Mission Stardust

Mission Stardust
Directed by Primo Zeglio
Produced by Ernst R. von Theumer[1]
Screenplay by
Story by Karl Heinz Vogelmann[2]
Starring
Music by Anton G. Abril[2]
Cinematography
  • Riccardo Pallottini
  • Manuel Merino[2]
Edited by Renato Cinquini[2]
Production
companies
  • P.E.A. Cinematografica
  • Tefi-Filmproduktion Ernst Ritter von Theumer
  • Attor-Film S.A.[1]
Release date
  • August 1967 (1967-08) (Rome)
  • October 1967 (1967-10) (West Germany)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country
  • Italy
  • West Germany
  • Spain[1]

Mission Stardust (Italian: ...4...3...2...1...Morte) is a 1967 science fiction film based on the early novels of the popular German Perry Rhodan series by K.H. Scheer and Walter Ernsting.[3]

Plot

A four-man mission to the Moon, the rocket "Stardust", is led by Major Perry Rhodan. The mission is intended to find a source of radioactive material more powerful then uranium.

On the Moon, they find a stranded ship of the Arkonides, were Commander Thora is trying to save scientist Crest, along with a crew of robots. The earthmen find that Crest is suffering from leukemia, and there is a cure on Earth. Perry and others will take an Arkonide shuttlecraft to retrieve a doctor who has the cure.

However, one of the earth crewman is supplying information to a crime lord who is after the radioactive material, and sees this as a chance for even greater power. He replaces the doctor and his nurses with his own people, and after they are taken to the Arkonide ship, are able to kidnap Thora in a bid to gain the Arkonide technology.

Instead, Crest outfits Rhodan and Bull with Arkonide technology and they rescue Thora as well as the real doctor, who is able to help Crest. They soon leave the moon in the Stardust, with the promise of bring back materials the Arkonides need to repair their spaceship.

Cast

Release

Mission Stardust opened in Rome in August 1967 under the title 4... 3... 2... 1... morte with a running time of 95 minutes. [5] It was later released in West Germany in October 1967 under the title Perry Rhodan--SOS aus dem Weltall with a 79-minute running time.[5] It was later released in Spain as Órbita mortal with a 92-minute running time.[5] It opened in Los Angeles in October 1968.[5]

Reception

In a contemporary review, Variety noted the dubbing in the film, stating that it was "only fair" and that the special effects were "crude, the color uneven, but the very audaciousness of the admixture keeps the attention."[2] The review also praised the rock music film score by Anton G. Abril.[2]

From retrospective reviews, Gary Westfahl in his book The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969 noted that the film contained "shoddy special effects" and recalled "Saturday afternoon serials more than science fiction films of the 1960s".[3] Westfahl referred to the film as "one of the era's most reviled genre films."[3]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 "Perry Rhodan - SOS aus dem Weltall". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Willis 1985, p. 247: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"
  3. 1 2 3 Westfahl 2012, p. 258.
  4. ↑ Elley, Derek (1977). Cowie, Peter, ed. World Filmography: 1967. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 322. ISBN 9780498015656.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Mission Stardust". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2016.

Sources

  • Westfahl, Gary (2012). The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969. McFarland. ISBN 0786489995.
  • Willis, Donald, ed. (1985). Variety's Complete Science Fiction Reviews. Garland Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0-8240-6263-7.
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