the swarm (1978)

"It's just a bee, if you leave it alone it won't bother you."
An army squad enter a military base where it looks like all the personnel are dead, all but civilian Brad Crane (Michael Caine). They want answers, but what he tells them, they find hard to believe. It's the result of bees, millions of bees, and Crane is an entomologist on their trail. Can Crane stop them before they take a tour of the major cities of the South-Eastern states?
So over the top it has to be tongue in cheek, with all the bad one liners you would expect from such a blockbuster packed out with star names. A good old fashioned creature feature; park your brain at the door, and ignore the plot holes entertainment.

voyage to the bottom of the sea (1961)

"My God, the sky's on fire!"
The Seaview is a prototype atomic submarine designed by Admiral Nelson (Walter Pidgeon) and is on its final test dive under the Arctic. Whilst testing they learn that the Van Allen belt around the Earth has caught fire, endangering all life. A conference is convened to determine what course of action to take and Nelson proposes that launching a missile from the Seaview would blow the fire out. Other scientists theorise that the belt will burn itself out when it reaches a certain temperature. Unfortunately according to Nelson' theory this would be too late, his missile needs launching imminently and he sets off in the sub to enact his plan. This causes friction aboard the sub, adding to the tension is the fact that someone now seems to be trying to sabotage the mission.
Popular enough adventure that it spawned a successful TV series. Nelson comes across as a modern day Nemo captaining the plushest naval vessel I've ever seen, in this mildly diverting sci-fi.

the lost world (1960)

aka Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.
Professor Challenger, an anthropologist, claims to have found living dinosaurs in the Amazon and challenges the London Zoological Society to mount an expedition. A motley selection step forward to undertake the journey, a socialite, a professor, an explorer, a reporter and the daughter of the newspaper magnet who is funding the exhibition. Along with a local guide they travel to a plateau and soon discover Challenger was indeed right. But they also find more than they bargained for...
A rip-roaring adventure from start to finish, made more so by the obvious lizards dressed as dinosaurs, rather than the stop motion that one might expect. One for a saturday afternoon matinee.