Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) User Reviews

Unfairly Maligned, Often Duplicated

[Bob-45 · 6/10 · 24 May 2001]

I saw `Journey to the Seventh Planet' as the lower half of a double bill, with `X-15' (Does anyone remember THAT one?). At that time, I saw `Journey…' sans opening and closing credits. I thought it was pretty good, but it received atrocious reviews (`Another John Agar trash science fiction movie') Recently, when I read writer-editor-director Ib Melchior's comments in FILMFAX, he crucified the movie (`almost unreleasable). Pretty strong language from the man that cowrote (with `Journey…' director Sidney Pink) and edited the movie. I recently purchased `Journey…' and, I am happy to say, I haven't changed my original feelings about the film. Certainly, the mind-matter plot wasn't new. It had been used both in `Forbidden Planet' and `Fiend Without a Face'. It was also used again in `Twilight Zone,' `Outer Limits' , most of the `Star Trek' franchises, and, regrettably, `Sphere'. However, `Journey…' is the first film I recall that used an entity whose most powerful weapon was our own desires and fears.

The earth, controlled by a world government, sends international space crews on a search for extraterrestrial life. The searches have come up empty with the first five planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), and our intrepid crew is about to land on Uranus, when they receive a message that Uranus is emitting a strange radiation. In his criticism of `Journey…', Melchior claims this `motive' was deleted; but, there it is, plain as day, a message being read by John Agar. Could Melchior be guilty of `sour grapes' because Sid Pink gets directing credit? Since this is a much better movie than two of Melchior's other efforts (`The Angry Red Planet' and `Reptilicus'), one can have legitimate suspicions. Anyway, as the spaceship enters orbit around Uranus, they are possessed by an alien entity, that threatens to control their minds in order to populate the earth with its slaves. A similar scene is used, to much poorer effect, by Mario Bava in `Planet of the Vampires'. Awaking from their `trance,' the crew discovers that `two hours' has past. However, one crew member, Barry O'Sullivan (Ove Sprogøe), who had been holding an apple, discovers the dry, rotted remains in his hand. `Two hours and HOW MANY DAYS' he asks.

Arriving on the planet, the crew expects to find a uninhabitable landscape of rock and frozen ammonia. Instead, they find themselves amidst beautiful greenery and gentle brooks. The time lapse decoration of the minature set is pretty good. Most of the minatures in this film are better than `Total Recall,' while done on a fraction of the budget. Soon, the crew discovers that the landscape (including people) is created from their own thoughts.

Excellent sound effects, set decoration and color photography in this movie. Much of the film appears to be shot outdoors, unusual at the time, and quite commendable. Agar is pretty effective, as is Ove Sprogøe. The other actors were apparently reciting their lines phonetically. I understand the beautiful `fantasy women' are beauty contest contestants. That seems very reasonable, considering both their physical assets and acting limitations. The only subpar elements are some of the special effects and the editing by Melchior. In the FILMFAX interview, Melchior complains that American International Pictures gave him virtually no money to replace the `horrible' special effects in Pink's first cut. Nevertheless, Melchior proudly boasts that he improved the effects the best he could. Yet, if one sees some of the `lobby cards' published by FILMFAX, the `horrible' puppet is much more frightening looking than the silly-looking stop-motion cyclops Melchior uses. Also, the most horrifying scene, in which one of the crew is killed, the skelaton of his legs at the burned bottom of his suit, was cut by Melchior, probably deemed too `grisly'.) That's pretty stupid, considering the explicit gore in many of the British horror films predating `Journey…' as well as a few of AIP's own releases (`Earth Vs. the Spider comes immediately to mind). Oh well, at least in one instance Melchior did the right thing in the release print I originally saw. By cutting the end credits Melchior spared us some really silly-looking minatures and optical effects, money that would have been better spent improving on effects within the film. Nonetheless, `Journey to the Seventh Planet' is a pretty good film, a `must see' for hardcore space movie fans.

The Chaos of Space

[drystyx · 4/10 · 16 December 2010]

If you don't know by now, this science fiction adventure is one of the original "mind benders", an outer space flick in which aliens use mind control.

