Dimension 5

KTLA, in Los Angeles, used to excavate this moldy bit of time-travel weirdness, fairly often. I got interested from the cast, uniting Jeffrey Hunter, (at about the same time he would have been filming the original "Star Trek" pilot, "The Cage"), with future "Star Trek" guest, France Nuyen, ("Elaan Of Troyas"). The SF is very low-budget, very typical of its time, but still manages some interesting comments on time-travel, and its ramifications. (similar in some ways to a classic bit of SF, also pretty forgotten nowadays, "Cyborg 2087"). The time-travel belt is astoundingly cheap, yet every kid I knew wanted one! (ah, the old days before marketing took over!) Hunter gives this more than it probably deserved, and his performance brings most of the worth to the proceedings, while Nuyen tries to look Chinese, (and Communist!). The production was obviously quite cheap, and I have my doubts this ever played theatres. Saw it for years on Independent TV stations around the country, but it's pretty rare anymore. Skiffy ran it once or twice (I think), back when they survived on old movies, and never since they got "respectable", yet it's really no worse than much of their low-budget offerings. It's good cheese, and I wish it would poke its head out now and then.

The unofficial agency of the American government Espionage Corporation is assigned to investigate the Chinese organization The Dragons when the government is advised to remove the American troops from Asia, otherwise The Dragons would destroy Los Angeles with a Hydrogen Bomb. The chief Mr. Kane (Donald Woods) asks his best agent Justin Power (Jeffrey Hunter), who is testing a time converter belt, to be in charge of the mission with the Chinese agent Ki Ti Tso (France Nuyen), aka Kitty. The intelligence agency unravels that parts of the bomb has been imported by the smuggler Big Buddha (Harold Sakata) and Power and Kitty seek the hidden place in USA.

"Dimension 5" is an original, but dated, espionage movie and quite underrated in IMDb. I bought this DVD because of the name of Jeffrey Hunter, the unforgettable Captain Christopher Pike of "Star Trek", and I did not dislike this type of 007 with time travel. There is one specific scene that is shamefully bad, when Justin Power finds that Kitty has not died in the car and hugs her and the DVD released in Brazil by Classicline distributor presents many scratched images, but in the end this movie is a reasonable entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Dimensão 5" ("Dimension 5")

Belonging to that period after China successfully tested it's first atomic bomb on 16 October 1964 and diverted the West's attention from the Russkies to the menace posed by Red China; with the result that thirty years before Michelle Yeoh in 'Tomorrow Never Dies', special agent Justin Power (sound familiar?) is assisted by resourceful Asian babe France Nuyen in mopping up a gang of sinister orientals led by a wheelchaired Oddjob (Harold Sakata, plainly dubbed) planning a Christmas surprise for Los Angeles.

The goodies are equipped with cool gadgets around their waists like Willy McBean's Magic Machine - a bit like the device later employed in Michael Crichton's 'Looker' - that enables them to run rings round the bad guys; although their training evidently didn't extend to anticipating the most intelligent use of the enormous tactical advantage this gives them in the field.

I just pulled out my copy of Dimension 5 the other night and looked at it....as with other United Pictures films it was filled with B actors in starring roles, Jeffrey Hunter, France Nuyen, Donald Woods and Harold "OddJob" Sakata. B plot that doesn't make you think much but it kept the pace going. Many of the United Pictures films were quick paced, "Castle Of Evil", "Destination Inner Space" , "Panic In the City, "Money Jungle" and "The Destructors" so if you get a chance to get any of these, they are good for any sci-fi buff's collection...not the top of the heap but not as bad as things like Astro Zombies. Other familiar faces were Kam Tong who was "Hey Boy" In "Have Gun Will Travel", Deanna Lund who went on to be in "Land Of The Giants", Robert Ito who was in "Quincy ME"

In this spy thriller from United Pictures and director Franklin Adreon, American secret agent Justin Power (Jeffrey Hunter) is teamed with Hong Kong agent Kitty Tsu (France Nuyen) to thwart a Red China terror group known as the Dragon from detonating a hydrogen bomb in Los Angeles. They must find the location of the mysterious crime lord Big Buddha (Harold Sakata), who is also an operative of Dragon, before it's too late.

This dollar store version of a James Bond movie is insipid, slow, and occasionally mildly amusing in its ineptitude. The film's big gimmick is the hero's use of cutting edge time travel technology to jump a few seconds or a couple of weeks forward or backward in time. He's warned by Donald Woods, playing the film's Bond boss M stand-in, that overuse of the time tech (housed conveniently in Hunter's wristwatch) could lead to a "time slip", a simplistic plot device to explain why time travel isn't used repeatedly to solve every little issue the hero comes across. Regardless, we never do see any suffer a time slip, unfortunately.

Harold "Oddjob" Sakata is an unusual boss villain, appearing in a motorized wheelchair, having all of his dialogue dubbed by Paul Frees, and, in one extended sequence, appearing shirtless. Lee Kolima, who looks a lot like Tor Johnson, plays big henchman Genghis, the kind of role Sakata usually played.