The Phantom Planet (1961) User Reviews

Seen as History it's a great way to spend some time

[altermail · 5/10 · 28 August 2005]

Judged by viewers post 2001, post Star Wars, post War of the Worlds, even post Star Trek, of course this movie will get bad reviews, for unscientific plot holes, for poor special effects, for bad acting, for dumb costumes, for simplistic sets, even for Black and White filming.

But this was made in 1961! Seen as a moment in the history and evolution of Sci Fi on film, it's a great way to spend some time. It's available as a free legal download too. Go to www.archive.org and check under Feature Films to find the movie available as part 1 and part 2.

The captain's tape recorders anticipate Kirk's "Captain's log". The cheap special effects had to be inspirational to the makers of Dr. Who. And it's a pleasure to have to use your imagination instead of having to be spoon fed with spectacular special effects.

To hate this movie is to hate a jazz 1940s jazz piece because they used acoustic instruments instead of synths and cut to vinyl instead of digital to CD. Look beyond the limitations of the error to the art, and you'll find a 5 out of 10, not a 1. As the co-pilot said....

Astronaut on the Planet Lilliput

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 14 April 2006]

Thirty comments on this film and no one so far has mentioned the obvious inspiration for The Phantom Planet. This is a science fiction update of Gulliver among the Lilliputians. Too bad that Jonathan Swift's classic didn't inspire a better film.

And that's a pity because the idea is intriguing. But this was low budget film, very low budget, so the production values and special effects were kept to a minimum. Also too bad that Jonathan Swift's gift for satire in late Stuart Great Britain didn't bring forth a better script.

The film is set in what the writer's mind would be 1980 and we are on the moon and using it as a base to explore the solar system. Two ships have been lost in the asteroid region between Mars and Jupiter have already disappeared. A ship commanded by Dean Fredericks has been sent out to find out what happened and it crashes on an asteroid.

It's really a small planet with people about half a foot tall led by a leader Sesom played by Francis X. Bushman. The movie is about Fredericks' adventures on the planet and his attempts to leave. Like in Gulliver's Travels he helps the people fight off some nasty alien enemies called Solarites who live in a world between Mercury and the sun. With all that heat to contend with, small wonder they're such nasty tempered folk.

And if you want to know how the story ends before seeing the film, I won't say, but read Gulliver's Travels.

Phantom Planet is great example of a lousy film becoming a cult classic. Players like Francis X. Bushman, Coleen Gray, and Anthony Dexter have all done so much better stuff.

Low budget but visionary

[ejrjr · 5/10 · 19 August 2008]

Low budget production but the script is visionary in regards to anti-gravity and magnetic fields. Nuclear physicist Robert Lazar who worked at Area 51 in Nevada during the 1990s, says his job was to back-engineer a spacecraft that apparently used anti-gravity for propulsion. While, he and other scientists could theorize about anti-gravity, they and nobody else had the knowledge to create or utilize such.

Also, magnetic walls have long been studied and attempted by U.S. Department of Defense research scientists.

So, while it is easy to dismiss this film due to hokey characters and cliché love story, the script is visionary for a 1961 movie. There are many other sci-fi films far worse than this such as Santa Claus Conquers the Martians with Pia Zadora. If you want bad, this is not bad. However, it is good for low-budget films but it is not good in the context of big budget sci-fi films.

I really wish I could like this film more but...

[youroldpaljim · 25 December 2001]

An astronaut finds himself stranded on an asteroid inhabited by intelligent lilliputian beings. Once our hero breaths the atmosphere, he shrinks to size of the asteroids inhabitants and gets involved in various court intrigues and an interplanetary war.

Although I consider myself a completist of old science fiction movies, I only saw this film for the first time very recently. THE PHANTOM PLANET is one those of films thats pretty bad, but you wish you could like it more. To its credit, this film has the air of being made by people who were trying to make something a little different. The special effects -although obvious, are ambitious and elaborate. The writers appear to have tried to come up with a slightly unusual story line, but the film is over plotted and makes little use of the central gimmick. The dialog is lame and the acting is indifferent. A few scenes are of interest, such as when the tiny Rhetonites approach the giant astronaut and peer through his space helmet. Some shots of the rockets in space I thought looked attractive.