And against this kind of mind control, what can one do? If a character is powerful enough to warp your sense of Reality, then how can you truly fight it? We get a full throttle effect by showing a full length movie in which the outcome is really decided immediately, only no one knows it.

The super formidable enemy, the one you must rely solely on God's graces, or luck, to beat, is the one who controls all you perceive and conceive, the one whose control over what you see, hear, sense, is completely contrived by this foe.

We go through a series of adventures, and the characters seem totally out of control, but that's because they have no idea what Reality is any more. They go through total Chaos.

And the ending, which I won't spoil, leaves the audience in total Chaos, but also explains that indeed, there is nothing to be done but rely on luck if your perceptions are out of your control.

Overlooked film. It actually is better than many of the later ripoff versions which tried to be too contrived in modernism, by that I mean that the later films wanted to establish that SOME humans were superior enough to overcome this obstacle, which is flat out silly. If you have no direction and no vector, you are totally helpless to change your situation. This film goes under the old school of Credibility premise instead of the 1970s contrived "Man is God" premise.

I can't see why Ray Bradbury didn't sue these people for stealing "Mars is Heaven"

[bmk0 · 6/10 · 28 December 2005]

Am I wrong here, or is this plot basically the same as the Ray Bradbury story? I couldn't find any reference to Bradbury on the IMDb entry for this movie.

I know Bradbury did resolve a similar conflict over "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". Aside from that, I always enjoy John Agar movies, I wish more of them were available on DVD, "The Mole People", "Tarantula", and "Attack of the Puppet People", for example.

There is also a thin similarity to the Star Trek Season One episode "Shore Leave"

Otherwise, I'm happy to have this movie in my SciFi collection.

Is Uranus surrounded by clouds of poison gas?

[lwjoslin · 11 May 2003]

Surprisingly enjoyable bad flickage. Sid Pink (may he rest in peace), the Danish auteur who served up "Reptilicus," presents "Solaris" on the cheap, more than a decade before the USSR's version. An evil, one-eyed alien brain in a cave on Uranus creates illusions based on what the astronauts are thinking. They keep thinking of lush forests and beautiful Scandinavian women, so where's the problem? Long as nobody thinks of Mr. Sta-Puft, they should be OK. I'm surprised The Duke doesn't show up, since John ("Look, I'm starring in yet another cheesy SF movie") Agar, just about the only non-(badly-)dubbed member of the cast, wears an embarrassed look that says: "I was in 'Sands of Iwo Jima' with John Wayne... SIGHHH..."

Now on DVD, double featured with "Invisible Invaders." Microwave the popcorn and enjoy.

" OK men. let's explore the Planet, . . . Bring your guns "

[thinker1691 · 4/10 · 5 May 2010]

In the year 1962 this Science Fiction film arrived in our small home town at the local theater. It was called " Journey to the Seventh Planet. " All the kids ran to see it. Most of us were innocent youngsters and few knew anything of Science and fewer of the Solar System. During the movie with a large box of 10 cent popcorn and 5 cent coke, we watched in awe at the planet monsters, screaming in terror. The story was interesting enough, Earthmen of the future (2001) unite under the United Nation Flag, build a space ship, blast off to visit Uranus, the 7th planet. There the four spacemen wearing flimsy rubber suits, plexi-glass helmets and kitchen gloves, encounter a Blob or Mind-Creature who plans to conquer Earth and enslave the population. The giant creatures they encounter in the movie were exactly what attracted small children. As adults today, we wonder just how a cheesy, simple and hokey movie could produce such ear-splitting screams from an audience full of kids. John Agar stars as Capt. Don Graham, with Carl Ottosen, Peter Monch, Karl Ove Sprogøe as the crew. If you're an adult today, you too can create some modern nightmares in your kids, if they promise not to laugh too hard. Recommended for very young monster-seeking five-year-olds. *

Colorful and campy sci-fi

[a_chinn · 5/10 · 29 October 2017]

Colorful but dull science fiction tale of an astronaut, John Agar, leading a team of explorers to Uranus, where a brain-like creature fights them by making their thoughts reality, which, as you may guess, involves them thinking about sultry ladies of their past. There's an interesting idea for a film buried here somewhere, but this is strictly children's sci-fi fare. Nothing great or even anything I'd even call good, but there were enough camp elements to keep me entertained.

