User reviews

I really like this one myself but most will find it a little slow-moving. But this cool-looking New Age Sci-Fi is filled most importantly to me with lots of retro 1950s style spaceships and 1960s style futuristic landscapes. The story is a little bit confusing but the film is a fun watch if one likes to enjoy the stuff in the background..model work, colors and such.

This is one of the undisputed camp classics of science fiction, right up there with Queen of Outer Space. The future, it turns out, will look very much like a mid-sixties Paris catwalk! There are some stunningly beautiful women wearing amazing clothes and mile high bouffants in this 'science crime fiction' tale of illicit medical experiments carried out on a space station. The story is nothing to write home about, but who cares when there's so much eye candy on screen? The bad guys---you'll know who they are because they wear black leather overcoats and sunglasses---are just an added treat in this retro delight.

Maybe I was REALLY ready to be entertained, but I saw this for the first time early this morning, after a night spent dealing with bad heartburn and an "iffy" stomach. At first I was happy to find a good "background noise" to fall asleep to, but then I actually got into it. Between the spaceship and "future car" models that look like they came right out of a Quisp box, and the stilted "mod" English the translators came up with for the dubbed version, this thing is really funny. Best line: The commander and two other "good guys" are wrestling around what looks like a dorm room with 3 buxom, long-haired lovelies (who are all mysteriously wearing what look like black swim trunks under their long, groovy '70s dresses). The commander warns his men to "Watch out for those gadgets on their chests! Priceless.

Like Plan Nine From Outer Space (which is only slightly worse), Wild Wild Planet is an absolute must-see if only for the unintentional laughs and the I-Can't-Believe-This-Got-Released reaction. The "City of the Future" set is so obviously a model that it took me a while to realize they were trying to fool me into thinking it was a city. The star troopers patrol the city in a flying saucer dangling from a string. Instead of "nit-wit", the insult of choice is "helium head." And the scene that actually made me laugh out loud...when the star troopers get to the planet Doofus...er, Delphus, they are given a tour of the facility, which includes a "space conditioning" room. In it, there are these rotating "steam boxes" with men in them, only their heads are visible, and they slowly go around and around like some goofy little carnival ride. I split a gut! And then there's the Proteo Theatre, which features a gay production of Madame Butterfly or something, set to music by the Ventures...oh, yes, friends, this is a hoot. Grab some popcorn and a glass of Saurian Brandy, and drink a toast to the way we thought things were going to be now, back in the 60's.

Director Antonio Margheriti's Italian sci-fi / mystery would be the first chapter of the Gamma One quadtrilogy. I have already seen the second addition, which was rather dull.

A doctor practicing biomedicine under the protection of a private own employer uses his henchman / women to go about kidnapping perfect specimens of the human race for his experiments of engineering the ideal race. But his methods are inhumanely twisted, and Commander Mike Halstead of Gamma One goes out of his way to stop it when his Lt. is taken.

However "Wild, Wild Planet" is better paced (though still a little long winded), little more expansive in an economical sense and wrapped around an intriguingly hysterical, if vague (mad doctor theme) plot than its successor. It's crazier! Although it couldn't escape its risible dialogues and kitsch effects, by being bounded by it's low-rent, but richly etched set designs. It doesn't hold back on the vibrant colour schemes to mask its one-dimensional layout. There's an overuse of miniatures, break out the toys and dolls (you'll see when). Some (well the majority) are poorly conceived it becomes laughable, especially during some continuity shifts. The performances are decent for such a show-in. Tony Russel builds a presence and Massimo Serato elicits his devious character's obvious intentions. Lisa Gastoni is headstrong, but annoying. Franco Nero and Carlo Giustini do the job. Margheriti really does camp it up, but that's its charm and there's a rather bold moment or two that surprised me. The combat sequences though do feel like they're on a loop and you got to love there blow torches --- ah I mean lasers. The howling score is quite a psychedelic arrangement, but holding and ominous sting.

It isn't too bad entertainment.