THE PHANTOM PLANET is one of those films that I wish I could say more good thinks about. Its badness is anything but the result of cynical motivation, but the result of makers who ambitions far exceeded the skills of its makers to deliver

Low-budget in every respect.

[dinky-4 · 3/10 · 16 June 2000]

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.)

"Activate the gravity field!"

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 13 January 2006]

One of the first revelations that this was going to be a fun camp film was it's setting in the way distant future of 1980, replete with space age jargon and a goal to find out what's been happening to prior lost space missions. I found myself making comparisons between "The Phantom Planet" and the TV Series "Star Trek"; Planet had a very similar look and feel to Trek once the action moved to the planet Raton. But what a difference the ensuing five years made, as any single Trek episode blows this film away in story content and quality.

Astronauts Frank Chapman (Dean Fredericks) and Ray Makonnen (Richard Weber) are sent out from Lunar Base 1 to determine what's happened to a couple of ships that simply disappeared in outer space. A meteor storm damages their propulsion system, and while making repairs, Chapman is knocked unconscious by a stray light flash, and Makonnen loses his grip on the Pegasus IV and floats away reciting the Lord's Prayer (undeniably a prayer of thanks for getting him out of this). Later, while gaining his wits, one of the scenes in Chapman's delirium is seeing his partner float away in space exactly the way it happened, even though he was unconscious at the time!

With the Pegasus IV captured by a gravity ray, the ship is brought down to the living planet Raton, where miniature people marvel at the gigantic newcomer. Shortly after though, Chapman shrinks down to their size, a result of the planet's atmosphere. In retrospect, there really seems to have been no reason for this plot device, as all the remaining action doesn't rely on what size the characters are.

Of course the newcomer is tested by his captors, put on trial for "harming" one of them, and is punished by allowing him freedom on Raton with his choice of two beautiful women (Colleen Gray and Dolores Faith). Chapman is no Captain Kirk, and he can't be moved by the wiles of his female companions, all the while trying to figure out how to get back home. In the mean time, he must battle a jealous Ratonian (Ratonite?) in hand to hand combat, and team up with him to defeat the threat of an evil Solarite (Richard Kiel in a wild alien costume).

"The Phantom Planet" is a blast, and you'll have fun with it as long as you have patience and a good sense of humor. I have to say the film had me right from the start. What other movie can you name that uses the word "azimuth" even once, while here it's referenced a good half dozen times!

Enjoyable on its own--WITHOUT the MST3K idiocy!

[talisencrw · 5/10 · 16 April 2016]

There seemed to be a lot of dodgy thinking going on, considering this was space exploration. For instance, spaceships going along a certain route keep on mysteriously disappearing, and the man in charge simply decides to send one more ship at a time, along the same route. What's going to happen when he runs out of men? And there are many other instances that defy all attempts at logic. This is one of those films that would have given Spock a sleepless night, let me tell you.

As I'm finishing up my now-legendary Mill Creek 50-pack, 'Nightmare Worlds', I watched this, and it was fun, fine and downright decent. I had a good time, and it was very enjoyable with some interesting ideas (and Richard Kiel in a rubber monster suit), once I put my brain into suspended animation. As of yet, I haven't bothered with MST3K or its related ilk, as I fail to see the point--the idea seems stupid and condescending. It seems like if the neighbourhood prostitute regularly charged say, $5, and for $50, you would have the experience, but with two losers there, laughing at her and explaining to you why she was a whore. At least to my estimation, cinema shouldn't be experienced like that. Every film is like a woman, appreciates its own love and understanding, and furthermore, deserves to be treated like a lady.

Silly and low budget but also very watchable

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 13 August 2009]

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.

"I grow more and more convinced that the wisest and the best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful."

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 23 July 2006]

While on a mission to find the whereabouts of a missing space ship, Captain Frank Chapman (Dean Fredericks) is forced to make a crash landing on a roving asteroid. There he discovers a race of people only a few inches tall. Before he quite knows what's going on, he is shrunk to their size. With little hope of escape, Chapman helps the tiny people in their ongoing battle with a racing of warring creatures. Also, and quite unexpectedly, Chapman finds love on this strange planet.