Men go to Uranus!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 30 August 2009]

The immature teenage hiding inside of me can't resist--this is a movie about astronauts traveling to Uranus (snicker, snicker)! In the film, they pronounce it "Ur-an-us"....yeah, sure! As for the film, I was expecting it to be a lot worse than it was. My reason--it starred John Agar. While he was not a terrible actor, his career was spent appearing in any film provided the check cleared! The movie itself is a very mixed bag. I'll be giving it two separate scores--one for technical merit and one for artistry and originality--sort of like figure skating.

Technically speaking, this movie was a pile of doo-doo. The special effects were among the worst I've ever seen for a 50s-60s sci-fi film. In particular, the rocket special effects were simply awful--consisting of a fuzzy rocket ship that appears to be cardboard flying across a terrible painting of space and later when it lands it is a child's plastic toy! It really is worse than the UFO special effects from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (these were pie plates suspended from wires). Also, many of the monsters were cheap and crappy--and about as bad as you'll find in the genre. I'd give this aspect of the film a 1 and not a smidgen more!

It's really sad, then, that the story itself is so good--as it's burdened with such ineptness. The story gets interesting just before the rocket lands on Uranus. A strong mental force takes over the ship and probes the astronauts' minds. Then, when they actually land, the planet looks much like Earth--as this force can make the planet appear just like home--including providing people who are from home as well. Interestingly, the only people these men seemed to think of were hot babes in lingerie--proving these guys were pretty smart! The problem is that what exactly the force intends is uncertain. And, as the film progresses, the force seems malevolent--or at least having fun toying with them. The men are faced with a dilemma--how do you fight something this powerful and that can control what you see?! Apart from a rather flat and anticlimactic ending, I'd give this an 8--it was very original and very exciting.

Overall, I think a 4 is a reasonable compromise. This film was intelligent and worth seeing--even if the special effects were abominable. This is one movie that could really, really stand a remake!!

Strange happenings on Uranus

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 22 December 2004]

I have just managed to acquire a VHS copy of Journey to the Seventh Planet and found this movie quite enjoyable, despite reading some bad reviews about it.

A party travelling on an expedition to Uranus discover a strange world and strange goings on when they land there. What each crew member thinks of appears, including beautiful women. A giant brain is the cause of all these strange happenings. We also see a strange cyclops-rat-dinosaur monster. After a couple of the crew are killed and the giant brain blown up, the party heads back to earth.

The cyclops monster is certainly strange looking and was done in stop-motion by Jim Danforth.

Apart from sci fi regular John Agar (Tarantula, Attack of the Puppet People), most of the cast are unknowns although Dainish actor Carl Ottosen appeared in Reptilicus.

This movie is worth a look at, just for that cyclops monster.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Incredibly Incompetent Distracted Astronauts

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 18 November 2014]

This slow moving mess has stilted dialogue, bad acting, and some of the most incomprehensible motivations ever. First of all, what an embarrassment is John Agar. He was thought to be the next Cary Grant at one time, but good looks didn't do it for him. He spent most of his time doing these cheesy horror/science fiction movies. In this one he plays a man with a reputation for jumping anything with skirts. While these guys find themselves on a kind of isolated patch on Uranus, they guess that there is some kind of force that they must deal with. What do they do? The thing reads their imaginations and apparently the whole crew has the hormones of an eighth grader. They are constantly accosted by these babes and fall for their charms any time the force that is acting on them desires. There is also this endless exploration of the little bit of heaven they are on and they never seem to get anywhere. There is a German guy named Karl who gets his arm frozen (though thaws out), falls in a kind of ammonia quicksand, and is eaten by some unfriendly maw. He is stupid and impulsive but never changes. There is this ridiculous voice that keeps telling us that these people are stupid and he will eventually kill them. He is apparently studying them so he can go to earth later and take over. How these guys could tie their shoes let along travel through space is beyond me. There are some decent special effects and a nice use of sound, but the story just doesn't make it.

