The Phantom Planet is one of the most boring, pointless movies I've ever seen. Pathetic even by the standard of 1950's B-grade sci-fi, Planet has less action than 2001 A Space Odyssey, with none of that film's originality, vision, or sense of wonderment. Angry Red Planet and This Island Earth are hot stuff compared to this.
Like so many other sci-fi schlock-fests, this one begins with endless narration about the wonders of the universe, what man may find as he travels farther from earth, and all those other generalities that sound impressive to kids who haven't heard the same spiel in a dozen other movies. Then we're treated to a boring scene of a rocket crashing into an asteroid that looks suspiciously like a piece of fried chicken, which explodes into the film's title. From there an expedition is sent in search of the lost ship, and the crew's sole survivor finds himself trapped on the titular planet, where he experiences tedious adventures that you will have to see for yourself (or hopefully not).
Phantom Planet contains nothing interesting, nothing original, and nothing well done. The plot is nonsensical and shoestring thin, even with a tacked on romantic subplot. All the characters and dialog are off the shelf, and all acting is wooden. I doubt the actors could have shown less emotion or been less believable if they'd been reading their lines off a sheet of paper. And no expense was taken on the special effects, which would have been underwhelming twenty years before this was made. The monster is on par with Ro-Man from Robot Monster, the flaming meteors appear to be flaming wads of newspaper, and the spaceships are clearly children's toys.
As a result of these shortcomings, none of the scenes generate any excitement; not the asteroid field scene, not the first encounter with the tiny natives of the mysterious planet, and certainly not the ridiculous Duel of Raytar. Even the hallucinations are boring. The only part that provides any amusement is the explanation of the Phantom Planet's scientific phenomenon, and then only for the sheer incredulousness it generates. Even Flash Gordon had better science than this.
So the whole movie is a meaningless snooze fest that couldn't entertain anyone with the intellectual capacity to read this review. At the very end, as the narrator intones, we see the words 'The Beginning' appear on screen. I think we can all be thankful that this prediction did not come true, and that nothing was ever heard of the asteroid/planet/fried chicken piece again.
Like so many other sci-fi schlock-fests, this one begins with endless narration about the wonders of the universe, what man may find as he travels farther from earth, and all those other generalities that sound impressive to kids who haven't heard the same spiel in a dozen other movies. Then we're treated to a boring scene of a rocket crashing into an asteroid that looks suspiciously like a piece of fried chicken, which explodes into the film's title. From there an expedition is sent in search of the lost ship, and the crew's sole survivor finds himself trapped on the titular planet, where he experiences tedious adventures that you will have to see for yourself (or hopefully not).
Phantom Planet contains nothing interesting, nothing original, and nothing well done. The plot is nonsensical and shoestring thin, even with a tacked on romantic subplot. All the characters and dialog are off the shelf, and all acting is wooden. I doubt the actors could have shown less emotion or been less believable if they'd been reading their lines off a sheet of paper. And no expense was taken on the special effects, which would have been underwhelming twenty years before this was made. The monster is on par with Ro-Man from Robot Monster, the flaming meteors appear to be flaming wads of newspaper, and the spaceships are clearly children's toys.
As a result of these shortcomings, none of the scenes generate any excitement; not the asteroid field scene, not the first encounter with the tiny natives of the mysterious planet, and certainly not the ridiculous Duel of Raytar. Even the hallucinations are boring. The only part that provides any amusement is the explanation of the Phantom Planet's scientific phenomenon, and then only for the sheer incredulousness it generates. Even Flash Gordon had better science than this.
So the whole movie is a meaningless snooze fest that couldn't entertain anyone with the intellectual capacity to read this review. At the very end, as the narrator intones, we see the words 'The Beginning' appear on screen. I think we can all be thankful that this prediction did not come true, and that nothing was ever heard of the asteroid/planet/fried chicken piece again.