Journey to the Seventh Planet

I enjoyed watching this movie, but why did Karl have to take all that punishment? I mean, my man was a rookie on a mission to where Earth's Astromen had never been before, and was expected to shoulder the responsibilities of say, Don, the co-pilot on this fantastic voyage, who, as it turns out, is smooth like butta with the ladies. And what's with the one guy who dreams of, not women, but delicious apples? If you do decide to watch it, make sure you stay tuned for the closing credits, for you will hear one of the sweetest space ballads of all time.

The immature teenage hiding inside of me can't resist--this is a movie about astronauts traveling to Uranus (snicker, snicker)! In the film, they pronounce it "Ur-an-us"....yeah, sure! As for the film, I was expecting it to be a lot worse than it was. My reason--it starred John Agar. While he was not a terrible actor, his career was spent appearing in any film provided the check cleared! The movie itself is a very mixed bag. I'll be giving it two separate scores--one for technical merit and one for artistry and originality--sort of like figure skating.

Technically speaking, this movie was a pile of doo-doo. The special effects were among the worst I've ever seen for a 50s-60s sci-fi film. In particular, the rocket special effects were simply awful--consisting of a fuzzy rocket ship that appears to be cardboard flying across a terrible painting of space and later when it lands it is a child's plastic toy! It really is worse than the UFO special effects from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (these were pie plates suspended from wires). Also, many of the monsters were cheap and crappy--and about as bad as you'll find in the genre. I'd give this aspect of the film a 1 and not a smidgen more!

It's really sad, then, that the story itself is so good--as it's burdened with such ineptness. The story gets interesting just before the rocket lands on Uranus. A strong mental force takes over the ship and probes the astronauts' minds. Then, when they actually land, the planet looks much like Earth--as this force can make the planet appear just like home--including providing people who are from home as well. Interestingly, the only people these men seemed to think of were hot babes in lingerie--proving these guys were pretty smart! The problem is that what exactly the force intends is uncertain. And, as the film progresses, the force seems malevolent--or at least having fun toying with them. The men are faced with a dilemma--how do you fight something this powerful and that can control what you see?! Apart from a rather flat and anticlimactic ending, I'd give this an 8--it was very original and very exciting.

Overall, I think a 4 is a reasonable compromise. This film was intelligent and worth seeing--even if the special effects were abominable. This is one movie that could really, really stand a remake!!

Colorful but dull science fiction tale of an astronaut, John Agar, leading a team of explorers to Uranus, where a brain-like creature fights them by making their thoughts reality, which, as you may guess, involves them thinking about sultry ladies of their past. There's an interesting idea for a film buried here somewhere, but this is strictly children's sci-fi fare. Nothing great or even anything I'd even call good, but there were enough camp elements to keep me entertained.

Surprisingly enjoyable bad flickage. Sid Pink (may he rest in peace), the Danish auteur who served up "Reptilicus," presents "Solaris" on the cheap, more than a decade before the USSR's version. An evil, one-eyed alien brain in a cave on Uranus creates illusions based on what the astronauts are thinking. They keep thinking of lush forests and beautiful Scandinavian women, so where's the problem? Long as nobody thinks of Mr. Sta-Puft, they should be OK. I'm surprised The Duke doesn't show up, since John ("Look, I'm starring in yet another cheesy SF movie") Agar, just about the only non-(badly-)dubbed member of the cast, wears an embarrassed look that says: "I was in 'Sands of Iwo Jima' with John Wayne... SIGHHH..."

Now on DVD, double featured with "Invisible Invaders." Microwave the popcorn and enjoy.

Am I wrong here, or is this plot basically the same as the Ray Bradbury story? I couldn't find any reference to Bradbury on the IMDb entry for this movie.

I know Bradbury did resolve a similar conflict over "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". Aside from that, I always enjoy John Agar movies, I wish more of them were available on DVD, "The Mole People", "Tarantula", and "Attack of the Puppet People", for example.

There is also a thin similarity to the Star Trek Season One episode "Shore Leave"

Otherwise, I'm happy to have this movie in my SciFi collection.