SimonJack Aside from a considerable cast of well-known actors, this Walt Disney film has little to recommend it. "The Cat from Outer Space" moves at a turtle's pace and comes across quite flat. Normally, the Disney studios put out good fare for adults as well as children. But this film isn't likely to entertain either group today any more than it did when it was released in 1978. I couldn't find box office figures for it, but it wasn't in the list of the top 42 films for 1978. The lack of any industry hoopla about a movie after its release usually means it didn't fare too well. When movies are hits, we hear or read about their box office successes, etc. In science fiction, anything imaginable goes. It can be outlandishly silly, weird, strange, or unbelievable. No matter how far out, it can be entertaining if it is amusing, interesting, or otherwise able hold one's attention. But this film just doesn't make the grade. The idea for the plot is fine, and Disney assembled a tremendous cast of movie and TV personalities of the day who could make this a very funny film. But the script is terrible. Where are the clever and witty lines for McLean Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Roddy McDowell and the others?Then, there's the cat, Jake, who communicates with humans by thought waves. But, only when his magic collar is around his neck. Frank and the other humans hear him audibly, and talk to him audibly - not by thought waves. I think that creates an anomaly that turns off the audience, The people talking with a voice from nowhere while Jake sits looking like a cat is a disconnect. It struck me as something like a voice from off stage. Some reviewers don't like the fictional films in which animals seem to be talking by some movement of their mouths. But I think that's what helps hold most viewers. Look at the record of films and TV shows to date. The more recent live action animal movies that were huge successes had animals that appeared to talk. "Babe" of 1995, "Racing Stripes" of 2005 and "Charlotte's Web" of 2006 were all huge box office hits. And, way before "The Cat" in 1978, movies and TV series that had animals that appeared to be talking were big hits. In 1950, the movie, "Francis," launched a series of films about a talking mule. It was one of the top box office films for that year, and the succeeding six sequels were box office successes. In 1961, a hit TV series was launched with a talking horse. "Mr. Ed" ran for six years on CBS. These were family comedies. The humor was written for adults as well as children, and the kids loved the antics of the talking animals and their human co-stars. And, here's the real test - many people still find those shows funny well into the 21st century. Enough said about that. This film doesn't have the adult comedy, and very little comedy otherwise. The method used for the alien cat "talking" with people just doesn't work. So, the slowness of the plot soon wears thin and one loses interest. I stayed with it just to see if it might appeal to my grandkids. Children soon lose interest as well.

Byron Holmes I had originally written this review for my school's newspaper, so please excuse the quality.The Cat From Outer Space is a somewhat obscure Disney movie released in 1978 starring Ken Berry (Mayberry R.F.D.), Sandy Duncan, Roddy McDowell (Planet of the Apes), Ronnie Schell (Gomer Pyle) and McLean Stevenson (M*A*S*H).The plot revolves around a cat-like alien named Jake (voiced by Schell) who crash-lands on Earth and must recover his spacecraft from the government with the help of Frank (Berry) and Liz (Duncan), scientists working at the army base holding the UFO. Along the way, there's the typical love-plot between Frank and Liz, a bumbling spy trying to steal a spaceship and an incident in which the scientists must win a game of pool to buy enough gold to fuel Jake's ride home.Like most live-action Disney movies before and during this time, The Cat From Outer Space is relatively benign – after all, it is a Disney movie, but with all fairness, the idea is certainly unique; the characters aren't terrible (though certainly archetypal), and there's plenty of moments worth the raising of at least one eyebrow.Probably the best part of the movie is Jake himself, who, despite just being a cat who probably had no idea what he was doing, manages to be the best character in the movie; not being from this planet and all, he communicates with the cast with a specialized collar that grants him psychic powers, telepathy (which explains how he can talk to humans), and whenever the powers that be demand it, the ability to place people and animals in suspended animation for several minutes.Although a rather uncommon entry in the Disney canon, The Cat from Outer Space shouldn't be overlooked. If you're a fan of old live-action Disney movies, go ahead and pick it up wherever you can find it, be it in a physical or digital format.

spappalardo328 I love the Cat From Outer Space and did you realize that Jake the cat took Ken Berry's motorcycle over a fence 4 years before ET flew bikes over the forest. Mr. Spielberg, did you see this movie. I would like to see Disney remake this movie with Tim Allen in the Ken Berry role and a sphynx cat in the title roll or even a Devon Rex, they kind of look like ET. Ken Berry can have a cameo as the cat vet as did Alan Young in the original, but he can have an abyssinian as a pet whose name is Jake. The voice for the feline e.t. could be Zachary Ty Bryan, Tim's oldest son from Home Improvement and the voice from the mother ship could be that of Patricia Richardson.I love any movies featuring cats and I would love to see more made. I have fond memories of The Cat From Outer Space, I especially loved the collar idea and Ronnie Schell who provided the voice for him. Remember Ronnie Schell as Duke from Gomer Pyle, shazam! Ronnie was even in the movie but another actor dubbed his voice because he was the voice of Jake. There have been a good deal of feline actors in the movies, starting with a cat named Pepper during the silent era to the cat Neopoleon in the movie Mrs. Miniver, Rhubarb(Orangey)a cat who appeared in many films and even t.v. shows, the great Morris, Tonto, Tao, whom was also the original That Darn Cat, Sassy, and more that I can't think of now. Well, that's it for now.

Seiyatheleaper I've watched this movie when I was a kid and loved it, now I'm 25 and I watched it again yesterday and loved it even more! OK, so it might be simplistic and naive, but it's good old-style Disney. OK, so the cat who comes from a Galaxy far far away looks exactly like an Earth cat, and speaks perfect English. So what? You can't spend 1 hour in a 1 and a half hour film showing the cat and the human trying to "understand each other" and a "universal translator" would be just as stupid. So forget that, accept it, and enjoy the story! Some of the funny stuff probably works better for kids then for adults, but it still makes you smile. The cat talks, but no stupid and ugly 3D/puppet moving mouth, just good old fashioned training and snacks behind camera to make him "act" perfectly! And he does: a close-up on his face and his stare makes you BELIEVE that he is talking. There are some goofs and some mistakes, sometimes you see a puppet-cat (for stunts!)which is obviously a puppet, but it's still a very enjoyable movie for all ages! I just wish they made more of these films now!