Unidentified Flying Oddball

I was in the second grade when this came out. I remember seeing the commercials/trailers and hoping to see it as I was into Disney movies and and science fiction. It never happened.

Fast forward decades later and I finally see it on Disney+, I was not impressed.

Yeah, yeah, one could say I saw it through adult eyes and took the film too seriously, not even close.

It was not written very well. Again, I love SciFi and time travel stories are at the top of my faves, but this wasn't anything special.

Very good premise of a present day astronaut traveling back in time to King Arthur's court, but how they executed it left little to be desired.

I get it that it was supposed to be funny, but even comedies need good writing.

Even as a kid, I was able to pick up on well written work on TV and the big screen. I would not have been able to appreciate this movie if I saw it as the kid who always wanted to see it at the time.

This movie was a good idea that turned out lukewarm.

An engaging Dennis Dugan ("Happy Gilmore") plays Tom Trimble, a scientist accidentally launched into space along with the robot created in his own likeness (also played by Dugan). He breaks the time barrier, and is transported back to England in the time of King Arthur (Kenneth More, "A Night to Remember") and the villainous Sir Mordred (Jim Dale, "Pete's Dragon").

"Unidentified Flying Oddball" is *of course* no great shakes, but it delivers reasonable entertainment for a family audience. There are some mild laughs, and the action is full of slapstick, just like many other live-action Walt Disney movies of the period. The filmmakers do appear to be having *some* fun, placing this 20th century unlikely astronaut in a thoroughly antiquated setting, allowing for all the standard fish-out-of-water jokes.

What really helps keep this watchable is Dugans' sincerity, and the straight-faced efforts of a superb British supporting cast.

Disney had definitely done better live-action movies around this time, but I still say one can do a LOT worse if they want to have a family movie night.

Six out of 10.

UNIDENTIFIED FLYING ODDBALL is a '70s version of the classic Mark Twain story, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. The story has been updated to the space age, with a lone young astronaut and his android double breaking through a time barrier in space and finding themselves back in King Arthur's day, where they must battle evil and romance willing maidens and the like.

It's all very juvenile, of course, but then you expect little else from a Disney production. However, like a lot of Disney movies, UNIDENTIFIED FLYING ODDBALL is a colourful romp through medieval times and one that's filled with incident, so there's plenty to enjoy here, as long as you like your entertainment basic and your jokes rather obvious. I thought the main American star, Dennis Dugan, was poor indeed, but the supporting cast of British character actors makes up for him: Jim Dale, cast against type as the villain; Ron Moody as the delightfully sneaky Merlin; a near unrecognisably aged Kenneth Moore as Arthur; and the reliable Rodney Bewes and John Le Mesurier in comic support.

I remember first seeing this film when it first came out and again in the early 80's as a special film showing at the elementary school I attended. While I agree with the "Suprise it's crap after all" comment that this was not Disney's best movie, I disagree that it was not an entertaining film for a child as I was one when I saw this. First at age 9 and a few years later I still enjoyed it.

I did find it amusing that the title changed a few times and even recall part of the original trailer song. It went something like..."The Unidentified Flying Oddball, it's undeniably oddball, he's the wrongway astronaut that traveled back to Camelot, lasers flash...." I cannot recall the rest perhaps someone can help there. It was very hokey sounding but hey, this film wasn't meant to be serious, just good old fun. I recommend it as a rental.

This is one of those films that starts with a bad title and only gets worse.

If I recall, I saw this at my friend Kirk's tenth birthday party and it was the first time I used the word 'dreck' in a sentence.

'Unidentified Flying Oddball' has all the appearance of having been written and filmed over a long weekend. Edited in someone's basement one night over a keg of beer.

One thing sticks in my memory like an oak splinter: the way Spaceman Tom never called King Arthur 'your majesty' or 'sire,' but instead just plain ol' good ol' 'King.' As in 'hey, King, get yer hands offa my girl, see.' If you like that sort of talk, and your brain development arrested in grade three, then the team behind 'Unidentified Flying Oddball' wants you.

The science was excellent, however. I know now that if I ever need to defend myself from a deathly laser beam, I need only wear the shiniest armour I can find ('Say, King, gimme yer armor! Now don't get all persnickety on me, see? I'll give it back all nice and proper-like, and polished up with good ol' American spit shine').

Disney produced this matted ass-hair sandwich in the days before they became the media Godzilla they are now. Their stock was leaning into the toilet in those days and, hey, so will you after seeing this film.

Incoherent plot, humourless gags, crummy special effects, poor sets. It's not a good kid's film. Not a good film, even though based on a Mark Twain story. But I may change my tune. Perhaps someday I'll see this movie the way I presume it was meant to be seen. On crack.