This one calls for a remake.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 23 April 2003]

As other reviewers have noted, what we have here is a great basic concept (and to think that the film predates "Solaris" by more than ten years!), trapped in a grade-Z production (appalling color-processing, cheap special effects, overuse of stock footage, etc.). The film would still make a pretty good "Twilight Zone" episode, but a well-made remake would be most welcome. (**)

A Dubbed Danish Dud

[romanorum1 · 2/10 · 15 March 2016]

The movie's setting is 2001, when according to the opening monologue, "the planet earth is no longer racked by wars and threats of annihilation. Man has learned to live with himself." Really? A bit optimistic there! Anyway, the United Nations, the world's governing body (Yikes!), has undertaken missions to determine if life exists on the planets of the solar system. So far there has been no luck. The current rocket mission is to explore the surface of planet Uranus (pronounced as Ur-ah-nus), which has a cloud-top temperature of 200° Centigrade. After all, it's almost 1.8 billion miles from the sun! It emits a "strange radiation" and is not very dense, being composed of ammonia and methane. These facts do not faze the five men in a rocket ship who seem to land in a forest (actually an icy surface). It is obvious that little or no pre-landing preparation was accomplished, for there were no orbiting satellites, no unmanned probe, and no specific information gathering. Ah, details, details . . .

After boring dialogue that consumes nearly one-half of the picture, the explorers finally depart their spacecraft with their rubber suits and headgear. They find weird happenings, like green plants that do not belong there; they lack root systems. Houses and windmills automatically appear when the spacemen think about them. It seems that the planet is using mind control to dominate the spacemen. The memories of the men are used to format illusions instead of the realities of the planet. They include the Danish pastries, er, alluring earth women who do not really exist on Ur-ah-nus. When Captain Graham (John Agar) is rescued after sinking in a quicksand-like substance (ammonia snow particles), he says rather haltingly, "I . . . am . . . glad . . . you were here . . . to pull me out." "Be careful," the boss wisely utters. The men do encounter a one-eyed Allosaurus – they think it's a rodent. It seems that one of the crew has a fear of rats. "That's it," utters the commander, "Our deepest and greatest fears are being dug up by our subconscious by whatever the power is out there and pitted against us!" The novice astronaut chimes in that it is not only the fears that are used but also the desires (cute chicks) as part of mind control. Oh, the tension! What to do?

Before long the space heroes are smooching on the Danish pastries (Ingrid, Greta, Ann, Mimi). But time is running out for them to blast off from their optimum orbital position. If they miss it there will not be enough fuel to return to earth. Oh, the horror! Then they encounter other oddities, like the giant tarantula. They soon (not soon enough) encounter the telepathic Big Eye-on-Brain, which is exposed without any covering! Big Eye's sinister plan is to conquer the earth (HA HA HA HA HA). "You will submit, and I shall possess you." Oh, the pressure! Can they stop this maniacal alien? The ludicrous ending will not be revealed here. Darn!

Directed and produced by the incomparable Sid Pink, who gave us "The Angry Red Planet" (1959) and "Reptilicus" (1961), this Danish honey was made on the cheap ($75,000). Filming could not have taken more than a few weeks. It shows: wretched dubbing, laughable dialogue, wooden acting, cheap sets, and meager production values. The film was sent to American International, who reportedly made several special effects changes before the American distribution to theaters. So aging is not an issue with this stinker, as it was awful at the very beginning! Hard to believe it was even worse than it is! John Agar, that creature from Earth, made such films as "Tarantula" (1955), "The Brain from Planet Arous" (1957), and "Attack of the Puppet People" (1958). Surprisingly he is only the second-in-command here. The other actors are better left unnamed.

Where no man has gone before?

[CelluloidTime · 8/10 · 28 January 2004]

This film might have had a major influence on the original Star Trek series which followed, as a number of the story's elements would later be used in more than a dozen Star Trek episodes. The entire film had a Star Trek feel to it (sans Spock and The Enterprise). The manner in which a small group of space travelers walk around a claustrophobic set is a technique replicated numerous times on the original Star Trek series. It wasn't a given that Gene Rodenberry would depict alien planets in that same manner. Surprisingly, this is actually a very good little movie. While it may seem silly and amateurish set alongside "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Star Wars", for its time it was a nicely produced film.

