What is the name of this movie with (intelligent?) ants? [closed]

There are a number of science fiction movies involving ants, and based on your memory, it might be a challenge to determine if it was truly a made-for-tv-movie...or just a very old movie that happened to be broadcast one night on the tube. Nevertheless, the closest matches to your description are:

1. Phase IV (1974)

2. It Happened at Lakewood Manor / Panic at Lakewood Manor / Ants (1977) - This one was specifically made for TV.

3. Them! (1955) - You'd know if it was this--it was black and white.

You may already have your answer, but your description reminded me of the scene in The Simpsons episode Deep Space Homer when Homer accidentally smashes the ant farm on board the rocket and causes panic back on Earth.

So I checked The Simpsons Archive, which notes two films in its references section: Empire of the Ants and Hellstrom Chronicles. Perhaps one of those is the film you're trying to remember.

Sandkings:

The scientist and family man Dr. Simon Kress has been researching the development of a species using eggs found in a sample of Martian soil. When one bug escapes from the laboratory breaking the security of the facility, the project is shut-down by the government due to its hazard and Dr. Simon is fired. Dr. Simon expected to win the Nobel Prize and steals 275 g of the sample ground, bringing it to the barn of his property and developing new species. He hides the truth from his wife Cathy and shares the secret with his smart son Josh. Along the days, Simon realizes how intelligent the creatures are and feels like a god since they seem to worship him. However, when Simon is bitten by one subject, his irresponsible behavior changes to insanity, jeopardizing his family, his friend and mankind.

An 'ant'-themed movie from the 90's I remember when "killer-ant invasion" was in the news is Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (1998). They aren't overly intelligent, but the characters are constantly surprised by their "tenacity", "determination", and "cleverness" (wax on the anthropomorphism).

Another title which might match what you are looking for is The Hive (2008). In this movie, intelligent ants take over an island and kill its inhabitants. An extermination squad is called in, only to discover that the ants are controlled by an extraterrestrial intelligence.

There was a bad late-70s horror movie with Joan Collins in it where an experiment on a jungle island got out of control, and the both intelligent and giant ants (if I remember correctly) ran amok.

IMDB "Empire of the Ants" entry

You all forgot THE NAKED JUNGLE based on Carl Stephenson’s Lennigen Versus theAnts. And Joe Dante's masterful short MANT.