Even with 4/10 rating I've given The Phantom Planet, I realize that may be too high. There are obvious weaknesses, but I just don't think the movie is as bad as its reputation would suggest. Just as I wrote about Teenagers from Outer Space, underneath the cheese is a nice little story just aching to get out. The acting isn't the best, but everyone seems to give it their all, especially Fredericks in the lead role. Other than the creature special effects, the rest are nicely done given the time period The Phantom Planet was made and the obvious budget constraints. Without being overly original, the plot kept me fairly entertained throughout. And isn't that why we all watch movies in the first place – to be entertained?

A wealth of cheesy sci-fi!

[Nightman85 · 5/10 · 17 January 2006]

Astronott lands on mysterious planet, where he shrinks to the size of its tiny citizens and helps to combat some royally goofy aliens!

Ultra-silly drive in sci-fi of the early 60's is pretty much what one would expect from a low-budget 'space age' movie of this era. The special FX are very silly looking - planets that look like flying fried chicken and big bug-eyed dog looking aliens for villains! Yet, through it all the films stars do decent performances. Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray, and Anthony Dexter aren't bad actors for this kind of film.

Silliness and cheese abounds, but the right viewer will enjoy this number.

** out of ****

Top of the Line 50s Sci-Fi - The Phantom Planet

[arthur_tafero · 2/10 · 3 September 2018]

Even though it was made in 61, I would include this film in the classic 50s genre of science-fiction. The script, for what it is, is fairly tight, as is the able direction of the actors, who are quite believable in the context of the film. Although one monster looked like ET on steroids, one is able to suspend disbelief just for the fun of it. These movies were FUN. It was not necessary to spend millions of dollars on special effects; the producers, with creative set designers, a creative script, and reasonable stretches of the imagination, were able to allow viewers to use their imaginations, instead of spoon-feeding every idea and emotion to the audience, like most modern sci-fi films do (with rare exceptions). The rating of Sci-Fi movies needs to be changed. The simple A or B ratings are too general. It is the same as rating students in a classroom. There are other ways to classify students other than A or B. An A film like Space Odyssey or Star Wars, is obviously an A film. This would obviously be a B film. But there are dozens of horrendous sci-fi films that are lumped in with the good sci-fi B films. Those films should be rated as C films. Does it take that much of a leap in understanding cinema to be able to rate films on three levels instead of two? Recommended to see how good sci-fi can be made on a limited budget.

Interesting, better than rated

[asinyne · 8/10 · 31 October 2005]

I actually found this to be a decent movie. Yeah it suffered from some silliness and goofy stuff like the scene where they space walk to repair their ship and their tool of choice? A wrench, ha!! However, from the point where the astronaut landed on the asteroid it was pretty good. The story was well written for the most part and the acting wasn't that bad. The girls were really cute and if i had landed there, id probably stay and enjoy myself!!! This truly played much like an episode from star trek, with another actor subbing for captain kirk. Some of the special effects on the asteroid were pretty decent, especially when the main character shrank in his space suit. The bad alien crashing rocks into his invisible prison out of frustration was pretty cool too, but the alien itself was kinda stupid looking. There were some genuinely touching scenes: the astronaut saying the Lord's Prayer while he floated helplessly doomed in space, and the final goodbyes there at the end. This was released in 1961 so maybe that explains why its a notch or two better than the typical fifties stuff. I actually enjoyed this one. I'm sure audiences in 1961 weren't let down. Heck they might have caught this one and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules at a drive in double feature. Cool!!!!

Welcome to Rheton, planet of the little people

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 13 January 2006]

I've seen Phantom Planet a couple of times now and is quite an enjoyable low-budget sci-fi.

An astronaut lands on the planet Rheton and discovers everyone on it are much smaller than him and he shrinks to their size during his time here. He is greeted with hostility at first but they welcome him later. He then helps them to defeat their enemies, the Solorites, ugly monsters with pig-like heads. He succeeds but the one they have got captured on the planet escapes and starts going on the rampage until killed by the astronaut, who also falls in love with one of the girls. The astronaut then goes back to his own size and leaves, and is rescued by another ship.

For a low-budget movie, this is not too bad even though it is unintentionally funny at times, especially the monsters.

