King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

King Kong vs. Godzilla is without a doubt the most entertaining and commercially successful (adjusted for inflation) of all the Godzilla films. What Sci-Fi plot could be better than pitting Godzilla against Willis O’Brien’s creation? It’s a great monster movie that really hit the money-making accelerator in the Toho franchise and propelled Godzilla into stardom. The film also presents audiences the both monsters in color for the first time.Following this movie, sequel after sequel would be made each year as a result.

     Godzilla was last seen buried on an island covered in ice. At some point between films, a chunk of glacier drifts out to see. As the film begins, Godzilla breaks free after a submarine crashes into the iceberg. Shortly after, the angry dinosaur destroys the sub and levels a military base. The suit design is once again revamped: the three sets of fins are replaced with one row, the torso is much bulkier, and the head is much narrower, giving him an alligator look. Overall, Godzilla looks more reptile-like than previously. Because the film’s mood is lighter than before, his roar is given the more familiar high-pitch, and the fangs are removed. He’s more “kid-friendly” in that sense, even though the monster is still villainous. Kong, on the other hand, is nothing similar to the 1933 version, which is in stop-motion. Here, he is a guy in a clumsy and very fake looking rubber suit, with a mouth that does not move when he roars.

     There’s a scene where Kong battles a giant octopus, which in fact is a real specimen Toho used for production. It’s not a spectacular scene, especially when Kong throws the rocks at it. You can tell the forced perspective animal is nowhere near the rocks as they are seemingly thrown across it, rather than actually making contact.

     But for the most part, the monster scenes are entertaining. Following his raid on the military base, Godzilla falls into a massive hole filled with dynamite by the Japanese army. For a B-Movie, the scene is done well, and adds to the aura of Godzilla’s invincibility. Continuity is erratic though, considering Godzilla is depicted as fearing electricity. In the original film, he rips through the electrical defenses in Tokyo without a problem. Although one should remember these are two different monsters; the original died in 1954.

     While the movie is in no way true to the 1933 film, it does uphold Kong’s interest in women, as he carries around a woman across Tokyo. Kong is also increased in size, from about 30 feet tall to Godzilla’s size. And for some reason he absorbs electricity, in contrast to Godzilla. This is never explained or elaborated. That detail is completely unnecessary and irrelevant to the plot, and makes no sense in any way.

     The final monster battle is amazing, and is certainly the highlight of the film. And because the film is more comical than the previous, it contains quite a bit of humor. Kong throws a rock at Godzilla, which he bats with his tail back at Kong. Godzilla claps his hands together tauntingly in the fight, something he never did before or after the movie. And Kong’s arm length changes constantly from long to short, depending on the scene. Both monsters land hard blows on one another, and the fights carries them into the ocean, from which only Kong resurfaces. A rumor persisted that in the Japanese version it was Godzilla, but it was false. The only difference is that instead of just hearing Kong’s roar in the credits, you hear both monsters roar.

     While this movie is great in the way of monster battles and city-crushing, the human aspect is horrible. Either each of the actors overacts or under acts in all the scenes. The drug company CEO, despite being the film’s chief antagonist, is a silly and obnoxious character. In one particular scene he’s wearing a safari outfit, although he was never in the jungle and is on a ship in the middle of the ocean. There’s also a subplot about a woman searching for her fiancé and getting pinned down in Godzilla’s attack on the train. The whole scene fails to move the plot anywhere. It doesn’t get Godzilla and Kong any closer to confronting each other, nor does it present the military with any solution to stopping the beasts. The scene appears to have been just “thrown” in there.

Allow me to lay out my personal bias towards this movie. It was the first Godzilla movie I’d ever seen, and the first one I owned on VHS. Here’s the cover.

I can’t explain how excited I was to find this movie. It was really glorifying for a seven year old boy. Despite the sometimes horrific acting and cheap special effects, King Kong vs. Godzilla is a fantastically thrilling film. There’s no sadness or real drama in the way of war or politics. If you’re looking for pure escapism for an hour and a half, this is the movie for you!  Four out of four.
~Seth

DIDJA KNOW?

• This film marks the first time either Godzilla or King Kong were filmed in color or widescreen
• Ishiro Honda considered going with stop-motion monsters, a la Willis O'Brien's Kong, but due to budget concerns the idea was scrapped in favor of the standard guys-in-suits
• This film also features the Davy Crockett, a portable nuclear missile launcher built by the United States, which was supposed to be Top Secret. No word if Snowden was around at that time...