An early example of Italian sci-fi, Wild,Wild Planet could have been a lot more fun had the story dealt with less abstract issues. What ultimately prevents one from enjoying this film full-on is Tony Russell in the lead who just can't elevate his primitive character saddled with lousy dialogue above the average 'good guy action hero' level. Some awful costume design and occasionally too-predictable sound design don't help things, either. Massimo Serato acquits himself well as a mad scientist, too bad his character is absent throughout the middle section the film. Very nice to see Umberto Raho in a supporting role, not to mention the rising star Franco Nero. There are lots and lots of obvious yet still amazing miniature shots some of which are integrated into the rest of the footage with commendable ingenuity. Margheriti saves the pyrotechnics display for the grand finale.

Watch Wild Wild Planet for the cinematography, sporadic and drawn-out fisticuffs and amusing futuristic designs. It's all a bit boring but worth a look for Margheriti enthusiasts.

My sister and I just caught this on AMC, of all channels, and laughed the entire way through it. I'm still not sure on the details of the plot, couldn't keep track of the characters because of the terrible characterization that focused very heavily on one trait and drove it into the ground (angry! drunk! hysterical!, et cetera), but it was extremely laughable. Definitely one for those of you who adore low-budget, nonsensical fare. The dialogue was extremely poor (this may have been a result of translation? The audio/visuals were unsynchronized throughout): there was a lot of emphasis at the wrong time, and there were some really out-there lines which came off as hilarious instead of meaningful or dramatic. Honestly, thinking about it, Wild, Wild Planet is probably no worse than any other sci-fi films/programs of its era, but if you're like me, you watch these kinds of films for a lark.

In a future world, people are disappearing. A deranged scientist has been creating clones and using his lab to do experiments on kidnapped victims.

After watching The War of the Planets, this obviously has many of the same sets, costumes, and miniatures from filmmaker Antonio Margheriti. It's two of his four Gamma One films. I like this story a little bit more although the filmmaking is stuck in B-movie mode. At least, they made some futuristic cars although switching from the real cars to miniatures is really hilarious. There is so much crazy sci-fi ideas at work. First, there are the Mr. Smith clone mutant vampire killers. It doesn't get much weirder and sillier than the miniaturized victims and the policeman's reaction to finding them. Back to back, these are fascinating looks into a minor filmmaker who is the Roger Corman of Italy.

I'm still not totally sure of the plot of this of Mad, Mad Planet, and the rather dicey conversion from Italian to English doesn't help much, but it's still a lot of fun. If you are a fan of Austin Powers then you really would enjoy the wonderful sense of design and fashion.

I'd love to hear what the stunt men that had a blow-torch fired point-blank at their chests were paid.

Comely but nefarious females from space (aided by bald henchmen wearing sunglasses and long leather jackets) are abducting humans and shrinking them down to doll-size in order to harvest their organs for a perfect race. Director Antonio Margheriti's first in a series of 1960s sci-fi mini-epics, filmed simultaneously and reusing many of the same actors, costumes, and groovy props. Distributed Stateside by M-G-M as "Wild, Wild Planet"--the opening credits adding "The" to its title--Margheriti's efforts ultimately prove humorless to science-fiction connoisseurs unimpressed with the toy-like miniatures and wooden, occasionally campy lines of dialogue. For others seeking a colorful, glittery blast from the past, the film proves to be an amazing little ride: at times intentionally funny, always good to look at, and cast with lots of sexy women and handsome, virile men. The plushness of the art direction and production belie any sense of financial strain, as the pop-art colors swirl about the screen (it's most certainly a visual treat). The plot isn't exactly involving, nor need it be. What we are offered here is a live-action, comic-strip vision of an orderly futuristic society beset with the usual villains and a mad scientist at the helm (a dead-ringer for Rex Harrison who, in the film's oddest touch, hopes to fuse himself together with a curvy female lieutenant!). Great fun, provided your brain is in check and your nostalgia radar is higher than your expectations. **1/2 from ****

Somehow the Medved brothers missed this little puppy when they were giving out the Golden Turkey Awards. Shame, because it lives down to the worst of the Ed Wood oeuvre. MGM released this movie as "The Wild, Wild Planet" here in the USA, instead of translating the original Italian title (literally "The Criminals of the Galaxy").

