The Phantom Planet (1961)

Uneven sci-fi that fails to achieve much impact despite unconventional ending. What's needed is more snap. Too bad lead actor Fredericks walks through his role in unemotional fashion despite Capt. Chapman's surreal plight. Then too, director Marshall seems uninterested in playing up the dramatic points. Instead, he simply shoots the script without apparent engagement. Thus there's little suspense or tension despite the perilous predicaments There're lots of special effects-- some good (the control booths), some not (the space flights and a space ship that looks like a candied dart). On the other hand, the indie production gets good economical use from the planet's unusual stony sets. However, I could have done without all the scientific gobeldy-gook that appears to do little more than pad the script. Anyhow, I'm soon blasting off to the phantom planet, hoping to meet up with either Liara or Zetha, the Elizabeth Taylor look-alike. Plus there's all those scantily clad "jurors" who could revolutionize the whole idea of a "trial". Just goes to show that Hollywood is always Hollywood regardless of where we are in space. Anyway, enough of my glandular reactions. Overall, the indie flick fails to work its positive points into anything beyond drive-in mediocre.(In passing- Catch fine A-picture actress Coleen Gray as Liara; too bad she's largely wasted here. Also, there's Anthony Dexter as Herron; his career was launched in 1951 as silent star Valentino but quickly petered out. And, of course, Francis X. Bushman, a giant of the silent era as Sessom. Such 'name' players are worth noting, I think, for an indie production.)

THE PHANTOM PLANET is another low budget, endearingly cheap US science fiction movie of the early 1960s. This one could easily have been made a good decade previously because it feels very dated for its era. The story is about a ship of astronauts who find themselves on a miniature world in which the inhabitants are menaced by ugly alien creatures and the like. It's a film full of cliffhanger action, dated but effective special effects, and a cool-looking man-in-a-suit alien played by a youthful Richard Kiel. Sometimes, it's the dated films which are the most fun, and so it proves with this simple but effective slice of US sci-fi cheese.

Classic black and white B movie silliness. Pay attention to the "monster" - the Solorite prisoner. That's Richard Kiel, better known as Jaws, and star of many wonderful films.The film begins with an annoying narration. In the first 'action' scene, we are introduced to two characters by literally introducing them. It's on par with that short story we wrote in third grade. Then those two guys get blown out of the sky by an asteroid. After that, the rest of the film is a dramatic improvement. It appears to have been filmed in one small studio with a minimum of sets, and virtually no special effects. Only a kid at heart who loves theater and science fiction would appreciate this small 'gem.' One has to think of it more as civic theater than as a movie production. Phantom Planet took its inspiration from early 20th century pulp fiction and a lot of 'Tarzan' but it managed to fail utterly.

Watching bad movies is a hobby of mine. While this isn't the worst movie I have ever seen, I will say it is the most boring movie ever! I have seen monster a go go, the beast of yucca flats, pod people, plan 9 from outer space and many others. None of them are more boring then this.To sum up why this movie is so awful is because nothing happens. The sets are all the same, and everything is identical to each other. The visual effects are so bad it looks like it was from the 1920s.The plot is fairly bad. Some astronauts go into space to figure out where some pilots have been disappearing. The co pilot dies, and only one guy is left. OK now their get sucked in by the giant ball of popcorn which is supposed to be an asteroid. He meets some aliens there that are tiny, so they shrink him down to their size. Apparently there is an entire civilization on this asteroid though we only see about 5 different characters. There's a love triangle or something going on in the story, some alien race that looks like they are dogs, and some other bad set designs. Either way this movie drags on for a very long time. I actually had to watch this movie in several parts since it was so boring. Usually I can watch a bad movie or two in one sitting.Either way avoid this movie...