La planète fantôme

Has anyone ever watched this movie and FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE back to back? Yes they are both classic examples of B movies but these two movies in particular seem to be cut from the same cloth. In both movies astronauts from Earth land on far distant planet where the dominant race is in some dire trouble and the Earthmen just happen to possess the know-how to get them out of it. In PHANTOM PLANET the people have the technology to have turned their entire planet (or asteroid which is what it really is) into a spaceship but they live in caves and sleep on marble beds! (The whole race must have back problems) What gets me though is that just below the surface of the plots of both movies is the same male fantasy. In both movies the macho Earthment encounter ineffective males on both planets and races of totally submissive females who wander aimlessly around barefoot and miniskirted waiting for some man to notice them. In PHANTOM PLANET the women mostly just stand around while the men argue, fight and wonder what to do next. In both movies the strong assertive woman turns out to be the villain! Okay, I know to keep saying "It's only a movie" but couldn't the tough girl have also been the nice girl?

This movie is not that bad when you consider the type and time this movie was made. It was a 50's science fiction (even though it was made in 1961). It does have a plot-astronaut is on a mission to check out why rockets keep crashing on asteroids. Crashes into one, shrinks, meets good looking girls and helps fight evil space invaders. Typical sci-fi 50's movie. If you want good acting, see Casablanca or Citizen Kane. This movie was entertaining enough. I rate it 6/10 for a 50's type sci-fi.

This is the sort of Grade-Z "quickie" that can best be appreciated when seen at 1:00 a.m. on the Late Show while gnawing on a slice of cold pizza. Though undistinguished in most of the usual respects, it does offer something not often seen in the sci-fi films of its era -- "beefcake." Yes, leading man Dean Fredericks whips off his shirt for a rather-extended fight sequence with Tony Dexter. Though Dean was only about 36 when this movie was made, he's already showing a bit of middle-aged softness around his middle, but the hair across his pecs has been left gloriously unshaved and his physique clearly outranks that of his older, shorter opponent. (One other point of interest: Francis X. Bushman, looking sadly old and tired, pops up as the leader of the alien world on which our hero accidentally crashes.)

'The Phantom Planet' is almost your archetypal silly low budget 50s/60s sci fi movie. Set in 1980(!) the story concerns a couple of astronauts on a mission to search for some colleagues who have inexplicably vanished. The team is led by the fearless Captain Chapman (a wooden Dean Fredericks), who soon finds himself a prisoner on "the phantom planet", shrunk to miniature size, and forced to choose between two alien beauties (one of whom is played by 'The Killing's Coleen Gray), while clashing with suspicious planet person Herron (Anthony Dexter, who also appeared in the supremely silly 'Fire Maidens From Venus'), all the while plotting his escape. The acting is poor, the dialogue lame brained, the special effects as inept as you can imagine, all in all great fun if you dig this kind of moronic camp fun (and I do!). The cast also includes veteran Francis X. Bushman who already had a film career spanning fifty years(!!) when he made this, and an uncredited Richard Kiel (best known to most movie goers as "Jaws" in a couple of 1970s Bond films, but also fondly remembered by trash fans for the idiotic horror flick 'Eegah' made shortly after this) as the utterly ludicrous Solonite monster. This may not be the best bad movie I've ever seen, but fans of the genre will have a great time watching it.

This movie obviously isn't Oscar-worthy or one that will change your life. Heck, it's pretty cheap and silly as well. However, despite this, the movie is entertaining and despite many technical problems, it managed to keep my attention.

The film begins in the future...1980! There are moon bases and interplanetary travel is the norm. However, this travel is called into question when two ships crash into a planetoid that just appears directly in front of the ships with no warning! In other words, any space ship COULD just crash into this planet at any time and at any place...bummer. So, the best astronauts are sent to look for(?!) this hidden planetoid. Naturally, things don't go quite right and one of the astronauts is stranded on this place. Oddly, he is shrunk by the artificial atmosphere until he is itty-bitty just like the rest of the inhabitants. On this odd appearing and disappearing rocks, he has many adventures--a fight to the death, a sexy mute girlfriend and some silly looking bug-eyed aliens. While the sets and costumes are a bit silly, the film has so much action and plot devices that it does manage to entertain. You'll enjoy it provided you have an appreciation for this sort of sci-fi film.