The Phantom Planet (1961). Directed by William Marshall. Starring Dean Fredericks, Colleen Gray, Francis X. Bushman, Anthony Dexter and Delores Faith.
Forget that convoluted Episode One mess, The Phantom Planet is the true king of cheese, and yet it's not without its charms.
Our story begins in the spirit of true drive-in classic form with a narrative telling the viewer that it is the far flung future of the 1980's. In this fantastic world of "tomorrow" space exploration has grown in leaps and bounds since the splitting of the atom only a few short decades ago.
As part of man's exploration into the great unknown the spaceship Pegasus III is seen patrolling the night skies on it's way to... well it's actually just seen flying for no apparent reason other than to experience some sort of impending doom. The ship involuntarily goes off course and is pulled into the gravitational field of the titled Phantom Planet where an off screen explosion suggests it got blowed up real good.
The news soon reaches Lunar Base where Col. Lansfield and Capt. Leonard woodenly discuss the incident that make them look like they're reading bus schedules instead of acting. When communications reach Earth it is ordered that Astronaut Frank Chapman (Dan Fredericks) is the only man for the job. Lansfield objects saying that he needs Chapman for the Mars project but he is overruled and Capt. Chapman in the Pegasus IV is sent out to investigate the missing spaceship as well as the cause of destruction.
As our hero races towards the stars he is accompanied by his co-pilot Lt. Ray Makonnen and together they fight crime... oh no... they patrol the last whereabouts of the Pegasus III.
Going against conventional wisdom, Chapman decides not to follow the same flight path of the missing craft on the grounds that if a mysterious planet is floating around it will most likely NOT follow the same course in order to remain mysterious. Sherlock Holmes would have loved this script.
Chapman and Makonnen spend several hours on patrol the ship encounters a stray shower of meteorites and tries to dodge them only to face damage afterwards that affects the ships power systems. Reluctantly the two astronauts go EVA to repair the ship armed with only an adjustable wrench. Ah, the good old days when spaceships were easy to repair.
Trouble occurs as the crew encounter micro-meteorites on their intended space walk and one manages to pierce Chapman's suit. Fortunately Makonnen manages to rescue him but also suffers a puncture in his suit and is not able to get back to the ship. He dies floating in space reciting the Lord's prayer.
Chapman awakes inside the cabin alone, but has no time to grieve, as on the phantom planet appears. With no power, the spaceship is caught in a tractor beam and pulled downwards to the planet/asteroid below.
Chapman dons his space suit and exits the ship. but looks like he's having troubles staying conscious. As he passes out, we see a group of six-inch tall men approach him.
The men try to figure out who this strange giant is when one of the braver ones taps his fists against the visor of his helmet causing it to accidentally open.
The escaping air from the pressure suit causes Capt. Chapman to shrink down to the size of an action figure and soon one of the alien men tries to retrieve him, now that he's more manageable. An altercation ensues and the good capt. is captured and put on trial for assault.
The jury is comprised up of six young women, dressed in scanty fashion for the time providing the obligatory fan service for angsty teens, and horny old dudes (A jury of peers?).
The jurors find him guilty and sentence him to exile on their planet. He is told he won't be harmed but he will never be able to leave and must accept the responsibilities of being a citizen of the self-contained planet "Rheton" as its denizens refer to it.
Chapman meets Sessom (Francis X. Bushman), the leader of Rheton and he claims that they value their secrecy and they must keep him here so others will not find out of their world.
Here he also meets Herron (Anthony Dexter) who plays the typical role of the sole mistrustful guy whose only looking to make trouble with the hero. The main reason Herron is so miffed is that that Sessom's daughter, Liara has taken to the man from Earth and if this happens he will be the next leader of the planet.
While being escorted to his quarters by Sessom's daughter, Chapman asks Liara about the size difference between their two races. She explains that "Our atmosphere, together with some acceleration from our gravitational control has shrunk you..." Further, she says that if he ever did return to Earth, "The oxygen in your atmosphere would immediately return you to your normal size."
Okaaaaayyy... hey it's sixties sci-fi what were you expecting, plausibility?
To complicate matters the planet Rheton is also at war with a race called the Solarites, (Played completely by standard alien suit actor Richard Kiel) a sad puppy dog like race that is after the Phantom planet's anti gravity control that enables them to maneuver about in space.
What separates The Phantom Planet from other fare of it's day is that it actually uses some half decent production values for it's time. Considering that this is a B-movie, the spaceship and suit designs are quite well done. even the effects such as the giant empty space suit against a miniature cast are quite convincing and the story can be surprisingly entertaining.
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| The opening title: in menacing fluffy cloud font. |
Forget that convoluted Episode One mess, The Phantom Planet is the true king of cheese, and yet it's not without its charms.
Our story begins in the spirit of true drive-in classic form with a narrative telling the viewer that it is the far flung future of the 1980's. In this fantastic world of "tomorrow" space exploration has grown in leaps and bounds since the splitting of the atom only a few short decades ago.
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| Let me drive Zoltan, I know a shortcut to Venus. |
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| The ultra amazing Lunar Base one... some assembly required. |
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| Frank Chapman; Astronaut, a man who can barely act. |
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| Wheeee!!!! |
Going against conventional wisdom, Chapman decides not to follow the same flight path of the missing craft on the grounds that if a mysterious planet is floating around it will most likely NOT follow the same course in order to remain mysterious. Sherlock Holmes would have loved this script.
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| Who needs umbilicals? Those are for pussies. |
Trouble occurs as the crew encounter micro-meteorites on their intended space walk and one manages to pierce Chapman's suit. Fortunately Makonnen manages to rescue him but also suffers a puncture in his suit and is not able to get back to the ship. He dies floating in space reciting the Lord's prayer.
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| Yummy!!! Extra crispy chicken breast. |
Chapman dons his space suit and exits the ship. but looks like he's having troubles staying conscious. As he passes out, we see a group of six-inch tall men approach him.
 |
| Alien air!!! What a rush!!! |
The escaping air from the pressure suit causes Capt. Chapman to shrink down to the size of an action figure and soon one of the alien men tries to retrieve him, now that he's more manageable. An altercation ensues and the good capt. is captured and put on trial for assault.
 |
| Trial by cocktail waitresses? |
The jurors find him guilty and sentence him to exile on their planet. He is told he won't be harmed but he will never be able to leave and must accept the responsibilities of being a citizen of the self-contained planet "Rheton" as its denizens refer to it.
Chapman meets Sessom (Francis X. Bushman), the leader of Rheton and he claims that they value their secrecy and they must keep him here so others will not find out of their world.
 |
| Anthony Dexter as Herron, "Ugh me no like stranger". |
While being escorted to his quarters by Sessom's daughter, Chapman asks Liara about the size difference between their two races. She explains that "Our atmosphere, together with some acceleration from our gravitational control has shrunk you..." Further, she says that if he ever did return to Earth, "The oxygen in your atmosphere would immediately return you to your normal size."
Okaaaaayyy... hey it's sixties sci-fi what were you expecting, plausibility?
 |
| Here puppy, puppy, puppy... |
What separates The Phantom Planet from other fare of it's day is that it actually uses some half decent production values for it's time. Considering that this is a B-movie, the spaceship and suit designs are quite well done. even the effects such as the giant empty space suit against a miniature cast are quite convincing and the story can be surprisingly entertaining.
So if George Lucas can say that moving from 2D to 3D is like the difference between watching a film in black and white and watching a film in colour, just imagine what's next. 3D black and white, OH BOY!!! Anyway to conclude The Phantom Planet, Yeah I likes it.
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| Put on your 3-D glasses now!!! |
