El proyectil sin rumbo

When I saw it as a kid, I didn't understand the premise of the story, and as an adult, I still have problem with the premise that a runaway missile from space starts to circle around the earth by sheer chance. I guess that's what makes this movie one of a kind. If you go beyond the incredible coincidence that this missile just happened to find earth and randomly started killing its inhabitants, the movie is pretty good sci-fi from the '50s. They try to make things look factual by using stock military footage, and use pseudonym of actual existing institution like Havenbrook (which is an obvious reference to Brookhaven National Laboratory).

The scary part of the movie is the glow you see over the horizon as the missile approaches, and the sound it makes. The movie is somewhat leaning towards horror genre in this respect, and what happens to the main protagonist as he attempts to stop the runaway missile. If you've seen this movie once, you'll never forget it - which makes this movie one of the sci-fi classics from the '50s.

If you can find it (as it's getting easier with so many posting of old movies on the internet), this movie is worth a glance.

I almost gave this a 7. Call it 6.5 for me anyway. A lot of action shots mixed with a whole lot of stock footage, including some things you almost never saw and now they're obsolete. Aircraft I could I.D.: P-80, F-86, F-100, maybe an FJ2/3, B-36, B-47, B-52. Missile: A Nike Ajax launcher with 4 or 5 missiles. A Nike Hercules (just briefly...I could be wrong about this one. And the old standby, a captured German V-2 or derivative. Aside from that a lot of far more detailed and believable technical stuff than the usual panels with lights and gauges.

Yes, the premise of the movie is its weak point. But aside from that? Not bad, and available on Amazon Prime. Kudos to Amazon for bringing back a lot of these old scifi "classics." And Robert Loggia went on to a pretty decent career.

Almost shockingly dark, apocalyptic 1950s Cold War terror fest. Many films of this era disguised their Cold War paranoia and terror within fantasy science fiction allegories. Alternatively, The Lost Missile is almost literal in its depiction of the nuclear threat.

This dread-laden tone is supported by earnest acting, and, as other reviewers have noted, far better than average integration of stock footage with original material. The movie is also effectively paced to create greater suspense than one would expect from this kind of film, given how poorly executed so many of its counterparts were. Yes there are moments of high melodrama - it is a far from perfect movie - but narratively, and as a cultural artifact of that era, it is an entertaining and fascinating watch. I've actually decided to buy it, and think it would be a worthy addition to any aficionado's 1950s scifi film collection.

The Lost Missile is an interesting little film. It is fast-paced, as all the action occurs in a simaculum of real time (at least as real as an hour and a half could feel back in the fifties). It tries for a documentary-feel...but since there is a story going on with characters, it doesn't quite make it.

For all this rapid development, the movie is somewhat dull when viewed nowadays, falling prey to "stock footage syndrome". There is innumerable shots of bombers and fighters taking off...I think more time is devoted to that than dialogue.

The plot is simple...an unknown missle enters the Earth's atmosphere and glides into an orbit 5 miles above the planet, which would normally be fine, but the missile has a field of million degree heat emanating from it, carving a five-mile wide swath of destruction on the ground below whereever it goes. It destroys part of Canada (including Ottawa) and nearly gets New York City except for the heroic sacrifice of Robert Loggia.

With the rapid developments, no effort is made to determine the source of the missile (and probably this would not be able to be done anyway), and this movie seems to be a showcase for the effectiveness of the US early warning system for missle attacks if nothing else (though any defense effort is pretty much pointless against this menace).

Loggia is stoic in his role, displaying feats of emotion that defy his character depth. Still, it's interesting to see him act as a young man, having seen him so often in more mature roles.

The special effects are actually pretty good. The missile, though interestingly designed, does appear like something off an episode of Space Patrol. The blending of the missile's fiery effects with the stock footage and city footage is accomplished fairly believably.

This may be THE sleeper sci-fi film of the 50s. Very imaginative story--plausible & with adult storytelling/writing. Loggia was great. I did find a VHS copy on ebay a few years ago and the story held up very well! And that alien missile looks like it was designed by Giger! ("Alien")