The Bamboo Saucer

First, let me reassure you that the saucer in this film is not a cheap, Chinese imitation of a flying saucer. That being said, the special effects are pretty bargain-basement, but the science behind it is really not too bad.

Electro-Magnetism is probably how these objects work; at least in part. The acting is not half-bad, even Boris Bendenoff and Natasha are OK. There are no A actors in this film, but who needs them if you have a good story? And this one is a bit far-fetched, but watchable. Have fun for an hour or so, and watch it on a Saturday morning or late Saturday night.

An original Sci-Fi! Frank Telford, the director, who signs the script together with others, did a good job, the movie is well done, the subject is interesting, the acting is convincing. True, the special effects are not great, the saucer looks like a caricature, it is clear that the production did not benefit from a budget comparable to that of Kubrick for "2001: A Space Odyssey", made in the same year 1968.

The budget for this movie was never going to allow it to get beyond the B level, barely at that. The cast and crew seems to have decided that despite the limitations, they were going to make an honest effort in a bad situation. They succeed in creating a movie that manages to be worth watching as a curiosity. Notable successes are some decent scientific references, the authentic Russian language, proper weapons for the Russians and Chinese and acting that is better than expected. There were some good people at work here. Inevitably, some contemporary clichés slip in (e.g. seemingly canned feminine screams, California scenery you have seen many times before) that date the film in a way that pulls it back into its B level pedigree. If you are a genuine movie buff, you'll probably like this but it is limited.

Great Movie. I love it.

Last 15min shows you what special FX were like in late 60s and they did a good job without CGI.

The space scenes are awesome -they have a special feel to them- but watch the blu-ray if you can do it.

Sadly, The final performance of Dan Duryea.

This movie to the best of my knowledge was NOT widely distributed on television in any markets I am aware of.

Many people on social media have also commented along these lines as well.

Russia, China, and UFO's are the main topic of this movie.

You don't see that in too many sci-fi movies of the era & releasing the movie during the tumultuous times of the late 1960s probably didn't help market possibilities.

This aside- It is definitely an entertaining movie with great 1960s talent like Dan Duryea, Lois Nettleton, Vincent Beck, Bernard Fox, and others.

Again, cool movie and fun to watch.

Here's a fairly obscure genre effort that deserves some credit for doing things a little differently. It's at least good enough to deserve to be better known. All in all, despite their limited budget, the makers of this B flick obviously strove to make this as good as it could be.

An honest-to-God UFO ends up landing in a remote area of Red China. An American mission is launched to find this craft, and attempt to exploit its technology. Then the Americans discover a concurrent Russian mission is under way, and the two sides try to set aside their differences and work together, under the noses of the Red Chinese troops nearby.

For a while, this has less to do with sci-fi and more to do with political / international intrigue, and has rather a slow pace. Dramatic tension is derived from the tensions between the two groups. But screenwriter / director Frank Telford, a TV veteran, directs well, and gets solid performances out of a cast that is better than usual for this sort of thing: Dan Duryea ("Scarlet Street"), in his final feature film, the lovely Lois Nettleton ("The Good Guys and the Bad Guys"), Bob Hastings ('McHale's Navy'), Bernard Fox ('Bewitched'), James Hong ("Everything Everywhere All at Once"), Nan Leslie ("Sunset Pass"), Andy Romano ("Over the Edge"), etc. Nettleton steals the film with her tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a Russian agent. Rico Cattani ("Point Blank") is also amusing as the Russian team leader designed to come off as untrustworthy as possible. Even John Ericson ("Bad Day at Black Rock") isn't as stiff as he's been in other movies.

Overall, this works as an interesting curio, very much of its time. While I wouldn't recommend that people go out of their way to find it, I'd also say that there are much worse movies out there with which to spend ones' time.

Seven out of 10.