Clearly Ahead of Its Time

[Uriah43 · 7/10 · 18 March 2013]

Filmed in 1962, this movie was clearly ahead of its time. Essentially, the United Nations is in control of the Earth and space exploration has gone all the way to Saturn. So, it's up to the spaceship "Explorer 12" to scout out Uranus. Five men undertake the journey and land in a lush forest--which isn't supposed to be there. Not only that, but several beautiful women are there as well. Realizing that their minds are being read, they come to the conclusion that there is an alien presence on this planet, and because of certain events, they become hostile to it. Now, even though I personally like science-fiction films of this era, I think it's only fair to state that this film is very campy, and the special effects are clearly not up to today's standards. Likewise, the acting was second-rate, and the dialogue left much to be desired as well. But if a person has a little imagination, I think they might enjoy it, all things considered.

Giant Pinwheel In Space

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 15 December 2010]

For some reason by 2001 humankind has skipped over the 7th planet for whatever and a UN expedition is now exploring Uranus. You can see immediately why Journey To The Seventh Planet was not entitled Journey To Uranus. Now that I've gotten that out my system.

The most distinguishing characteristic of Uranus is that instead of spinning on its axis in orbit around the it rolls instead. The five visible moons of Uranus look like a giant pinwheel in space.

Well better films than this have failed to predict the correct future, 2001 - A Space Odyssey immediately comes to mind. When the expedition gets to Uranus instead of the methane atmosphere, subzero freeze that are on Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune the other gas giants, they find an Elysian field like existence with some of the most curvaceous women you'll ever see on screen.

Of course this is all an illusion and what's driving it is a giant brain which can convert just about anything to anything and it reads the minds of the expedition. What a sex obsessed bunch this was, especially John Agar.

The giant brain is looking for transportation to earth with a population it can enslave. Will the men of the expedition figure it all out and stop the brain? That's what you watch the film for.

Journey To The Seventh Planet is one of those films you put your brain on hold and just enjoy. But if it were made today and you hope humankind would have a more diverse future expedition say for 2080, if you had gay people on the trip as astronauts what interesting fantasies the brain might pick up.

Poor Karl

[TheAngryRobot · 15 February 2004]

I enjoyed watching this movie, but why did Karl have to take all that punishment? I mean, my man was a rookie on a mission to where Earth's Astromen had never been before, and was expected to shoulder the responsibilities of say, Don, the co-pilot on this fantastic voyage, who, as it turns out, is smooth like butta with the ladies. And what's with the one guy who dreams of, not women, but delicious apples? If you do decide to watch it, make sure you stay tuned for the closing credits, for you will hear one of the sweetest space ballads of all time.

Entertaining if you can see past the bad acting and awful effects

[badcommand · 5/10 · 25 October 2008]

Somewhere buried in this movie is a good plot waiting to burst out. The idea that someone or something can reach in to your mind and create a (fake) reality for you predates the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the second landing scene (the fake town) in The Martian Chronicles by 6 and 18 years respectively.

There is far too much reliance on stock footage, the effects are pretty dreadful and the acting is wooden. But... if you like B-movie Sci-Fi and have a spare 90 minutes, this is still entertaining. Sure, I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the dreadful stop-motion, but the plot moves quickly and it hangs together well. How accurate it was that the men, despite knowing that the women were not real, still couldn't keep their hands (and their hormones) to themselves!

I'd find it hard to justify spending more than a few pounds/dollars on this movie because, ultimately, it isn't very good. However, the basic premise is solid, its intentions are good and the science isn't too wide of the mark.

If you like cult Sci-Fi, this is well worth seeing, just don't get your hopes too high.

Seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1965

[kevinolzak · 3/10 · 31 March 2019]

1961's "Journey to the Seventh Planet" marked the third collaboration between director Sidney W. Pink (a Pittsburgh native) and Ib Melchior (born in Copenhagen). Pink produced and directed in Denmark, where he believed they could achieve better special effects, which had already been disproved by the disastrous results on "Reptilicus" (which followed "The Angry Red Planet"), and this film suffered a similar fate with AIP's Samuel Z. Arkoff replacing the Danish monsters with animated creations done in Hollywood by Wah Chang and a young Jim Danforth. Set, I kid you not, in the year 2001, the earth has settled all human conflicts and ventures out into space to find more on the seventh planet, Uranus to be exact (pronounced 'your on us'). Our rather dimwitted quintet is not led by John Agar as Don (merely the navigator) but by commander Carl Ottosen, an undistinguished lot who don't bat an eye to find the planet's surface to be a dead ringer for the Danish countryside back home, despite the plants having no roots. The actors speak their lines phonetically in English yet are still obviously dubbed, leaving the intrigue up to the alien menace, in this case revealed even before they land on Uranus at the 12 minute mark (kudos at least for not keeping viewers waiting for a half hour or more), a giant brain holed up in a cavern able to duplicate each man's greatest fears or desires ("Forbidden Planet" this is not). The desires come easily, as a bevy of beauties pop up when you most expect them to, with the actual Greta Thyssen ('Terror is a Man') portraying herself for the edification of Agar's horndog delight (she was clearly put off by the actor's alcoholic breath, however). When the astronauts get too close we get a nicely done Chang dinosaur with one eye and rat-like face, which is killed exactly how one might guess (its cries taken from Toho's "Rodan"), another is represented simply by tinted footage of the titular arachnid in Bert I. Gordon's "Earth vs the Spider." The title song featured at the end carries nostalgic value (denied television audiences of the time), a step up from "Reptilcus" but another rung down from "The Angry Red Planet," after which the two filmmakers parted ways, Pink going on to the Spanish "Pyro," Melchior to "The Time Travelers" and Mario Bava's "Planet of the Vampires."

Are you tripping?

[lost-in-limbo · 4/10 · 6 October 2006]

A small group of astronauts land on Uranus, but to their amazement the iced filled planet is filled with sprawling woodlands and picture perfect weather that resembles where they're from, Denmark. Soon beautiful women are magically appearing and small town steads crop up, but it's just too good to be true. Then the men find out that all of this is a mirage created by an alien force that taps into their minds to create the illusions.

What a plain, unexciting and psychedelically goofy Danish b-grade Sci-fi clunker. Its kiddie stuff all round, despite the enthusiasm (drop off acting) and the intriguingly unusual concept. Think of "Solaris", but only bare bones. Nothing about it seems to gel and the execution is ponderously weak by Sidney Pink. The fractured story is laughable mumbo jumbo that doesn't slow down, but just doesn't get up too much. The astronauts' hunger for knowledge… uh, well what the alien created leaned more towards girls being on mind. Sure, there's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't do a lot when the same repetitive actions occur one after another. But despite that there are some imaginative (if somewhat droll) ideas amongst some very trippy visuals. It's purely a mind trip. It's too bad the performances are extremely wooden, as they could have camp this one up for a better affect. John Agar and Greta Thyssen were okay. The best of the lot would have to be the giant green brain (the ruler of Uranus) and its hilarious voice over. At least the corn that came from it raised a smirk, compared to the expressionless and quite stiff dialogues that spewed out of the mouths of the astronauts. The effects used; animation. Was quite tacky and bottom of the barrel stuff, but at least it was colourful and the cardboard sets are one-note.

An incredibly cheap space adventure foray that has a few moments and a smoothly laced title song, but despite an injection of good will, it's quite dour for most part.

A classic if ever there was one

[sarastro7 · 7/10 · 6 May 2005]

Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) clearly served as the inspiration for Star Trek: The Original Series, and independently displayed some of the same ideas that we find in Polish sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem's novel "Solaris" (1961), which has been the basis of not only two Solaris movies but also a slew of other rip-offs, incl. such films as The Sphere and Event Horizon, which all use the "monsters from the Id" gimmick.

Journey to the Seventh Planet did it first (although it can also be argued that the idea originated in Forbidden Planet from 1956), and for this, and its Star Trek-like qualities, its historical significance and influence are firmly cemented as nothing short of gargantuan.

As a movie, the ideas hold up but the acting and the dialog do not.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

If those are the sorts of women on the seventh planet, then somebody send me there!