The cast includes Dead Fredericks, Collen Gray (The Leech Woman), Anthony Dexter and Francis X Bushman. The man in the monster suit (Solorite) is non other than Richard Kiel, Jaws in the Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

Phantom Planet is worth a look, especially for sci-fi fans. Great fun.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Fried Chicken in Space!! :

[MooCowMo · 1/10 · 9 October 1999]

Dumb, dumb, DUMB space opera about an astronaut stranded on an asteroid called Raeton who shrinks down to become one of the asteroid's tiny inhabitants. The inhabitants, led by Francis X. Bushman as Sesom (gee, cud that be Moses??) live inside rocks and fight strange-looking creatures called the Solarites, who are trying to capture Raeton's "Gravity Wave Projector", or something stupid like that. The best scene shows flaming marshmallows (the Solarites) attacking a piece of fried chicken floating in space (Raeton), as you hear sound fx from the Lone Ranger in the background. Woodenly acted, poorly produced, and not a brain in sight, this dreary little slug of a moovie can only be redeemed by the presence of the MTS3K 'bots, who inject at least some humor. Dean Fredericks plays our square-jawed hero, Capt. Frank Chapman; Richard Weber plays his mincing, little sidekick named Ray, whose cowments on "The good and the beautiful" are obnoxiously putrid. Anthony Dexter, from Fire Maidens from Outer Space, plays Herron, whom Chapman beats up on. Richard "Eegah" Kiel plays the Solarite, a sort of genetic cross between a bloodhound and a piece of cauliflower. This is pretty heavy-handed stuff; the MooCow says check it out only to avoid extreme boredom, but don't say you weren't warned! :=8P

Goofy low budget 60s sci fi schlock. Stupid but entertaining.

[Infofreak · 10 December 2002]

'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.

Campy fun

[ctomvelu1 · 5/10 · 4 September 2012]

An astronaut finds his ship pulled to a large asteroid, where he encounters a race of people who live inside it. His ship is jettisoned and he is told he will have to live with these people forever, Which,k of course, he resists, even though there are about a hundred young women in tunics who would love to give the guy a go and help replenish the population. He is on hand for an attack on the asteroid by other aliens, and engages in a badly staged fight with one of the enemy (Richard Kiel in a laughable plastic costume). Special effects are on par for the time. The music isn't half bad. Veteran actor Francis X. Bushman plays the head guy on the asteroid. You may recognize several other actors, such as Anthony Dexter who performed in many B movies and TV shows. Definitely for the kiddies, so we don't get to see any mating or nudity. Have a six-pack on hand to get through this one.

Hey, Solarites!

[bill-barstad · 5/10 · 27 February 2011]

Ah, middling sci-fi. There's so much of it. This one features Richard Weber in a minor role as the hero's copilot delivering this stultifying line in the first act: "You know, every year I become more and more convinced that it's wisest and best to focus on the good and the beautiful." In the only other movie in which I've seen him act, 12 to the Moon, and in a much larger role, he again gets to deliver bad lines, but that movie is packed with bad lines. I don't think any other actor could have made Weber's lines come across as anything but idiotic, but being such a bad actor, they made his scenes memorable howlers in both movies.

Otherwise, the acting in good enough. The movie has a wild and stupid story, cute young women, a fight over one such woman, and goofy-looking aliens, all seen in a number of films from the era. I think it all started with "Cat-Women of the Moon". I like it because of the women, it doesn't bore, nostalgia, and the inadvertent humor.

If you can't see that sometimes what's bad in movies is funny, you have my pity as you'll never be able to fully appreciate what they have to offer. These things were funny to audiences at the time, and still are.

Neither as Bad nor as Good as You Might Expect

[gftbiloxi · 4/10 · 11 June 2007]

Capt. Chapman (Dean Fredericks) lands on an asteroid which is unexpectedly inhabited by six-inch tall humans. When the atmospheric properties reduce him to their size he not only finds himself working to save their civilization but ensnared in several romantic complications and rivalries as well. While it sounds slight, the plot is actually cohesive and many of the concepts involved are unexpectedly ambitious--but as it happens, the 1961 PHANTOM PLANET has a less-than-B-movie budget, and the result is a film that alternates between being interesting in terms of ideas and often hilariously bad in execution.

