Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
bure998
in this Italian, American sci-fi 'thriller',our intrepid crew sets about outer space and some of them are brainwashed into believing that if they do as they're told, it will be "all for the good of all"(or some such gobbledygoop). the "aliens" in this case are pretty much made of green smoke...there are no actual solid monsters or creatures per se. the miniatures, lighting and camera work all come off incredibly toy-like and unrealistic even by 1965 standards. their rifles, which they refer to as "lasers", look like refurbished Tommy guns..which spit out fire..and their space pistols, they refer to as "38's"!!! the Italian actors (like in many dual-country offerings) are obviously speaking Italian with the English dubbed in and the American actors speaking English. the producers evidently thought this movie was so good they followed it up with "wild wild planet"..which i haven't seen and don't plan to. i actually love bad sci-fi that's somewhat original and unintentionally funny...this wreck was neither.
lost-in-limbo
Steadfast, but dreary and second-rate low-budget b-grade sci-fi matinée by Italian director Antonio Margheriti (better known for such films as; "Cannibal Apocalypse" and "Naked You Die"). Anyhow "The War of the Planets" (the second addition to the Gamma One series) is typical fodder, that can't escape its over melodramatic sub-plotting with stodgy dialogues and the direction is limply brought across. Its budget shows with the obviously fashionable miniature sets and models… as well as all-out plain and spotty effects (where the aliens are a glowing green mist or light of energy that possesses its victims). Some of the junky space sequences are rather laughable too (like astronauts floating in space, which is clearly by rope). The idea is workable, but the lacklustre execution is less accommodating despite some spaced-out atmospheric visuals and colourful set decors. Textbook performances (with the likes of Tony Russel and Franco Nero) come across shallowly flat, but there seems to be too many characters that at times it got hard to tell which space station / ship the action was focusing on. On the other hand the patchy score remains effectively uncanny. Not entirely awful, but still an utter drag.
Joe Stemme
One of the four GAMMA series SF films from Italy's Antonio Margheriti. Not as "wild" as WILD WILD PLANET, but still fun in colorful low-budget vein. This time, the space crew has to battle a race of aliens who turn men into mindless slaves via a green gas. Reminiscent of stuff going back to INVADERS FROM MARS and IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, not to mention the loosely concurrent STAR TREK pilot "THE CAGE", it has a visual flair that helps it move past a very slow middle act. But, all cult film fans will at least want to tune into the First act with what is certainly cinema's most bizarre New Year's Eve celebration with space-walking astronauts literally spinning and floating in formation! And wait 'til you see the big finale! All this to Italian 60's lounge rock courtesy of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. The film shares with other Euro SF films of the period decidedly 'mod' music sequences (the famous STAR WARS 'Cantina' sequence has nothing on this stuff) - I.E. Germany's SPACE PATROL and even something as sober as the Czech classic VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE. Far from classic, but it was a fun period in Italian SF. Though one has to be careful when attributing dialog to the dubbed USA versions, this one has a doozy -- An astronaut has been "taken over" by the aliens, which sparks the comment: "He's gone Galactic!" Too bad the TCM print you are most likely to see isn't Letterboxed (as so much of their vault is). (the closing credits are letterboxed)
macabro357
(aka: WAR OF THE PLANETS)Caught this one on TCM and it's typical for Italian space operas of the time, with the notable exception of Mario Bava's PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (1966). The main problems are that the script is so poorly thought out, that it was probably written as they filmed each scene on the spot. And the sets look so low budget that even Ed Wood did a more credible job with PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. At least Ed's film was 'entertaining', unlike this boredom.Aliens in the form of green smoke and flashing lights take over orbiting space stations around the Earth. It brainwashes some people into committing acts of sabotage while others are just left immobile with a little green tinge to their skin. I guess they did this to keep the film budget down.
It's up to the Earth space forces led by Tony Russell to save the world from the aliens and with pretty Lisa Gastoni (as well as dumb #2, Franco Nero) by his side, we are treated to one of the cheapest looking space battles in cinema history.I also notice that this film has the MGM logo at the beginning of it. They must have been so desperate for product in 1965 that they had to resort to importing Euro turkeys like this one. Besides which, Anthony Margheriti did much so much better in the horror genre that he should have stuck to it.
So if you're into MST3K-type effluent (which I'm not), then this is the film for you.2 out of 10
