Assignment: Outer Space

I only wanted to see this movie because it looked like charming 60's Sci-Fi and, most importantly, because it was the first film directed by Antonio Margheriti (A. Dawson) who would later become one of Italy's most reliable horror/western/crime filmmakers. "Assignment: Outer Space" is a pretty insignificant and poorly produced science-fiction romp, but it's entertaining and you can clearly detect the enthusiasm of both director and cast-members. The first half is boring and filled with clichés, but the second half and particularly the climax offers some amusing, albeit textbook space adventure. The recently (October 2005) deceased Rik Van Nutter plays a pulpy reporter on board of a routine space mission and falls in love with the only female crew member, who's actually sort of like involved with the captain of the mission already. This results in a somewhat hostile relationship between all the passengers, until they all have to get over their personal troubles and prevent an unmanned ship to crash down on earth. The sets and special effects couldn't look more amateurish, still I think this actually ADDS to the charm of these kind of movies. In case you don't like fake planets made out of carbon or astronauts on strings, this certainly isn't your movie.