lemon_magic Apparently this is the 'abridged' movie edition of a Republic serial titled "King Of The Rocketmen", which is almost as awesome a title as "Lost Planet Airmen". Too bad there are no lost airmen, or lost planets in the screenplay, but I supposed you could argue that at least there is AN "airman" involved - the guy wearing the rocket pack. Well, compressing 12 episodes into a feature essentially eliminated most of the cliffhanger sequences and turned this into a action packed romp through all the classic Republic clichés. You've got a guy in the Bullethead suit with the three control knobs. You've got fistfights breaking out every 2 or 3 minutes. You've got the same recycled special effects/flying footage (which is still pretty cool). You've got car chases, car crashes, and shoot-outs.You've got evil scientists and amazing technological break throughs used for the most banal goals possible. You've got grade "B" though "Z" actors doing their best to turn in dignified performances while spitting out lines of dialog at machine gun speed. You've got a pretty decent climax that almost justifies all the shenanigans that went on before it. I have to admit, it was pretty hokey and cheesy, but I liked it for what it was. Not sure I would have liked sitting through 12 episodes of it, though, so this was probably my best bet.

ruready2getduffed It's right up there with Plan 9 on the all-time list of 'bad' movies. Yes this movie did lend its name to the great rock/swing band. I asked Commander Cody about the connection to the movie, noting that it was absolutely so bad it was great. A DJ with us cringed, expecting CC to be shocked that I'd dissed a movie he revered. Cody burst out laughing that the night he saw the movie in some dump hotel his band was so bad that he named it after the equally 'bad' movie then & there. "This was before I had Buffalo Bruce and Andy Stein and Bill Kirchen...we were TERRIBLE!"And true, there is no lost planet.

Dean Speir Lost Planet Airmen was the first (yes, there was another in 1966 for a television package) feature version of Republic's 1949 12-chapter serial, King of the Rocket Men, one of no less than six (of of a total of 66 serials made by Republic between 1936 and 1956) titles involving "King of the...." The "King" was always the surname of the leading man, not a title, however.Whoever came up with this great title I have no idea, but it is interesting to note that film has nothing to do with planets, lost or otherwise, and even the inclusion of the word "airmen" is somewhat dubious.

Lee-36 This old stinker makes the Flash Gordon movies look sophisticated. It's so terrible I love it, and I wish I could find a tape, but none of the catalogs I've checked list it. The rock band leader who calls himself Commander Cody must have loved it too, because he named his band after it.