Alien Attack (TV 1976)

Earth's Moon is the site of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research colony nestled in the crater Plato. Staffed by over 300 men and women from Earth, it is the operations center for several ... See full summary »

Directors:

Charles Crichton, Lee H. Katzin,

Writers:

George Bellak (screenplay), Christopher Penfold (screenplay),

Stars:

Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Landau	...	Commander John Koenig
Barbara Bain	...	Dr. Helena Russell
Barry Morse	...	Professor Victor Bergman
Roy Dotrice	...	Commissioner Gerald Simmonds
Anthony Valentine	...	Male Alien
Isla Blair	...	Female Alien
Prentis Hancock	...	Paul Morrow
Zienia Merton	...	Sandra Benes
Anton Phillips	...	Dr. Bob Mathias
Nick Tate	...	Alan Carter
Philip Madoc	...	Commander Anton Gorski
Lon Satton	...	Benjamin Ouma
Eric Carte	...	Eddie Collins
Clifton Jones	...	David Kano
Patrick Allen	...	Lunar Commission Chairman

Storyline

Earth's Moon is the site of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research colony nestled in the crater Plato. Staffed by over 300 men and women from Earth, it is the operations center for several space expeditions. It is also a watchdog for vast amounts of atomic waste from Earth stored in silos on the Moon's far side. Magnetic radiation builds up and causes the wastes to explode with such force that the Earth's centripetal pull on the Moon is overcome, and the Moon is broken free of Earth's orbit to drift at incredible speed out of the Solar System off the plane of the ecliptic. The survivors on Moonbase Alpha are unable to return to Earth and must survive in unknown space on their wandering Moon. They encounter a planet whose advanced people project an illusion of a devastating attack on Moonbase.

---

Plot Keywords:

edited from tv series

---

Taglines:

The ultimate space-age disaster ... and a desperate struggle for survival

---

Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien Attack - Die Außerirdischen schlagen zu

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC), Radiotelevisione Italiana, Group 3

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally intended for theatrical release.

---

Connections

Followed by Journey Through the Black Sun (1976)

---

Soundtracks

"Giants' Causeway"
Composed by Nick Ingman
Courtesy of the Bruton Music Library

User Reviews

Nice try ...

... but it wasn't really necessary. Or that good. ITC seems to have taken two Space: 1999 episodes and linked them to make a 'movie'. Problem is, we get choppy edits and re-used scenes! (I counted two shots which were recycled.) The stiffly-acted, hastily-contrived backstory (which vanishes after the first hour) feels so tacked-on that you wonder what the motive was for this project. A quick buck? The opening and closing music sounds like something from The Benny Hill Show--one of the discotheque skits! The version I saw even eschews the 1999 setting. Here, we're boosted forward to the year "two thousand, one hundred." Hmmm. Shoulda left well enough alone.