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Following the success of Godzilla, Toho set out to build on its success with a sequel: Godzilla Raids Again. On its own, this film is fun and entertaining, but it lacks the top quality of the original masterpiece. While Godzilla’s image of an atomic threat is still present in this film, the gravely feel of a post-world war climate is gone. Also, half of the camera shots of Godzilla in the film look like cheap hand puppets. And the puppet doesn't look anything like the face on the monster suit! And the face of the suit has a slight grin, giving the monster a less threatening appearance. The deep roar is kept from the original film, as is the overall suit impression.

     What makes this film so unique is that it is the first to feature a one on one monster battle, thus laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. Godzilla’s nemesis is called Anguirus, a mutated Ankylosaurus that too was awoke from nuclear testing. As a result, they fight first on an island, then carry it to Osaka. Again, half of the close-ups of the fight are two hand puppets grappling with each other, so it can be disappointing for some fans looking for a great battle. But it’s still entertaining, and the fight’s conclusion boosts Godzilla’s image as a powerful threat.

     The golden moment of the film is the military’s unique attack on Godzilla, as its jets fire missiles at an icy mountain wall, causing avalanches to bury him. What’s amazing is that the military actually prevails, and the beast is buried. This conclusion also provides viewers with continuity, for this is precisely where they find Godzilla in the next film. But we will get to that in the next review.

Overall, Godzilla Raids Again is a transitional film. It carries the serious gravity of the original Godzilla, but also gives audiences a first glimpse of the cheap monster fights and model sets that the series is so renowned for. With that said, it doesn't deserve the negativity it gets from critics. It’s an old fashioned 50’s monster movie. It’s not supposed to be overly serious or saddening. The film is just good Saturday night fun. I give it 3 out of 4 stars! 

~Seth

Didja Know?

• This is George Takei (of Star Trek fame)'s first film project. 
• Although special effects director Eiji Tsuburya wanted the fights filmed in slow motion, the camera crank operator misunderstood and under-cranked instead of over-cranking. The resulting faster fight scenes won Tsuburya over, and they kept it in the final version.
• Unaware of Godzilla's impending runaway popularity, American producer Paul Schreibman inexplicably changed Godzilla's name to "Gigantis" for the American print!

Battle Beyond The Sun (1959) aka. Nebo Zovyot (Russia)

The late 1950's represented something of a cross-roads in human history. The US was past World War 2, rock and roll began to surface, and a new dawn in scientific discovery was just around the corner.  Now that the world had defeated the Nazis, there would be a new threat to peace: The Atomic Age. This was due in no small part to the race to be the first country to explore space.  The first moon landing would not be complete until 1969 (that is, unless you are part of the conspiracy movement who believes we were never there, but that's another blog).  President Kennedy challenged the U.S. to be the nation leading the way to this new frontier of scientific achievement. While we were told that the advancement of knowledge was the endgame, make no mistake: It was about defense.  And at the moment, the Russians were whipping our tails. 

I really will get to the movie; bear with me :-)

In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, officially kicking off the Space Race.  The same year, they also launched Sputnik 2, the first spacecraft with a living animal on board, the ill-fated dog Laika.  I've said before that B-movies, and in particular science fiction B-movies, often reflect cultural and social issues that people don't like to discuss.  For some reason, against the backdrop of space and set in the future, the issues are much more palpable. Film makers give the best social commentary, a fact still true today. I would make the case, for example, that Bryan Singer's X-Men is just as much about gay rights as it is a series about mutants fighting the bad guys, but I digress.

Enter Battle Beyond the Sun.  This Russian-made science fiction movie came out in 1959 in the U.S.S.R. and was brought to America in 1964.  The story is about two superpowers racing to the planet Mars. The two political factions presented to us are separated by hemispheres.  They go by the very creative North Hemis, and South Hemis.  The North Hemis sent a team of astronauts to their space station to prepare for the first flight to Mars. While there, they notice another ship coming in. They identify it as a South Hemis ship, which is in need of repair.  The two astronauts get permission to land, and we learn that their ship is in a state of disrepair.  The North Hemis scientists decide that science is above politics, and they help them repair the ship.  While there the South Hemis scientists learn that their political adversaries might be the first to get to Mars, and national pride takes over.

