User Reviews

Not a bad sci-fi melodrama from Roger Corman; as usual, the B-movie director gets every nickel out of his limited budget, which allows for some amusement along the way. The story sounds like STAR WARS but is told generally on a much smaller scale, as angry aliens take over human forms and invade a test base. Only a bunch of dedicated astronauts have it in their power to figure stuff out and stop them in time. Basically INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS then, but done on the cheap which means a two-week schedule. As usual for Corman this has a cheap and cheerful feel to it, enlivened by a dedicated turn from the one and only Dick Miller as the lead.

Yes, a Roger Corman Space Epic! With all that implies.

And despite a plot which makes little or no sense on several levels, which borrows bits and pieces from Kronos and The Day the Earth Stood Still and half a dozen other sf films, this is actually a fun little movie. The team of Block, DeWitt and Rabin once again delivers some sparse but (mostly) well-executed effects, such as the giant multistage cargo rockets which could have come straight out of a Chesley Bonestell illustration.

Corman regular Dick Miller for once gets the lead role as the protagonist, Dave Boyer, playing opposite a couple of other Corman alumni: beautiful Susan Cabot as the romantic interest, Sybil Carrington, and reliably sinister Richard Devon as Dr. Pol van Ponder, sooper-genius and head of the space program.

The movie opens with yet another failed attempt by one of van Ponder's spacecraft to break through a mysterious invisible barrier beyond the Moon, resulting in the complete destruction of ship and crew. After this latest disaster (the tenth, actually -- these guys are either very dedicated or very slow learners) the higher-ups are ready to shut down the program, but, putting his life on the line, van Ponder persuades them to authorize one more mission, with himself in command.

Shortly afterward, a message written in Latin arrives from outer space by rocket mail (no, I'm not kidding) addressed to the U.N. Translated, it's an ultimatum, informing Earthlings that our planet's been quarantined to prevent the "contamination" of primitive humans from spreading into the galaxy, and demanding we abandon any further attempts at space exploration. Some dismiss it as a hoax, but the U.S. Ambassador pledges it won't keep van Ponder from proceeding.

A few weeks later, though, van Ponder's critics are on the verge of persuading the U.N. to halt the project. As he's speeding on his way to personally urge them not to capitulate, the aliens take control of van Ponder's car and cause a fatal wreck.

But just as the news of his untimely death is being announced to the General Assembly, in walks van Ponder -- and his hair isn't even mussed. His sudden appearance, on the heels of the news of his tragic demise, sways the Assembly into voting to defy the aliens' demand and continue the project.

Van Ponder is, of course, no longer quite himself, rather, he's an alien masquerading as the good doctor, and his mission is to sabotage the project. And this is what I mean about the plot not making much sense. Up to this point it was fairly straightforward, but since upon hearing of van Ponder's death not one but two characters opine that the program couldn't possibly continue without him, why bother with the substitution? Considering the result, it seems as though the aliens kind of shot themselves in the pseudopod with that move.

Plus, you have to admit it's a pretty feeble galactic civilization, if they have to destroy the Earthlings' space program by covert means. Especially in light of their ability to cause volcanoes, tidal waves, earthquakes and numerous other kinds of stock-footage havoc. If nothing else, you'd think they could have just nuked the site from orbit. (It's the only way to be sure.)

Yeah, yeah, I know: this is, when all is said and done, a Roger Corman flick. But regardless of my nit-picking, it's at times imaginative, and consistently entertaining. The spaceship (which assembles itself in orbit) is certainly an unusual design, and the interior sets aren't too bad -- for the time, anyway. Devon makes a convincing alien doppelganger; Corman comes up with some interesting bits to underscore his otherness, including one nifty sequence involving a carelessly placed blowtorch.

It never fails to amaze me, what Corman and his associates could do with a mere $70,000.

Not the most original plot but then it was hastily put together to cash in on the launch of 'Sputnik'. There isn't actually a war between satellites anyway. It's more an alien power warning earthlings to stay on their own planet and not go degrading the universe. The special effects are low budget but I did like the look of the rockets on the launching pad and the way the three rockets once in space combined together to form a space station. The look of the station interior was rather spartan, apart from the leather reclining chairs of course, with one corridor appearing so much it should have had an acting credit. Talking of the actors I liked grim Richard Devon as the scientist Dr. Pol Van Ponder replaced by an alien double, amiable Dick Miller as the heroic Dave and Susan Cabot as team member Sybil. Towards the end of the film the alien develops a passion for Sybil and though that came out of the blue I don't really blame him! Not a classic movie but bearable.