Il pianeta errante (1966)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Antonio Margheriti

Writers:

Ivan Reiner (story) &
Renato Moretti (story) ...

Release Date:

29 July 1966 (Italy)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

Scientists try to prevent a collision between Earth and a planet that is heading for it. |

Plot Keywords:

Collision | Planet

Cast

Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	Cmdr. Rod Jackson (as Jack Stuart)
Ombretta Colli	...	Lt. Terry Sanchez (as Amber Collins)
Enzo Fiermonte	...	Gen. Norton
Halina Zalewska	...	Janet Norton (as Alina Zalewska)
Goffredo Unger	...	Perkinson (as Freddy Unger)
Pietro Martellanza	...	Dubrowski (as Peter Martell)
John Bartha	...	Dr. Smith
Marco Bogliani
Vera Dolen
Renato Montalbano
Giuliano Raffaelli
Franco Ressel
Nino Vingelli
Piero Pastore
Maria Pia Conte

Also Known As:

Gamma I Quadrilogy Vol. 3 (USA) (series title)
Il missione pianeta errante
Mission Wandering Planet
Planet on the Prowl
War Between the Planets

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G

Company:

Mercury Film International

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 9 (2002) (V)

Dull Italian grade Z space opera

The plot as listed in the description is inaccurate. It's really about energy beings (well, green lights and smoke) trying to take over the Earth's space patrol on New Year's Eve. After some space stations and their zombified crews disappear, an emissary zombie invites the hero and his men back to their base on Mars for no apparent reason. Once there, the aliens give the humans every opportunity to defeat them, which they eventually do by breaking a window and running away. The whole place goes up like a model with gasoline poured on it, which is exactly what it is. Our heroes make it back to a posh hotel lobby to laugh about it all over drinks. Phew! Stinkaroonie!

That brief description leaves out some of the funnier details: the actors' endless knob-twiddling on the goofy sets, attempts to suggest weightlessness by walking funny, and demonstrating high-G forces by grimacing or merely sinking a bit lower in their chairs. Oh, and don't miss the New Year's Eve TV special featuring space dancing in the first few minutes!

The model special effects are sparse but passable by the standards of the time - at least there aren't any visible wires on the spaceships. The actors appear to be speaking English but are dubbed, presumably due to their Italian accents. Even then the dialogue seems to have been written with a flawed understanding of English ("Retro! Retro! Retro!"). If you watch this in the right frame of mind (i.e. MST3K) with friends, you may extract some enjoyment from it. Otherwise, this makes "The Green Slime" look like "Lawrence of Arabia"!

Interesting note: The stated goal of the aliens to take everyone over "For the good of the whole" is a fore-runner of the Star Trek's Borg "You will be assimilated" threat.