Some of the special effects are pretty good for 1961, but then again some of them are ludicrous beyond belief. The space sequences are reasonably done until the asteroid appears on screen; depending on how you look at the thing, it might be a clump of trail mix or a deep-fried chicken wing. The sets and costumes are adequate until the monster of the piece appears on the scene; even by "B" movie standards it is pretty silly stuff. And then there is the cast.

The most interesting of the actors is Francis X. Bushman, one of the great stars of the silent era and perhaps best recalled as Messala in the 1925 version of BEN-HUR--a film in which he gave a noticeably stagey performance. By 1961, however, Bushman had shed such mannerisms, and he gives a performance here that leads you to suspect he could have had a more distinguished career in sound film if he had gotten the breaks and the scripts. The rest of the cast, however, ranges from merely adequate to down right atrocious, with leading man Dean Fredericks a case in point.

Ultimately, PHANTOM PLANET reads very much like an Ed Wood movie but without hilarious inadequacies of plot and script that you expect from such. Fans of sci-fi "B" pictures of the era will likely enjoy it, and I give it three stars for them, but if you are looking for an unintentionally comic bad movie you'll find this one neither as bad nor as good as you might expect.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Earnest and Dreary

[richardchatten · 4/10 · 25 May 2017]

'The Phantom Planet' is an extremely dull and talky sci-fi quickie set in 1980, by which time (as in Gerry Anderson's 'UFO') we Earthlings have established a base on the moon (where the communications officer interestingly enough is played by a Japanese actress (Akemi Tami), although we see and hear very little from her).

Most of the music (plainly library material) is actually pretty good. And it's so far, so dull until we eventually arrive on the surface of the planet Rheton (actually an asteroid), which resembles an enormous Chicken McNugget. It's at this point that the film delivers it's one real surprise, which I won't divulge here as so many others have, as it has remarkably little bearing on anything else that follows.

The Rhetons' costumes look as if they were left over from a movie set in ancient Rome; while the sets and the duel fought stripped to the waist between the film's two alpha males over the heroine anticipate one of the cheesier episodes of 'Star Trek'. (Ironically, Angelique Pettyjohn, who memorably played gladiatrix Shahna in 'The Gamesters of Triskelion', here appears unbilled in a non-speaking part as one of the jurors.)

Rheton's elderly ruler, Sesom (Francis X. Bushman) explains the primitive drabness of their present existence by claiming that the ill-effects from the unprecedented amount of leisure time resulting from labour-saving technology were solved by abandoning modern technology and returning to the simple life (late 20th Century capitalism certainly did a good job of licking this particular worry, if little else). Not that we see much evidence of good honest toil taking up much of the time of those Rhetons that we actually meet; all twenty of them. (Maybe all the real work is being done by slaves.) Nor do we see any bookcases, so it presumably didn't occur to the Rhetons to use all that unaccustomed leisure to read or write books. Their frugal existence, however, hasn't stopped them from harnessing "the magnetic forces of Rheton" to create a hi-tech defence system against attacking enemy ships piloted by aliens called Solorites (in scenes which recall the climaxes of 'This Island Earth' and 'Star Wars'), and creating force fields within which to imprison a captured Solorite (played by an uncredited Richard Kiel) and 'disintegrating gravity plates' in the floor to vapourise anyone who stands on them.

The bloody awful planet, more like.

[axeman-9 · 2/10 · 20 July 2004]

The Phantom Planet, although made by a lot of the same team that made the hilariously inept '12 to the moon' has none of the clueless charm of the latter. It does, however, have somewhat better effects, shapely space babes in mini-dresses and a few pre-Kirk bare chested fight scenes for the leading men to sweat through. Now that I think about it this could easily have been the inspiration for at least 2 Star Trek episodes I can think of, possibly 3. As a Trek episode it might have stood a chance, but with these actors and effects it just comes over as more grade-f 50's sci-fi. It might be worth watching if it was on a late-night double bill, and as always the MST3K version is great fun. The women folk are well worth watching, and although I cant vouch for the same quality in beefcake from the leading men, they do at least get their shirts off and roll around for the entertainment of the ladies.