[lee_eisenberg · 4/10 · 2 July 2005]

What is "Journey to the Seventh Planet"? Basically, a dubbed Danish sci-fi movie starring Shirley Temple's ex-husband. Simplistic, true, but it's nice brainless fun. The plot centers on a UN mission going to Uranus and finding a giant brain that manifests their thoughts. Of course, they're always thinking about hot women, so guess what they see! While this was obviously just intended as brain candy when they made it, in a way, it's taken on a new meaning. The movie happens in 2001, when all war has ended and multilateral ism reigns supreme. If only they had known of George W. Bush! Oh well. It's so weird how these movies take on new meanings, especially B sci-fi movies.

Oh, and I've always wondered: is there any polite way to pronounce Uranus?

Much Better Than Given Credit For

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 3 March 2012]

A United Nations space expedition to the planet Uranus discovers a bizarre world right out of their own heads...

John Agar stars, which already gives this film a lot of weight for the classic science fiction crowd. And beyond that, this is something of a prescient film. Sure, we can insult its special effects and poor costumes, but take it for what it is.

I enjoyed the idea that in the future, the United Nations will be the sole governing body. I thought that was a very optimistic (and realistic) view. It was somewhat less realistic that we would visit all the planets searching for life, but as this was filmed before we went to the Moon, I am not sure what we did or did not know about space exploration at this time.

I also enjoyed the concept of your thoughts being used against you. I felt like this was a direct precursor to "Ghost Busters" in that respect, with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man immediately coming to mind.

a horribly disappointing production

[funkyfry · 3/10 · 12 April 2008]

I never wanted to believe all the bad things that I heard about this movie -- I mean John Agar is the star, the spaceships and spacesuits look cool, the title is cool, etc. But Sidney Pink has got to be just one of the worst directors to ever try to foist a movie on the general public. There's absolutely no imagination in any of the set-ups, although the film's color is beautiful (the print I saw in the theater looked brand new, probably because nobody would order this movie except my friend Will Viharo) the film's look ultimately becomes just as dull as its story. As for the story, it's such a tired affair that I can barely remember it 2 days after seeing it. Basically it's a knock-off of "Forbidden Planet", which means it feels a lot like Star Trek in the early parts. Agar is the horniest member of a crew that flies to Uranus, as the title would have you believe. When they get to the planet, it looks just like the Pacific NW basin. Evergreen trees, etc. This cheapness is explained away by the fact that, like in "Forbidden Planet", a lot of the things that the crew are seeing seem to be created by some kind of omnipresent intelligence. The effect used for the "alien" is incredibly inept, basically it looks to me like they just shone a light through some lenses and thought that would qualify as a special effect.

Sid Pink has his fans but I'm not one of them. His movies are ugly and there is very little intelligence in them. This is the kind of bad movie that makes me realize how actually good people like Roger Corman and Ed Wood are. At least their movies had some imagination and were watchable. This movie was just a trick, I can't imagine audiences not being disappointed by the poor quality of the production. Poor John Agar really looks like a lost soul, surrounded by all these Scandinavian actors. Interestingly I didn't notice any dubbing issues, so I think Pink had the actors speak their lines in English despite the fact that this was obviously a European production. This isn't a movie that's aged poorly, it's a movie that would have deserved derision at the moment it hit theaters.

The only positive aspect of the production is a sequence that lasts about 1 minute with a really bizarre and well done stop motion animation. I wasn't surprised in the least to see it was Jim Danforth's work, it's really excellent. If the movie had a few more monsters like that, I would even tend to forgive its many faults. But as it is it seems like they just commissioned Danforth to do that one really brief sequence so they could put it in the promo trailers and make the movie look more expensive. One of the other monsters in the movie I recognized as the same monster from Bert Gordon's "Earth Vs. The Spider", cheezy scratchy sound effect and all (Gordon said in interviews that he didn't think monsters were scary unless they made noise, so even his snakes and spiders growl and roar). I mean, that monster was barely even viable in the first place in Gordon's movie. I guess they thought they could get away with this because VCR didn't exist yet so the movie might have faded from people's minds -- that doesn't excuse the extreme cheapness and lack of imagination that recycling footage that was bad in the first place entails.

