JohnHowardReid A Titanus/Ultra Film presentation, released in the USA through American-International Pictures: 13 December 1961. Rome opening: 25 August 1960. 79 minutes. COMMENT: Although it has maybe three or four effectively presented action sequences, for the most part this over-talkative, dialogue bound, ploddingly scripted, slackly acted and unimaginatively directed space entry offers rather dull sledding to all but the most inveterate sci-fi hounds. Time-wasting dialogue exchanges like "Indian Zebra Why Fourteen calling Jungle King Two Eleven" abound. Aside from a ho-hum one or two tracking, scene-establishment shots, the director seems unacquainted with any other camera set-ups than deadly routine TV-style close-ups and two-shots. The heroine is probably a most attractive girl, but you wouldn't know it from the hide-all space outfits she models throughout. Admittedly, the writer tries real hard to work up a bit of tension in a three-way split between heroine, reporter and commander, but it's all stale old stuff which has been presented with far more skill and vigor in at least thirty thousand other pictures. AVAILABLE on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: ten out of ten.

O2D I only read the first line of the summary and it's completely false but what do you expect from IMDb?At one point a guy says "Do you think you're back in the 21st century?"That means this didn't take place in that century. Anyway, a reporter is sent into space for reasons that are never explained.He fears he won't be accepted by the astronauts and of course he's not and that's 50% of the story. After talking to the only female in space for 1 minute,they fall in love because that's realistic. At only 70 minutes there's not much time to fill yet the whole movie is filler.At least 1/3 of the movie is spent watching people move in slow motion because they are in space.Apparently low gravity makes you stay on the floor but you have to bend over to walk painfully slow.They even turn their heads in slow motion yet the low gravity doesn't affect their mouths,they have no problem talking at regular speed.All the inside scenes are tight shots of way too many people and all the outside shots are the same toy rocket moving very unnaturally. I could explain how stupid this movie is all day but I won't. If you can find a plot or anything that makes sense in this movie, I'll eat my hat.

Rainey Dawn The year is 2116 - so the film takes place in the 22nd Century NOT the 21st as mentioned in the summery. Basically they are out in space with an interplanetary reporter, Ray Peterson. Tensions build between many of the characters, there are ship malfunctions and the ship goes from Mars to Venus. It ends up that Peterson has to save everyone.The visuals are pretty cool for a B-film of the 1960s, the story seems like it could have had a little more spunk and most of the characters speak like robots and speak with little emotion quite often. Overall it's an alright film although not all that great - it's a bit flat at times but watchable.4/10

midge56 I was quite impressed when this movie opened with the character of a black astronaut engineer named Al and played by Archie Savage. Where this movie "Assignment: Outer space" (also known as "Space Men")had serious crazy plot issues, Savage's portrayal of a White haired black astronaut engineer really stole the show. I was astounded considering this was a 1960 movie. His was the only performance which wasn't wooden and was really the central character we noticed the most from the very first scene even though they gave higher billing to Nutter & the commander.Savage gave credence, character & realistic believability to the movie. When Savage was not in the scenes, the movie trailed into the doldrums and only held our interest when Savage reappeared. The plot, however, was downright crazy going from one ridiculous inane event to another. But the technical scenes & Archie Savage's character were the key features worth watching. The quality of this movie was quite impressive for a 60's space flick as was the film quality & sound considering this was an Italian film which are usually quite poor. The color has definitely faded. If they could fix the plot problems, it might be worth restoring the color. The Audio track was excellent. Crystal clear & exceptional enunciation. Better than most recent new movies.This movie is actually better produced than some in the past 15 years.There is no doubt the movie drags on slowly but nothing could be slower & more painful than the movie 2001. Thank goodness for fast forwarding. Sometimes reality of slowness of space in movies like 2001, Marooned, stranded & Gravity go too far for patience sake. Same with those long laser sword battles of Star Wars not to mention gruesome amputations. I have no patience for slow dragging scenes, extended battles, fistfight scenes or drawn out rescue scenes where they spend half the movie trudging from point A to B... such as Armageddon, Voyage to the prehistoric planet (planet of prehistoric Women), Red Planet and a dozen others which have the actors trudging over miles of tedious wasteland for rescues or wasting endless time on boring battles.What made Star Trek unique was the interpersonal relationships between the characters & their experiences & new civilization encounters, technologies & differences. Not battles, fistfights or drawn out ordeals & endangerment. Oblivion was a breath of fresh air as was Moon, Robinson Crusoe on Mars & Capricorn One. Enemy Mine was also excellent due to the interpersonal interactions between the characters.Hollywood still does not understand what makes sci-fi work. It is character relationships where the audience invests their emotions, new technology, adventure to see new alien societies & civilizations & building on those interactions. We rarely get to see alien planets & civilizations or successful, thriving human colonies. How many were PO'ed about not seeing the alien planet & civilization on Prometheus? Or how "one note" Ridley Scott used the same formula in every Alien & Prometheus film. Always a loudmouth, cigar smoking bully black man in charge (who the heck would smoke on a spacecraft?), an android, 2 greedy scum prospectors, a male & female throw away victims, a lone surviving female heroine, the alien which never dies and the corrupt Company employer. The exact same format in every film Ridley made. Yet people rave about his films. Clearly they failed to compare them.But don't take advice from these post Xgen kids Commentaries. Ignore the plot issues & screwups of this film and take notice of the character Al, played by Archie Savage & it makes this movie worth watching. His performance will surprise you. He never would have had such a prominent role in a US produced 60's film. Thank the director for his foresight. And the producer for the film & audio quality. However, the scriptwriter should have been drawn & quartered. Everything else in this movie pales by comparison to Savage's role.Surprisingly refreshing & quality condition for a 60's sci-fi. You can find it on those 100 pack Sci-fi film sets.