military leader, the characters are all very three dimensional, so among dozens of sane characters, the one insane one is not difficult to believe.The landmark scene involves one humanitarian scientist who volunteers to become a guinea pig. The "not so landmark" scene is the climax, which is a major letdown, even for the year this was made. Amid all the imagination and credibility of the characters, the "solving of the puzzle" scene looks ill placed. The rest of the film is very interesting.

OK, the other reviewers have done a great job of describing the movie.Well made, thoughtful, intelligent etc.But the ending? Are we to believe that the Dr. used the capsules to blanket the earth to kill only Evil People? Does anyone else think that's a little extreme? I suppose in the desperate context of the movie, he is justified, what with the Russian (Evil, boo boo!) General about to wipe out North America.I dunno. I just cant see it. It's like the killer space capsules made moral judgments on all humans and exterminated who they felt had 'negative energy'.I have a buddy with a Littering conviction, I'm hoping he made the cut.Great movie, the whole time I am shocked at how good it is... then the wacky ending.Puzzling, Bizarre ending.Plus, the English chick is naughty in a 'nice girl' way.