They decide to take their ship out despite the fact it's not 100% ready for the flight. They choose to take the risk of certain death in order to be the first team to Mars.  Naturally, they experience difficulty, discovering that their boosters are inadequate to counter the sun's gravitational pull.  It is up to the South Hemis team to rescue them.  They do manage to extract them from their doomed ship, and they all try to make it to Mars. They do, sort of, by landing on a moon or planetoid orbiting the Red Planet, but lack the fuel to make it to Mars itself.  Still, the scenes on the rocky moon are the best in the film. The sets are large, atmospheric, and moody.  The scene that sticks out in my mind the most is the one in which the men watch the horizon as Mars rises, much like we would watch the sun come up here, except they are right next to Mars, so the planet is large and overwhelming. For a movie from the late 1950's, the scene is well-done, and for a geek like me, kind of moving.

They also discover two monsters (one shaped like a giant space vagina and the other sort of phallic looking) on the moon which battle each other, but from what I can tell, were not a threat to the humans.  There was also a sub-plot about them needing a fuel ship to come and deliver rocket fuel which crashes on the surface.  One of the astronauts ventures out by himself and is critically injured somehow.  The plot here, believe it or not, gets a little weird.  He dies, but one of the scientists speaks of how he "gave his life up for them".  The print of the movie that I observed is missing some scenes, so it is never clear what the guy did to save the crew, or how they miraculously now have fuel to get back home, despite it being established that the fuel ship crashed and was useless to them.  Anyway, they return home to a glorious heroes welcome, roll credits.  OK. Grab a glass of wine and get comfortable, I have lots to say about this one.

The first thing I noticed about Battle Beyond the Sun is the pace of the movie.  Today, we like our movies with quick, stylized cuts and a fast beat with the dialog.  This movie will absolutely try your patience if you are part of the MTV generation who enjoy fast pacing.  They absolutely take their time to deliver dialog and exposition. The scenes which involve the NASA-like commander have a woman talking on the radio at a very slow, deliberate pace.  Another odd thing to Americans now would be the uncomfortable distance between the male leads.  Today, especially in America, we have a very solid concept of personal space. You stay in your space, this is my space, don't come near my freaking space.  In this movie, everyone seems like they are inches away from each other, especially during emotional scenes.  Also, there are several instances of older mentor types talking to their younger counterparts.  During these segments, you see things like the younger guy sitting, while the older father-figure type seems to hover over them in an uncomfortable way.

This will make American viewers today a little uncomfortable.  There is no need to be though, as it's a cultural thing.  In much of Eastern Europe, it is acceptable to invade someone's space like that, showing trust and friendship.  Another interesting thing about this story that struck me is how the protagonists place science above nationalism.  This seems counter intuitive for the time, given the condition of the U.S.-Soviet space race.  The idea that they could work together with the whole being greater than the sum of the parts was highly progressive.  It makes you wonder what we could have achieved in the 1950's and 1960's had the superpowers shared everything.  Maybe we really would have a base at Mars by now, who knows?

From a technical standpoint, the movie is full of very large holes.  They perform space walks out on their ships without flying out into space.  There is no explanation, not even a mention of magnetic boots.  They make the trip to mars very quickly, without so much as a nap.  They do earn points for detail, however.  The space station, rocket interiors, and the space command headquarters are all large and  very believable.  Lots of techno-babble at least makes them sound like they know what they are doing, and given the probable lack of common knowledge about space in 1959, it likely seemed pretty advanced. 

Special effects range from pretty decent to very good.  Unfortunately, to show rockets flying they always rely on the sideways still of the ship with stars flying by quickly shots. Every single shot is a profile like that; no views of a rocket flying toward or away from the viewer.  The set of the Martian moon is pretty amazing.  The monsters are okay, but I can't really credit the original makers as that was tacked-on for the American release.

The editing for this film in the version I saw was very heavy-handed.  A character would be talking, and in mid-sentence the movie would jump to the next scene.  Entire scenes are missing, making for a sometimes-awkward plot.  As I said previously, the pace is very different from what most people are used to.  About the most popular example of something similarly-paced is 2001: Space Odyssey.  While that film was superior in other ways, it had a similar slow beat to it.

Overall, it was a decent movie experience.  I enjoyed it for its themes, and, uh, well...I like the themes of cooperative exploration and sacrifice.  Visuals are above average for 1950's space fare, the music was wonderfully eerie and mysterious, and the  acting was pretty good. I rate it two out of four.

DIDJA KNOW?

Thomas Colchart was credited with creating the two space monsters for the American release.  Colchart has another professional name: Francis Ford Coppola.

