The Lost Missile

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.

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")

Very, very cheaply made sci-fi thriller from the Golden Age of the 1950s that surprisingly is much better than you might initially expect. Yes, its is undeniably cheaply made. Yes, many of the actors are sub-par. Yes, the story doesn't always make sense nor is it cohesive. Yes, there is plenty of stock footage for a film that isn't even 75 minutes long. What does it have going for it? Well, the story is entertaining as we follow the exploits of a hydrogen missile or some alien missile as it blazes its way from Alaska through Canada on its way to New York City turning everything it passes over nothing more than a burned cinder. Another reviewer noted that the film is not "scared" to kill people. How true and that is something very unique for a film like this and from the 1950s. It is refreshing(in a twisted way I guess). Robert Loggia does a credible job as the lead - an overworked scientist who is married to his job, fallen in love and out of favour with his fiancée Ellen Parker who is his co-worker as well. we get all the stereotypes one might imagine, but loggia nd even Parker show us enough depth of character to care. the scenes with the people huddling together to escape death are oddly convincing and the mood of the film stays tense throughout. this is not a great science fiction film by no means, but it is better than its budget would initially suggest.

Released (some would say "escaped") in 1958, "The Lost Missile" is, de- spite it's many flaws and shortcomings, a fairly interesting tale about a wild missile, apparently of extraterrestrial origin, loose in the Earth's atmosphere and frying everything underneath it with a million-degree exhaust. The biggest problem with this film really isn't the film's fault: it suffers from being rather too ambitious for its budget. While this is true of many fifties sci-fi films, this is not to say that there are other flaws which cannot be so easily dismissed' to wit: the acting. Robert Loggia plays Dr. David Loring, the tragic hero, and turns in a performance that is played with such lethargy and apparent disinterest that it makes you wonder if he was wondering "what was I thinking?" The rest of the cast play their parts like second- or even third-string summer stock. Oh, yeah: there's also the cliche'd frazzeled scientist ("My wife's having a baby, and I can't be with her!!"), lots and lots of stock Dept. of Defense shots of scrambling fighters, and some surprisingly good effects rendered by then-Master

of the Art Jack Glass. By far, the most hilarious performance is rendered by the Governor's aide. This guy looks like he just found out that his wife is cheating, his single daughter is pregnant, his son has the clap, he has prostate cancer, the car needs a new tranny, and the bank is foreclosing on his mortgage. . .all at the same time!!! Coming in a close second is the TV singer. This guy couldn't carry a tune in a semi! Seriously though, while "The Lost Missile" may not be a great film, it isn't quite a bad one, either. It's fast-paced and does hold your interest, which is more than I can say for "Phantom From Space". That one.. .OY!!

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.