Space Probe Taurus

I first viewed this movie on Double Chiller Theatre, a Saturday night TV show seen in the Philadelphia area which ran in the mid 1960's. As a kid and a young teenager I loved almost all science fiction, even Teenagers from Outer Space. I found this movie dull, poorly improvised, and uneventful. It had a few cheap special effects which included a rubber alien, a giant crab which did little, and a humanistic frogman out for a swim. There were 4 typical principles in the movie: a by the book commander more suited for a cowboy movie; an attractive young lady who goes out of here way to prove she is as good as any man; a screw off who is aboard only to write a book; and a scientist who does not come off as being all that bright. This TV movie could have been made for the old Saturday matinée at the local theater. It was made with little imagination and probably just to earn a quick easy buck. The movie looked as though it was made in the early 1950's and had the feel of the old Space Cadet serial. And to think Star Trek would be only a few years away from our TV screens.

I did not know this little science fiction movie produced by American International Pictures, James Nicholson and Samuel Z Arkoff's movie company, who also produced Roger Corman's best horror B movies. I am not badly surprised by this cheap stuff, but that's not at the level of Edward L Cahn's IT THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, some kind of poverty row ALIEN first draft. It is definitely a space opera, but I repeat, very cheap. A "behind closed doors" of a spaceship intrigue, which is fun and agreeable to watch. I know Burt Topper as a director, nothing great, but nothing exceptional either. Here, he is only the producer and we can easily make the link between his own movies as a film maker in terms of - not screenplay, because he never made science fiction films - but an obviously lack of ambition without letting his own work become a garbage crap. Watch it, if you have time, it's worth seeing.

Directed and written by Leonard Katzman, this space probe is slow and lacks excitement. The special effects seem as if this TV project was produced ten years earlier. A team of scientists, including the attractive Francine York, set out in the year 2000 to find a livable planet in space. The craft is forced to land on a strange planet , where they are attacked by crusty humanoid sea creatures and giant crabs. The voyage turns out successful after all and they name the planet after a comrade they lost in their discovery...Andros 1.

Besides Miss York, this bad piece of Sci-fi features Russ Bender, Baynes Barron and James B. Brown. Take the journey, but don't expect much.

Even for 1965 B movie science fiction this is weak. Go to space, sort of crash land on a planet, fight alien, leave. The male crew all looked like senior citizens, while cozying up to 30 year female scientist. But it's easy to sit through if you're tired and if it's on a no commercials channel. Even for 1965 B movie science fiction this is weak. Go to space, sort of crash land on a planet, fight alien, leave. The male crew all looked like senior citizens, while cozying up to 30 year female scientist. But it's easy to sit through if you're tired and if it's on a no commercials channel. Even for 1965 B movie science fiction this is weak. Go to space, sort of crash land on a planet, fight alien, leave. The male crew all looked like senior citizens, while cozying up to 30 year female scientist. But it's easy to sit through if you're tired and if it's on a no commercials channel. How do you get 600 words in a review for a movie that probably had dialogue of less.

By any standard, the greatest movie every made.

It's a WWII submarine movie, complete with sonar pinging.

Plus Sea Hunt, with underwater grappling with a monster.

The background music is in both major and minor keys.

The sets are comparable with those of Star Trek.

The dialog is minimal and nary a word is mispronounced.

The computers beep and boop obligingly.

There's a countdown scene, all the way from 10 to 1. The tension builds relentlessly.

The technology is comparable to that in any garage.

The Mystery Science Theater guys are not in any scene.

The captain is considerate enough to spell out the new planet, "Andros I," for the preliterate.

Best of all, the movie end reliably, each time it's shown.

All things considered, the synergy is stunning. Stunning, I say.