Wild, Wild Planet
Wild, Wild Planet (Italian: I Criminali della Galassia, lit. 'Criminals of the Galaxy') is a 1966 Italian science fiction film directed by Antonio Margheriti (aka Anthony Dawson) and written by Renato Moretti and Ivan Reiner. Tony Russel stars as Commander Mike Halstead.[2][1]
| Wild, Wild Planet | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Antonio Margheriti |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino[1] |
| Cinematography | Riccardo Pallottini[1] |
| Edited by | Otello Colangeli[1] |
Production company | Mercury Film International[1] |
| Distributed by | Titanus |
Release date |
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| Country | Italy[2] |
Plot
In 2015, Mike Halstead, commander of space station Gamma One, finds many of the experiments being conducted to be suspicious. Further, the lead scientist, Dr. Nurmi, invited Halstead's girlfriend to a vacation in a secret place. Nurmi is employing a group of identical bald men in trench coats with four arms accompanied by beautiful women.
Nurmi is engaged in a series of secret bio-engineering experiments of human miniaturization. He starts kidnapping important world leaders from the United Democracies for use in his eugenics program to create perfect, immortal humans. Halstead then has to rescue his girlfriend Lt. Connie, who has become Nurmi's captive and subject for his ultimate experiment.[3]
Release
Wild, Wild Planet was released in Italy in 1966 where it was distributed by Titanus.[2][1] It opened in New York on August 9, 1967.[2] Released on DVD in 2010.[4] as part of the Warner Brothers Archive Collection
Production
The movie is an unofficial sequel to War of the Planets, although it was released before that movie. The film is the first of four "Gamma One" science fiction films. The films were originally contracted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to be made for TV movies but were released theatrically instead in some countries.[5] [6] The other movies in the series are I Diafanoidi Vengono la Morte (1966; vt War of the Planets), Il Pianeta Errante (1966; vt War Between the Planets), and La Morte Viene Dal Pianeta Aytin (1967; vt The Snow Devils). The movie's title was supposedly changed for American release in hopes of cashing in on the popular at that time TV show Wild, Wild West
Reception
The movie was given one out of 5 stars by Creature Feature. While the premise of the film was considered interesting, the movie was found to be dull.[7] Featured on the YouTube channel Brandon's Movie Reviews, which found it to be padded and lackluster, but stated that fans of campy sci fi should find something to enjoy. [8] Moria found the movie to be colorfully bizarre and entertainingly schlocky B-movie, although the effects are primitive. However, it found the direction of the movie to allow it to become dull and pedestrian.[9] The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction found the premise and set up to be interesting, but that the movie fails to live up to this promise.
References
- "I criminali della Galassia (1965)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- "The Wild, Wild Planet". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/criminali_della_galassia_i
- https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Planet-Tony-Russell/dp/B0049IHWT6/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=wild+wild+planet&qid=1591043426&s=movies-tv&sr=1-2
- soundtrack liner notes, Gamma I Quadrilogy
- http://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/wild-wild-planet-1965.htm
- Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd Edition
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEJXBzIyQSA
- http://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/wild-wild-planet-1965.htm