Journey to the Seventh Planet [Blu-ray]

Director: Sidney Pink Sidney Pink

Overview

This passable low-budget science fiction oddity stars John Agar as the leader of a scientific mission to Uranus (not mentioned in the movie's title in order to avoid the inevitable chuckles), where the crew fall under the control of a powerful psychic force apparently emanating from the planet itself. The entity in question is able to tap into the astronauts' minds, giving physical form to both their greatest desires and most terrifying nightmares. This intelligent sci-fi premise is nearly identical to Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 art-house epic Solaris, which took three hours to tell nearly the same story. As if that weren't enough d?j? vu, the story is set in the year 2001, calling to mind a certain space odyssey which changed the face of science fiction cinema a mere seven years later. Though a far less significant entry in the annals of movie history, Journey to the Seventh Planet is at least uncluttered by the intellectual posturing which predominates the latter two films.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/05/2016
UPC:	0738329202064
Original Release:	1962
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:17:00

Special Features

Audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas; Trailer gallery

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Agar	Capt. Don Graham
Greta Thyssen	Greta
Mimi Heinrich	Ursula
Ann Smyrner	Ingrid
Carl Ottosen	Eric
Ove Sprogoe	Barry
Louis Miehe Renard	Svend
Peter Monch	Karl
Annie Birgit Garde	Ellen
Ulla Moritz	Lise
Bente Juel	Colleen
Ib Glindemann	Composer

Technical Credits

Sidney Pink

Ib Melchior

Sidney Pink	Producer,Director,Screenwriter
Brent Film Barfod	Special Effects
Ib Melchior	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Journey to the Seventh Planet is a cheesy, terribly bad slice of low-budget science fiction -- which on one level is cause for celebrating. Yes, Planet is one of those bad films that's quite a lot of fun to laugh at. It's also rather endearing; despite the fact that they have stolen liberally from much better science fiction masters in creating their script, director/screenwriter Sidney Pink and co-scripter Ib Melchior approach their material with an air of commitment and naivete that makes the proceedings difficult to resist. Make no mistake about it: the writing is absolutely terrible, with dialogue that a third grader would be ashamed to place his name to and characterizations that put a capital "s" in "Stereotype." But it's so poor that one can't help feel like patting the writers on the back and saying, "There, there, you gave it a good go, didn't you?" Pink's direction is rather on the languid side, perhaps because the mostly-foreign cast seems to have been told to speak very slowly. Dubbing is subpar (and all the more entertaining) and the acting -- including that of "B" sci-fi legend John Agar -- is pretty awful. As for the special effects -- well, what can one do on $1.98? To be fair, there are one or two moments, such as an apple rotting, that are well done. But these are more than made up for by the horrible monster and footage from other films which is quite obviously patched in. Despite its pacing, Planet is still a hoot.