davidcarniglia
The best thing about Phantom Planet is its title. But it's not terrible; there's an earnestness about the tone that makes you want to see what happens, given about a ten-year-old's sense of adventure.The plot's pretty good too: once stuff gets in gear on Rheton, we've got a primitive/advanced civilization living underground with new-age doodads poking out of the rocks, a formal duel over the coolest girl, a Snauffaluffagus monster, and invading flaming marshmallows. The cunning strategy that the Captain and his rival go in on makes sense and provides a convenient resolution for the story.I can't figure out how the monster gets loose if he's supposedly walled off with a force field. Thankfully he's dumb enough to stand on the anti-gravity thingie before he makes off with the dark-haired chick.What hurts Phantom Planet is the long lead-up to the landing on Rheton. I agree with the reviewer who sees the poignancy in the astronaut praying as he realizes that he's doomed to drift in space. But what's an astronaut doing trying to fix a spacecraft with a crescent wrench? Not to mention the fact that there's a bit of an atmospheric issue when he wrenches the inspection plate off, obviously ruining the oxygen inside the ship. Phantom Planet is worth a look for a decent story, and for special effects, some fairly cool and some just dorky. But ten stars for some pithy comments from other reviewers: especially zardoz-13's description of Rheton as "crispy chunks of fried chicken," and dougdoepke likening the spacecraft to "a candied dart." Those are some slick sci-fi fans right there.
soulexpress
Captain Frank Chapman (Dean Fredericks) is on a mission to look for two vanished spaceships. He encounters a mysterious planet named Rheton, which can freely travel through space. (As the MST3K gang noted, it also looks like a piece of extra crispy KFC.) Chapman's ship is drawn to the planet, whose people are about six inches tall. As soon he breathes the air, Chapman shrinks down to the Rhetons' height. (Atmosphere controls your size. Don't question it!) While on Rheton, he helps defeat their enemies, the Solarites (who resemble a dollar- store version of the "Star Wars" Tusken Raiders).THE PHANTOM PLANET strikes me as made by people who weren't just looking to turn a quick profit. I'm thinking the filmmakers wanted to tell a story that was not mere formula. Alas, the end result fell short of that laudable goal. While the premise is intriguing, it was severely underused; the characters don't even qualify as one-dimensional; to call the acting "wooden" is an insult to trees; the visual effects are as half-baked as any I've seen in this type of film; the costumes are uninspired to the point of seeming like an afterthought; the Solarite costume (worn by a young Richard Kiel) is just pathetic; and the errors in physics are too numerous to count.Item: When Chapman first appears on screen, he looks at his wrist as if checking the time; but he's not wearing a watch.Item: When the astronauts exit their spaceship to make a repair, they are untethered and walking freely on the ship's wing—a neat trick in zero gravity!Item: As Chapman's ship is pulled toward the asteroid, he is sitting in the left-hand seat; but once the ship has landed, he's in the right-hand seat.Item: The Rhetons are able to translate all languages with voice- tone waves. (Sure they are!)Item: A mute woman suddenly becomes vocal when she gets the crap scared out of her. Speech therapists, take note.
topeka
Classic black and white B movie silliness. Pay attention to the "monster" - the Solorite prisoner. That's Richard Kiel, better known as Jaws, and star of many wonderful films.The film begins with an annoying narration. In the first 'action' scene, we are introduced to two characters by literally introducing them. It's on par with that short story we wrote in third grade. Then those two guys get blown out of the sky by an asteroid. After that, the rest of the film is a dramatic improvement. It appears to have been filmed in one small studio with a minimum of sets, and virtually no special effects. Only a kid at heart who loves theater and science fiction would appreciate this small 'gem.' One has to think of it more as civic theater than as a movie production. Phantom Planet took its inspiration from early 20th century pulp fiction and a lot of 'Tarzan' but it managed to fail utterly.
Cristiana Nicolae
I must admit that I did not watched an old Sci-Fi movie since long time, so, maybe I'm not what they call an expert in classical movies. I am the child of my times, so I'm used with the new wave of Sci-Fi movies, full of action and special effects.Still I enjoyed this classic film and I think is worth viewing. You can find a bit of everything in this movie.The dream of nuclear power as fuel for rockets. Some kind of Gulliver among the people of Liliput. The highly advanced civilization who gives up to the comfort of technology (and all the dangers that comes with it) to live a simple "primitive" life. A touch of Ancient Greek fashion style in the dress models of the main feminine characters. An echo of Feminism: female juries wearing short dresses. And at the end, the somehow blurred line between what is real and what is not.The "special effects" and the general style reminds me of Star Trek TOS. And just like in Star Trek, the monster aliens look unconvincing. But we should admit that the creators of this movie did their best for that time. I could point out some goofs, but I think we should show some understanding and just enjoy this classic!
AD