Yor, the Hunter From the Future

Yor, the Hunter from the Future struck with a vengeance in 1983.  It is widely considered to be one of the most enjoyable bad movies ever made, especially among my generation-kids of the 80’s.  Part prehistoric adventure, part sci-fi, and all fun, this beast of a movie has it all for fans of campy B-movie fare: a silly plot (and I use that term loosely), questionable acting, hilariously bad dialog, and laughable effects.  These components are not meant in a derogatory way; it’s part of the immense charm.  Without movies of this stature, I would probably be writing about something boring!

Our movie follows the exploits of Yor, a barbarian hero who travels around bearing a constant wide grin and toting an axe, which he uses frequently when he crosses dinosaurs, giant bats, and purple cavemen, while on a quest to discover his people. I will discuss the film with specific plot points, so if you do not want to read any spoilers…you are probably at the wrong site.  You should skip to the bottom of the article where I grade the film.  Suffice to say, you should locate a VHS or burned copy of this ASAP, especially if you enjoy movies like those you would see on a typical episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The choppy narrative of the film is often attributed to it originating as a mini-series in Europe, and then edited down to its theatrical length.  While I have not confirmed this, it would explain the odd tone and pace of the story.  As he marches around, he meets up with a clan of hapless but friendly cavemen.  They are being attacked by a triceratops, which is actually an herbivore, but go figure.  He swings his axe, and saves the day.  In return for saving them, he is granted a new wife, in the form of Ka-laa, played with great 80’s big-hairiness by Corrine Clery. Yor travels around with her and her adoptive father for the rest of the movie, encountering strange and entertaining threats.

At one point, our hero gets in a skirmish with the purple cavemen, who steal Ka-laa in hopes to populate their purple clan with beautiful big-haired people I guess. Yor and Ka-laa’s guardian Pag try to figure out a way into their cavern without being overwhelmed.  As fate (and script) would have it, they are attacked by a giant bat creature. They shoot an arrow at it, and it dies immediately, falling to the earth with instant rigor mortise.   Yor gets an inspiring idea, and what follows is perhaps the greatest single scene in movie history.

Yor decides to hoist the dead rigor mortise bat over his head and use it like a hang-glider to enter the cavern, taking the cavemen by surprise and kicking much butt to the tune of his awesome theme song.  I love that.  I wish that every time I did something epic, I’d have my own theme song blaring. He flies in, and all you hear is “YOR’s WORLD! HE’S THE MAAAAN! YOR’S WORLD!”  If the energy of hearing your own theme doesn't inspire you to accomplish great things, something is wrong with you!

I won’t divulge the whole movie in this review, but I have to tell you about the final act. Yor and his friends travel to a mysterious island to search for clues about his origins.  While there, he encounters The Overlord, who runs things with his army of androids.  These guys look like a love child between Darth Vader and one of his Storm Troopers.  Yor battles the Overlord, who we’re told is the bad guy, although, come to think of it, I never really saw him to anything particularly evil.  We just know he has a dark cloak, and a beard; so, these two factors are enough to communicate to audiences that he is the bad guy.

Yor and his friends meet up with some other blond good-looking people who are decedents of his relatives.  They stage an uprising, and Yor and his caveman friends demonstrate an amazing mastery of futuristic weapons and technology, firing laser cannons and using time-bombs as if they were trained by Seal Team Six. Hey, if you’re looking for logic you are not in the right place! Yor has to swing across a chasm to deliver the bomb which is going to go off in 8 minutes. Unfortunately, he lets the cable he swung on go, and can’t swing back.  What follows here is the second most awesome scene ever, right behind the bat-glider incident.

Gal, despite being in his 60’s, grabs the cable and literally swings out to Yor, and flips upside down, allowing Yor to jump out and grab his wrists. They swing back, land safely, and Gal flips back up and jumps down, too.  This movie is flipping awesome.  Naturally, they escape just in time to not be blown up, and the narrator tells us how they live happily ever after, but he doesn't tell us how the caveman knows how to fly the star ship. Who cares, this movie is the greatest thing ever.

