Assignment: Outer Space (1960)

Director: Antonio Margheriti

Starring: Rick Van Nutter, Gabriella Farinon, David Montresor, Archie Savage, Alain Dijon, Franco Fantasia, Joe Pollini

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Fear awaits ...... in the murky mists of outer space!

Plot: In the 21st century Ray Peterson, reporter for the Interplanetary News, is assigned to write a story aboard a space station. Tension mounts between Peterson and the station commander, who believes he is in the way, but has orders to leave him alone. Errant spaceship Alpha Two enters the solar system and its photon generators are radiating enough heat to destroy Earth as it approaches. It falls to Peterson to try to figure out a way to enter the spaceship, disarm the generators, and escape before suffocating.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? Nooooooo.

#27 on SCI-FI TRAILERS VOLUME 9 & 10 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

This about put me to sleep. It's a cheap Italian space opera with special effects on a budget but that's not what hurts the film. I can forgive a lot of things, and this has a decent story, but it's strange that there are very few likable characters. Most of them are kind of mean to one another. Then there's the seriousness of it all. Everyone needs to lighten up a little. The actors are taking this way to serious. The speeches (and there are lots of them) are given like the people who hand out awards are on the set. If that's not enough, it's just boring. This is in one of those 50 movie sets (sci-fi classics). It's worth having but gee whiz. Woof.