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One could easily be led to believe that this was an SCTV parody of a 1950's sci-fi serial. From the overblown intro to the Googie production design to the inane mugging of Space Cadet Happy, everything has been taken to ludicrous extremes. My favorite is when Happy takes the controls and executes a barrel roll. The actors lean and then stand up slightly out of their seats as they so obviously pretend that it's their spaceship and not the camera which is rotating. Even the commercials for tie-in merchandise look like they've been lifted straight off the pages of an early Mad Magazine. And yet this is somehow more entertaining and more unintentionally ridiculous than any modern parody could ever be. There's lots of fun and rarely a dull moment as Commander Corry and Cadet Happy rocket from one life-threatening situation to another, outwitting a variety of nefarious villains along the way.

An ingenuous Mr. Universe contest winner finds himself becoming a professional wrestler with his huckster army buddy as manager. He wouldn't do it if he knew that professional wrestling wasn't a legitimate competition. Wrestling for real, however, he beats his opponents so quickly that his fans and devious but goofy promoter are left disappointed. Things get even more complicated when a slick gangster decides to take an interest in the fetching young man's career.

How can you pass up a film that, in the opening credits, lists as part of the cast such luminaries as Newton the Teuton, Gregorivitch the Magnificent, Delightful Dave, and The Hoboken Turk? As far as I can tell, however, none of them were real professional wrestlers and they are never given the chance to display the showmanship which makes professional wrestling such successful entertainment. That list in the opening credits and the closing scene are memorable highlights of an otherwise humdrum effort. But the predictable plot doesn't drag, and veterans Jack Carson, Bert Lahr, and Robert Alda do their best to make the movie at least a little bit fun to watch.

Buried somewhere underneath this disaster is an intelligent and well-written movie about two broken robots developing self-awareness and wandering off to form a family of sorts. The retro-futuristic styling, placement of vintage cars, and so-bad-they're-funny jokes of a Borscht Belt robot comedian all add to the good-natured appeal of a movie which doesn't take itself too seriously. There are, however, too many fatal flaws for this to work. Instead of having the actors act like robots, they're almost completely encased in a robot suit of armor which makes any actual acting impossible. Even some of the actors playing humans portray them in a robotic manner. Much of the movie consists of the robots wandering aimlessly through scenes that seem to have no thought put into them. As a final nail in the coffin, Andy Kaufman inexplicably chooses to use an annoying cartoon voice that falls somewhere between Leo Gorcey and Latka Gravas. The quirky nature of the film makes it worth watching as a curiosity piece, but only for film buffs willing to sit through just about anything.