Yor was played by Reb Brown, a former athlete who boxed professionally and also played football at USC.  Here, he kind of looks like a cross between Steve Oedekerk from “Kung Pow” and He-Man from Masters of the Universe.  His acting is not real deep, but it is not a requirement in this project. He handles action scenes well, and is likable.  The film was directed by Antonio Marghereti, a prolific film maker who is also known for “War of the Planets” and “Hercules Against Karate”….man, how have I not reviewed that last one? Note to self: Locate “Hercules Against Karate”, like, now.  Marghereti made too many movies to list here, and his influence is wide, as noted by Quinten Tarantino’s film “Inglorious Basterds”, when a character shouts ‘Marghereti!  Marghereti!”.  It’s kind of a subtle reference, kind of a gift for the small group of the population who even know who that is.

Overall, this movie is great.  It has everything for people like me who like Bad Cinema.  It is mostly clean, with some bloody violence involving Yor hacking up the occasional dinosaur, but violence with other humans is fairly bloodless.  My only beef is the way some of the characters dress.  Their loin cloths do not hide much, so you see a little more of Yor than you would probably like to when he jumps around. It’s not anything you don’t see at the beach, but…yikes, it’s not my thing. Oddly enough, the women are better covered than he is.  The special effects are about what you would expect from a low-budget indie movie.  The dino’s are animatronic, and the sci-fi elements are pretty basic; not the same level you’d see in Star Wars, that’s for sure.

Still, I’d recommend this to anyone who is already a fan of B-Movie’s with a sci-fi/fantasy theme. 3 out of 4.

The Man From Planet X (1951)

"To think - a fantastic gnome like you had to hurdle out of space to put this power in my hands. Well, now that we've made contact, I'm gonna tear out every secret you've got!" ~Dr. Mears

1951 was an insanely busy year for movie-goers interested in space-themed science fiction. Among the many films to come out that year were such titles as The Thing From Another World, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and When Worlds Collide. Interestingly, all of these movies have been remade since then with varying degrees of success. Adding to the library of sci-fi cheese from 1951 is the subject of today's review; The Man From Planet X.

If you've never seen the movie, most likely by now you've seen the space man referred to in the title. He is an iconic figure that seems to make the collage every time someone shows a collection of old sci-fi and monster movie clips. He is the character in a space suit, complete with a bubble top and a regulator valve on the side. Also, he makes a cameo appearance in 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

The movie centers around a small group of researchers on a Scottish island studying a planet whose orbit is bringing it dangerously close to Earth. Dubbed Planet X, the alien world is only visible by telescope in the remote laboratory run by the kind Dr. Elliot, played by Raymond Bond. Now, B-Movie convention states that the good professor has to have an attractive and largely useless daughter, in this case Enid, played by Margaret Field.  Enid serves as the love interest of John Lawrence (Robert Clarke). John is our everyman in this story; not a scientist or pilot, just a reporter who has to have everything explained to him in simple terms. That way, the science guys can spill their techno-babble, then break it down to John, and thus, to us the audience.

We also meet Professor Elliot's antithesis, his "partner", Dr. Mears, played with gusto by William Schallert. I use quotation marks because Dr. Mears is really an evil guy. We are clued into this by a couple of things. One, John already knows him from before, and has an uneasy feeling about his presence. We never really get to the bottom of what happened between the two. We only know that our hero doesn't trust him. Therefore, we shouldn't trust him.  The other giveaway is that Dr. Mears is always smoking and has a goatee. Work with me here. See, in older movies, smoking + goatee = evil. Remember that in the future kiddos, there will be a test.

The planet's sudden appearance coincides with the discovery of a small pod. The group studies the object and determines that it must be alien in origin. Immediately, Dr. Mears begins to excitedly explain how he can study the element is is made of, and create building materials worth millions. That is another cinematic clue to someones evil intentions. I'm not really sure I'm on board with bashing him on this one, though. I'm kind of a capitalist by nature, and I don't think it's wrong if some alien drops some of his equipment here and I manage to replicate it, but I digress.

We also finally get to see the titular man from planet X when Enid goes out and has a flat tire at night. She finds his alien ship, and rather than go find a scientist, like say, her father, walks over to investigate. She peers into the pod, and the audience gets the biggest scare in the movie when he pops up in the scene the image above came from.  Later, John and Professor Elliot get the space man to realize that they are not going to hurt him, and they walk him back to the observatory. The space man cannot talk, he can only emit an eerie tone. Dr. Mears comes up with the idea to use geometry, the "universal language", as he puts it, to establish some sort of communication. This is a novel approach, one which would be ripped off -I mean emulated- in the more recent Sphere.