If the movie didn't have a few amusing moments with Agar and the one really neat animation by Danforth, it would be a total waste of time. This movie actually makes me sad. It's a rip-off, and it's movies like this that gave "science fiction" a bad name with movie audiences. With so much fascinating sci-fi coming out in literary form in the 50s and 60s it boggles the mind that Pink couldn't come up with something better than this. Shame on him and shame on AIP for distributing it as a movie, I hope they stuck it on a double bill with something that was at least watchable.

"That brain thing sends out the radiation"...

[derekdawson-717-848885 · 8/10 · 5 July 2013]

Nothing shows up Sci Fi movies like the passage of time. Sure this movie has loads of clichés ... right down to the curly antennae on the space helmets but this movie could easily have been the pilot for Star Trek.

As I understand it this movie came out the year before Star Trek and judging from the colours in the movie it felt the need to compete with T.V versions of Lost in Space and Batman which competed on opposite TV networks boasting how many colours they showed!

Not for the Sci Fi purists this is a good old ripping yarn set in space. I love these old classics, how the characters accept totally bizarre situations as the "norm" and can make great leaps in figuring out "the science" of what's going on.

Believe it or not the gloves worn with the space suits... red glove with yellow wrist band were known as "Radiac" gloves and were carried on U.K Fire appliances in the 70's and 80's for dealing with radiation incidents.

Good steady paced nonsense and with some stop frame animation that is obviously inspired by the late great Ray Harryhausen superb.

No limits to the imagination.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 20 August 2008]

Sometimes overlooked Sci-Fi from director/writer Sidney W. Pink. Special effects at times a little weird. No so spectacular, but this Danish film is worth your time spent. It is the year 2001 and countries of the world have gotten past their fighting and the United Nations is the governing body. Technology has progressed to allow more intense searches for life on other planets. A United Nations space mission will set out to land on and explore the planet Uranus. The crew is led by Captain Don Graham(John Agar). Upon landing the explorers do not find the surface as frozen and barren as they expected; but a thick, lush forest with a breathable atmosphere. It is not long until the crew begin to realize what they are finding on Uranus is a strange journey into their own minds. Agar's supporting cast includes: Carl Ottosen, Louis Miehe-Renard, Peter Monch, Ann Smymer and Greta Thyssen.

"We Come In Peace! Shoot To Kill!"

[adamjohns-42575 · 3/10 · 28 October 2022]

Journey To The Seventh Planet (1962) -

Wow! This was bad. So bad that the vocal track didn't even sync with their mouths, although it may have been in Danish originally. And the special effects on 'Star Trek' (1966-9) and 'Lost In Space' (1965-8) actually looked amazing, compared to this. I mean it would be awful to drown in a pit of polystyrene 'bean bag' balls wouldn't it? I do think that films should come with warnings about real spiders being used as giant monsters though.

As for the set, I will never understand why they always end up in a backwards medieval style village? It was supposed to be his childhood home from about 1970 not 1570!

I loved the fact that they chose to send the crew to Uranus, but they were determined that no one would accidentally say "Your anus" so they changed the pronunciation entirely. Just go to Saturn instead?

They were also very hopeful in thinking that all war would be over by 2001, so it was a shame that the sexist attitudes hadn't evolved and it felt like they had to have a German on board to show that there was no hard feelings after WWII.

I would have liked the writers and producers of the time to have really thought about how humanity might have evolved, because the script was still very much using the language and attitudes of the 1960's and some that were almost archaic. There was a typical Irish man, a girl hungry guy and not one woman or person of colour among them. Thank God that Gene Roddenberry came along when he did.

The whole thing was actually very similar to the first ever 'Star Trek' episode 'The Cage' and later 'Star Trek: The Next Generation's' (1987-94) - 'Encounter At Farpoint' in the way that the planet adapted to fit their needs, but a more sinister plot lurked.

The end credits looked like a they were from 'Button Moon' (1980-8) and the theme song was a bit unnecessary, not to mention the wrong tone.

Honestly, it was really quite badly made and performed and the script and direction was just dead daft. They should have called it "Wh0re$ In Space" and I'm not talking about the siren like women that tried to ensnare them on that hilariously named planet. (Snigger - Your anus!)

267.08/1000.