So bad it's good

[david-schoon · 2/10 · 24 January 2005]

This movie has it all. Wooden acting, ridiculous plot, special effects from the local army-navy store. No point in going over the plot, since it doesn't make any sense anyway. The only comment that can be made about the hero is that at one point he is offered a choice of two women, one of whom can't speak. He initially is attracted to the one who can speak. The kzinti would not have understood. Eventually he corrects his error, but I lost all respect for him Then there is a war with some sort of sun people. They are supposed to be able to destroy the asteroid the hero is trapped on, but don't seem to be able to manage it. The phantom planet people have captured one of the bad guys who apparently can kill them all if he gets loose. He does get loose, and just goes for the woman. The one who can't speak. At least he has better taste than the hero. The sun creature by the way, looks like the creature from "This Island Earth" on a really bad hair day. All in all,Iliked the movie, not because it was good, but because it was so terrible I couldn't tear myself away.

The most boring bad movie you will watch

[FairlyAnonymous · 2/10 · 22 February 2011]

Watching bad movies is a hobby of mine. While this isn't the worst movie I have ever seen, I will say it is the most boring movie ever! I have seen monster a go go, the beast of yucca flats, pod people, plan 9 from outer space and many others. None of them are more boring then this.

To sum up why this movie is so awful is because nothing happens. The sets are all the same, and everything is identical to each other. The visual effects are so bad it looks like it was from the 1920s.

The plot is fairly bad. Some astronauts go into space to figure out where some pilots have been disappearing. The co pilot dies, and only one guy is left. OK now their get sucked in by the giant ball of popcorn which is supposed to be an asteroid. He meets some aliens there that are tiny, so they shrink him down to their size. Apparently there is an entire civilization on this asteroid though we only see about 5 different characters. There's a love triangle or something going on in the story, some alien race that looks like they are dogs, and some other bad set designs. Either way this movie drags on for a very long time. I actually had to watch this movie in several parts since it was so boring. Usually I can watch a bad movie or two in one sitting.

Either way avoid this movie...

Surprisingly entertaining!

[opsbooks · 10/10 · 10 April 2004]

A friend gave me a cheapie DVD of this movie and I left it around the house for months, figuring that it would be a dud, remembering a picture spread on the movie in SPACEMEN, a great pre-Starlog SF movie prozine, possibly the first of the genre.

Anyway, I remembered Dean Fredericks for his great portrayal of STEVE CANYON back in the 1950s, so what the heck, I ran it and was suitably surprised. In fact I sat back for the entire 82 minutes and actually ENJOYED it! Forgetting the weird asteroid-planet and Richard 'JAWS' Kiel in the monster suit, the cast performed credibly via a sound and at times quite good, in fact intelligent, script. The tight direction and excellent B/W photography, coupled with a number of extremely attractive girls, made the viewing experience worthwhile.

Not recommended for young viewers due to the less-than special effects but for old-timers brought up on 50s SF, good entertainment.

Entertaining in its own goofy way

[MartianOctocretr5 · 7/10 · 22 February 2007]

I actually like this cheesy drive-in second feature B-movie classic.

The story goes from chapter to chapter with innocent exuberance. It's a typical "meeting aliens in outer space" story. An astronaut meets barefooted Lilliputian aliens (who all wear Star Trek type mini-skirts) hiding inside an asteroid, and promptly shrinks to their size. They're hiding not from Earthlings, but Solarites, creatures that use fire to attack the asteroid.

This is the luckiest dude in the cosmos; he meets raven haired beauty Delores Faith and if I were him, I'd stay on the asteroid with her. Meanwhile, there's some interesting sub-plot action going on--jealous rivals, invaders closing in, court trials and what not. A captured Solarite breaks loose, attacks Delores, but then can't decide if he'll kill her or not, and wanders around carrying her for a while.

The special effects are cheap, but amusing, even interesting to watch. Rays, fireballs, a large-nosed creature with a big head, an asteroid that looks like popcorn chicken chunks; it's just a lot of fun. The story is too abbreviated in several places (like the climactic battle with the enemy creatures), but I was actually involved with the characters, even the hastily developed astronaut/barefoot alien girl romance was somehow believable.

I don't know exactly what it is about this film, it's silly and absurd, definitely MST3K stuff (they lambasted it pretty well, lol), but it really is an OK thing to watch. It's turn-off-the-brain stuff all the way, but it's fun.

Bad Even for A B Movie

[williampsamuel · 1/10 · 9 January 2015]

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.