Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)

Tom Trimble (Dennis Dugan) is an oddball scientist for NASA. Very clever but somewhat clumsy, he builds a robot named Hermes who looks just like him. Its NASA's wish to send Hermes on an experimental flight where, if all goes as planned, the rocket will travel faster than light and go back to the days of Camelot. However, as Tom is readying Hermes for the journey, the rocket blasts off and both of them go back in time. Once there, a pretty maid name Alisande takes Tom to see King Arthur while Hermes stays with the ship. Mordred (Jim Dale) takes an instant disliking to Tom but the young scientist captivates the King with tales of the history of the world, including his own time period. However, after a long listen, the King sends him to the dungeon anyway. It'll be up to Hermes to rescue Tom and change the King's view in their favor. In addition, can Alisande truly prefer Hermes to Tom himself? This funny take on Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a pleasure to watch. Dugan is quite a charming and kooky performer and rest of the cast is great. Kids and families will love the re- created Camelot's scenery and costumes as well as the new gadgets Tom brings with him. No, its not the greatest thing since sliced bread but it is bound to bring smiles to young and old faces!

UNIDENTIFIED FLYING ODDBALL is a '70s version of the classic Mark Twain story, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. The story has been updated to the space age, with a lone young astronaut and his android double breaking through a time barrier in space and finding themselves back in King Arthur's day, where they must battle evil and romance willing maidens and the like.It's all very juvenile, of course, but then you expect little else from a Disney production. However, like a lot of Disney movies, UNIDENTIFIED FLYING ODDBALL is a colourful romp through medieval times and one that's filled with incident, so there's plenty to enjoy here, as long as you like your entertainment basic and your jokes rather obvious. I thought the main American star, Dennis Dugan, was poor indeed, but the supporting cast of British character actors makes up for him: Jim Dale, cast against type as the villain; Ron Moody as the delightfully sneaky Merlin; a near unrecognisably aged Kenneth Moore as Arthur; and the reliable Rodney Bewes and John Le Mesurier in comic support.

An all-around fun movie for the adventurous and imaginative. The Disney channel used to air this film regularly in the 1980's and I made sure to watch it each and every time.This is a great family film that is especially fun for young boys (what little boy doesn't want to be an astronaut or a knight? How about BOTH!?). Just be sure your kids see this one before they become cynical from being corrupted by the numerous plotless special-effects laden films of today. Additionally, this is a great way to introduce kids to the literary world by providing them with the film's inspiration: Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court."Enjoy!

This is one of those films that starts with a bad title and only gets worse.If I recall, I saw this at my friend Kirk's tenth birthday party and it was the first time I used the word 'dreck' in a sentence.'Unidentified Flying Oddball' has all the appearance of having been written and filmed over a long weekend. Edited in someone's basement one night over a keg of beer.One thing sticks in my memory like an oak splinter: the way Spaceman Tom never called King Arthur 'your majesty' or 'sire,' but instead just plain ol' good ol' 'King.' As in 'hey, King, get yer hands offa my girl, see.' If you like that sort of talk, and your brain development arrested in grade three, then the team behind 'Unidentified Flying Oddball' wants you.The science was excellent, however. I know now that if I ever need to defend myself from a deathly laser beam, I need only wear the shiniest armour I can find ('Say, King, gimme yer armor! Now don't get all persnickety on me, see? I'll give it back all nice and proper-like, and polished up with good ol' American spit shine').Disney produced this matted ass-hair sandwich in the days before they became the media Godzilla they are now. Their stock was leaning into the toilet in those days and, hey, so will you after seeing this film.Incoherent plot, humourless gags, crummy special effects, poor sets. It's not a good kid's film. Not a good film, even though based on a Mark Twain story. But I may change my tune. Perhaps someday I'll see this movie the way I presume it was meant to be seen. On crack.