Then Dr. Mears somehow convinces everyone else to leave them alone while he communicates with the space man using geometry. He does have a breakthrough. Having established a baseline of communication, and privacy with the space man, Dr. Mears decides he want more information for his own gain and attacks the space man, going for his regulator valve on the side of his suit. The valve allows the man from Planet X to breath, and cutting it off renders him unconscious. The attack scene is kind of unnerving, with the larger Dr. Mears easily overpowering the alien. All the alien can do is emit that eerie tone sound, which is kind of like him crying out for help. Watching this, I felt sympathy for the creature, which I guess was the point.

Later, Mears lies and tells the other professor he got nothing, despite having made his breakthrough. John comes back and they discover the alien is gone, along with Enid. Apparently, after his attack he decided humans are not worth sharing information with after all, and took the girl. Why the alien always takes the girl, I don't know. I suppose it adds to the suspense. At any rate, it was unfortunate that Mears had to attack the space man, since he was on the verge of learning all kinds of great secrets that could have made him tons of money. His greed and zeal for knowledge possibly doomed humanity.

The rest of the movie involves the heroes bringing in Scotland Yard, because they have the ability to pull in the 'big guns' and defend the island from the space man. Unfortunately, it is never 100% clear that the alien has hostile intentions, even though he demonstrates the ability to render humans into a zombie-like state. Dr. Mears is even rendered a slave zombie, and when John rescues him, Dr. Mears comes out of it and explains that the alien has a plan for domination of Earth. However, we don't know if Mears is telling the truth, or manipulating events again.

I won't tell the rest of the story this time, because there are probably viewers who will want to check out The Man From Planet X. It is a solid movie, one with perfect portions of creepiness, mystery, science fiction, and suspense. The story elements are familiar by now, but this film was original when it first appeared in 1951. It is not bloody, or overly violent in any way, and the alien probably wouldn't really scare young viewers, as most Saturday morning cartoons feature scarier characters now.

The set design is pretty impressive, though I can't really credit director Edgar Ulmer as much as I'd like. Many sets were left over from the bigger-budget Joan of Arc. Re-use of sets and props was pretty common then, and probably is now, too. Still, the movie does boast some amazing sets. The Scottish moors look large and mysterious. Each outdoor scene shows great depth and intrigue, although it was probably made on a small studio lot.

All in all, this movie is an enjoyable romp through classic 50's space sci-fi fare. It appears on cable now and then, making the rounds through late night monster movie shows and classic cinema offerings due to its surprisingly high quality and availability through Public Domain. It is also interesting to note that this is one of the movies chosen for preservation in the Historic Archives in the Library of Congress. I rate this movie 3 out of 4. Check it out!

Didja Know?

• This was filmed in an amazing six days on a reported budget of $41,000

• Robert Clarke was paid way under the SAG minimum of $175 a day only earning about $210

Mission Stardust (1967)

Also known as ...4 ...3 ...2 ...1 ...morte

Starring Lang Jeffries


Movie theme is a trippie, hippyish song, set to psychadelic colors.

During one important scene about 13 minutes in, I missed much of the expositional dialog because I couldn't stop laughing at the extra in the background leaping around like a freak and shadow boxing

The bad guy is pretty easy to spot early on. In 'B' Movies, one of the give-aways is wealth. Like the Democratic party, movie makers in the 50's and 60's typically believed that anybody with any measure of success must have gotten there by some illegal means, and therefore cannot be trusted. The wealthy guy must have some interest in the mission.

The 'aliens' of this movie are disappointing. It seems Mission Stardust falls into the Rocketship XM trap, and gives us regular humans saying, "Trust me-I'm from another world."

It seems the main alien...

Wait, at least his name is something cool and Alien-esque, like Xandar?

...whose name is even a regular human name - Chris - is sick...

So, he has a cool Alien-esque disease, right? Like Andorian Shingles?

.

...with plain ole' Leukemia. The astronauts' mission is now to travel back to Earth with the aliens and find a famous doctor with a convenient serum for this disease.

The bottom line is this movie is merely ok. The visuals are nice for the technology of the day, the alien characters are blah, and the acting non-existent. I've measured the entertainment value using my Calcinator Ray, and it says if you watch this, your death will be INDESCRIBABLE. Well, maybe that's overkill, but look, you can watch it if you want, but I'd skip it. Final Verdict: 1 1/2 out of 4.

Didja Know?

Jeffries was supposedly one of only three survivors out of an Army unit of 177 who, during the Korean War, landed in Inchon, though I can't confirm this.