This little jewel opens with a neat diorama of a space base, complete with V-10 Nazi surplus rockets and CH-47 helicopter models traveling around on monorails instead of rotors, all shot in a dark enclosed studio - the sort of thing we know and love from Toho, Ltd.'s long line of monster films. It's a neat little set.

We see a fair attempt at portraying an orbital rendezvous between a space transport and a spare tire-like space station (no one explained to the producer that you slow a spacecraft down by firing the rocket engine in the direction you're heading to), then some outer space ballet in Halloween costume space suits.

The production values aren't so bad - the props are well done, the cinematography is rock-steady, but the acting and dialogue is wooden and amateurish. A lot of that could be due to dubbing for the English- language release of the film, but that doesn't explain the acting.

The costumes... well, they could have used off-the-rack clothing from designer stores in Italy in the 1960s for the science fiction-y uniforms (not unlike the Griswolds' shopping spree in "National Lampoon's European Vacation) and "futuristic" civilian clothes.

That doesn't account for the fact that the cops all wear foot-wide leather kidney belts over their chi-chi uniforms. Maybe space cops have to finish off every shift in the weight room in the future in Italy.

I'm not going to spoil the plot for you. That would be a shame.

Just know that there are prodigies of bad acting and lame dialogue galore in this film. For those of you who groove on le cine mal - more like "le cine puante" in this case - this is an hour and a half very well spent.

Name a failing of a spaghetti western or a Japanese monster flick and it's here. That's either a warning or an endorsement, depending on what you're in the mood for. That's what they make those lightweight beer cans for - chucking at your TV set when the real clankers appear.

Massimo Serato has revealed a hitherto unknown side here - he shows us he could have been the Italian Boris Karloff, while Tony Russel shows that other people can actually learn to act like William Shatner with a straight face if they try hard enough. None of the cast really distinguish themselves here.

Franco Nero, the only member of the cast who's known outside Italian cinema for good work, is wasted as a suck-up lieutenant to the dashing spaceship commander. His character winds up being called "Helium head!" a lot more than he deserves.

There are bits and pieces of a good movie here. The prop master really earned his money at times, but then there are the "space ships" with weak-ass butane lighters simulating rocket engines, the kit-bashed helicopter models serving as monorail cabs and the "future cars" with "beeg fins" and bubble canopies.

It's a fun thing - so bad that it parodies itself. Watch it if you really need some chuckles.

Lasers that act as flamethrowers and need to be reloaded. Models on strings repeated ad nauseam. Acting that's so wooden it's full of knots. Discontinuity instead of continuity.. So many jump cuts the movie literally jiggles. You never get a sense of place and if a wall needs changing or hiding they throw up a curtain. This is likely the worst sci fi movie ever made with a script to match, never mind the 60's sexist treatments of both men and women. "In here is my private hell" a cell containing all human failures apparently for 20 years of experimenting. Together? Which idiot scientist would do that? Apparently the ones in this deplorable movie. But it's fun to watch.

This Italian sci-fi movie was filmed at the same time as two other Italian sci-fi movies--the names are listed on IMDb. While this was done for economy sake, it also made the three movies seem very similar--in other words BAD! I don't know if I have a strong enough stomach to watch them all, but at least taking a quick look is worth your time if you are a bad movie fan.

Now as for the plot, I found it all very confusing and irrelevant. There was something about a mad scientist doing eugenics experiments on people as well as shrinking them. Yeah, whatever. Instead, what I loved was the crazy mid-1960s Italian sets, makeup and costumes. They were so over the top and silly and EXCESSIVE that the film was like what you'd expect if you combined Liberace's home with Star Wars! The blue eye shadow, the vinyl clothes, the silly "modern" cars, etc. were all so laughably bad--making the sets for BARBARELLA look tame and understated!!! The bottom line is that the story and dialog totally stink but the awfulness of the set designs make the whole silly thing worth a look. I particularly liked all the bald guys in sunglasses with four arms as well as at the end when the entire evil lair was destroyed by pink Kool-Aid! A truly bizarre and pointless film that pops out off the screen due to its garishness.

