War of the Planets (1977)

A strange signal arrives on the Earth disturbing all communications, while a UFO appears above the Antarctic sea. Captain Alex Hamilton is sent with his spaceship and crew to the space ... See full summary »

Director:

Alfonso Brescia (as Al Bradley)

Writers:

Alfonso Brescia (as Al Bradley), Aldo Crudo (as Al Crydo)

Stars:

John Richardson, Yanti Somer, West Buchanan

Cast

Credited cast:
John Richardson	...	Capt. Fred Hamilton
Yanti Somer	...	Meela
West Buchanan	...	Richard Holden
Charles Borromel	...	MacIntosh
Massimo Bonetti	...	Member of Hamilton's Team
Romeo Costantini	...	Cmdr. Armstrong
Katia Christine	...	Greta
Daniele Dublino	...	Jack
Giuseppe Fortis	...	Marseille
Percy Hogan	...	Dr. Max Wright
Eleonora King	...	Oko
Malisa Longo	...	Halla
Vassili Karis	...	Peter Segura (as Vassili Karamesinis)
Aldo Canti	...	Etor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ryan Paris	...	Col. Altman (as Fabio Roscioli)

Storyline

A strange signal arrives on the Earth disturbing all communications, while a UFO appears above the Antarctic sea. Captain Alex Hamilton is sent with his spaceship and crew to the space outside the Solar System to find the origin of that signal. They reach an unknown planet where a giant robot enslaved a whole population of humanoids by taking their psychic energies. The robot's got his eyes on the Earth, too.

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Plot Keywords:

spaceship | nickel ore | iron ore | new year's eve party | future city | 

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Taglines:

Robot Terror from Space!

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cosmo 2000 - Planet Without a Name

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nais Film, Picturemedia (New York)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Zero to the 10th power is 0. Zero to any power will always be 0.

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Goofs

The actors' shadows are visible against the backdrop of outer space while they are spacewalking.

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Quotes

Captain Alex Hamilton: Meela, you're the one who's lost contact with life. You've let yourself be conditioned by machines.

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Connections

References Planet of the Vampires (1965)

User Reviews

Computer says no

So I concur with most of the reviews that suggest "War of the Planets" is an abomination, and if it weren't for the figure-hugging uniforms (as worn by the female cast), ludicrous skull-caps, a vaguely entertaining climax and a now-rare appearance by one-time international star John Richardson, this Italian sci-fi wouldn't rate at all.

Something of a "2001: A Space Odyssey" rip-off, that also seems to be channeling "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", finds rogue skipper Richardson assigned a supposedly benign mission as penance for his misbehaviour, suddenly thrust into a fatal mission to protect the earth from an omnipotent intergalactic robot that has decimated the inhabitants of a nearby planet.

There's an awful lot of cheesy special effects, unimaginative set decoration, random solar flames and ubiquitous laserblasts, underscored by the typically puerile over-dubbing, and punctuated by Strauss and other stock music of the ilk, serving as some misguided attempt at a sophisticated backdrop. It's actually very tame and very lame with little redeeming qualities. Richardson looks assured despite the tripe, and he's ably assisted by the intense-looking cast of relative unknowns (Yanti Somer, West Buchanan, Vassili Karis and Percy Hogan in a minor supporting role) as they plod through 90 minutes too long of futuristic bunkum.

Too derivative to capture a cult following, just another C-grade snore- fest that's found its way into unsuspecting loungerooms via the 1-cent movie bundles - which is not to suggest every film in those boxes of goodness are as laborious as "War of the Planets", but this is definitely one of the few to avoid.