Review of War Between the Planets

This movie is basically a remake of Japanese Yosei Gorasu, and quite a few moments are literally copied & pasted (EG the spaceship succumbing to the gravitation ): mysterious planetoid and its gravitational influence wreck havoc on earth, thus space probes are sent to investigate. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart looks less credible than elsewhere, with his all-macho, wooden acting pushed to the farcical extreme, EG the scene in which he poses as "pissed off" at the LT Sanchez, who in turn still drools over him. Women spot the typical hydrogen 1960s hair styles, and (with minor adjustments ) could be from some Italian C series parody like the countless "Franco&Ciccio" movies. They try hard to recreate the "american" atmosphere: the Mexican femme fatale, the east-European Jew second in command, whatever, but fail miserably. Considering its year of release, the sci-fi element (EG the "united democracies" angle ) is not a complete waste, and considering this is a low-budget C series Italian movie, results are fair. SFX are decent, with major slips (EG when the "second in command" sinks into magma to his demise, they superpose close-up video footage of the actor's face onto a toy soldier's body...laughable ). Acting ability is slim to negligible, with a few iconic characters, notably "telecommunication officer" LT Sanchez ( Star Trek Uhura anyone? But Star Trek was still to come ); the homesick first-mate; the bada$$ commander, etc. The score is fully fledged 1960s Italian B movie, reminiscent of say "Hercules against Zorro", "Hitler versus Hannibal" or whatever low-budget "colossal" they were milling in those days. All in all a very mediocre movie, with bits of charm offset by major slips and poor acting.