Psychedelia mixes with "future" technology in this groovy Italian sci-fi flick. The set-up by screenwriter Ivan Reiner: the all-powerful "The Corporations" are competing fiercely with the "United Democracies". But a nefarious executive / mad scientist with The Corporations, Mr. Nurmi (Massimo Serato), has a plan that involves abducting various people within the U.D., adults and children alike. It's up to a can-do rescue unit led by the efficient Commander Mike Halstead (Tony Russel) to save the day.

This was the first in a "Gamma One" series of spaghetti science fiction features, also including "War of the Planets", "War Between the Planets", "The Snow Devils", and "The Green Slime". Directed by Antonio Margheriti, this colorful fluff is vividly designed and just full of eye candy - of both the scenic and the female human variety. It's not for all tastes, though. There will be viewers who will likely find it to be too slow and too dependent on talk rather than action. But that doesn't mean that the movie is devoid of amusements. There's a gut busting fight sequence at right about the half way point, and there are also elements such as sunglasses and trenchcoat wearing bald robot henchmen, hand held weapons that are supposedly lasers but act more like miniature flamethrowers, and a major deluge of Kool-Aid at the end. The costumes and sets are simply out of sight, and the music by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino is a joy.

The acting is acceptable for this kind of entertainment. Russel is a decent, amiable hero, and Lisa Gastoni is similarly appealing as his love interest. Serato is a fine villain in the classic tradition of mad scientists. And it's a special treat to see a very young and studly Franco Nero among the supporting cast.

It's best to go in blind, as this viewer did, so one can have a better sense of "What the Hell is going on?" while watching. The big twist leads to some pretty amusing visual gags. (It's nice to see that this movie does have a sense of humor about itself.) The special effects are primitive (such as model spaceships that seem to only go in circles), but this merely adds to the charm.

Worthy viewing if one loves schlock.

Seven out of 10.

Scientist Massino Serrati iss kidnapping folks on earth and turning them into superbeings for an unstoppable army. When he kidnaps space pilot Tony Russell's girlfriend Lis Gastoni, that's when Russell goes into action.

Serrati is a nice combination of Dr. Frankenstein and Snidely Whiplash. He's a mad scientist and mad scientists do mad experiments.

This one with its chintzy special effects and laughable dialog is as bad as it gets.. Pass it by.

So, it is 1:00 am and I am up watching "The Wild, Wild Planet"(1965) - Off the hook, certified wacky goodness! If you like movies like "The Green Slime", this is a must see! Almost beyond description, but here goes... A deranged scientist is using his employer's top-secret bio-laboratory to engage in clandestine eugenics experiments. When he starts kidnapping leading citizens for use in his twisted tests, it's up to rogue cop Mike Halstead to come to the rescue of all and sundry, including his lady friend Connie, who is also being held captive by the madman. This entry is part of the Gamma I Quadrilogy space adventures (Yes, there are 4 of these!), directed by Antonio Marghereti (aka Anthony Dawson). Also starring a very young Franco Nero! This was a staple on WPIX channel 11 when I was a kid and some of my "Older" Facebook friends may remember watching it with me back then! What can I say, dumb, 60's mod sci-fi fun all the way. Sexy babes, cheesy effects, 4 armed assassins, 60's style martial arts, shrinking people to the size of dolls, turning people into half men/half women (Just like Denny's on a Saturday night in Hollywood!). God help me, I love this sh*t! Just go find it and watch it!

I saw this when I was 14, at the theater in 1967. Back then, it wasn't bad. Now? Not so much. I compare it to the B movies that came out in the 1950s. They weren't bad when they were released but I guess tastes change when you get older. I would compare this one to the Green Slime, which came out in 1968 I believe. Robert Horton is a good actor but that movie did nothing for his career. But Italian movies can be unpredictable. Clint Eastwood and Sophia Loren as examples of actors and actresses becoming famous due to their association with Italian films. I do have Wild, Wild Planet in my old movie collection, along with Attack of the 50ft Woman, Tarantula, X the Unknown, and Brain from the Planet Arous for nostalgia purposes.