The Lost Missile

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")

So, Hydrogen Bomb war is about to break out and 1950s heroine/scientist's biggest worry is whether she and her hero/scientist fiancé will finally get married today? Oh well, it was the Fifties, I suppose. At least we get Robert Loggia in an early role. Of course, he isn't onscreen as much as all the stock footage of jets and war rooms and the only thing holding the movie together is an intrusive narration. Still, sci-fi movies of that era are fun as long as you don't think about them too much. And the dialogue is fun, too. A man runs up to our hero and tells him a hotline just opened to the Pentagon "It's a red alert, situation yellow!" Well, that doesn't sound too bad; if it was really bad it would be red-red, right? I liked watching it, but can't give it more than a 4.

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.

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.