mark.waltz Only the most determined and devoted of science fiction fans will make it all the way through this without reaching for an extra strength Tylenol. You might also get a headache by the red and tan outfits that the astronauts wear in this, with caps to match. The leaders of the mission look like they raided Aquaman's closet and headed to the other direction to avoid discovery. It's in the hands of hot tempered captain John Richardson to figure out what's causing some sort of interference all over earth, and that supposedly has something to do with huge meteor showers flying through space. Tedious from start to finish, this lays there like one of Mars' moons, simply spouting off scientific sounding terms to sound intelligent. What it ends up as is pretentious and phony, really offering no surprises and making absolutely no sense. Unless this was released with the financial assistance of a pain reliever firm, it makes no sense as to how this escaped a movie studio editing booth.

talisencrw This was a very bizarre and poorly-made film, which I can't believe was made after manned space travel, as well as masterpieces such as '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'Star Wars' really served to up the ante when it comes to these types of film. The dialogue and special effects are terrible, but for the most part it was a fun watch, and I gave bonus marks because of the intriguing 'cosmic love' idea. However, even no-budget filmmakers need to realize that even if they can't afford much in various areas, decent ideas are still free. Just ask people like Edgar G. Ulmer and George Lucas (at least in the early, 'THX 1138', stage of his career).

Chase_Witherspoon So I concur with most of the reviews that suggest "War of the Planets" is an abomination, and if it weren't for the figure-hugging uniforms (as worn by the female cast), ludicrous skull-caps, a vaguely entertaining climax and a now-rare appearance by one-time international star John Richardson, this Italian sci-fi wouldn't rate at all.Something of a "2001: A Space Odyssey" rip-off, that also seems to be channeling "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", finds rogue skipper Richardson assigned a supposedly benign mission as penance for his misbehaviour, suddenly thrust into a fatal mission to protect the earth from an omnipotent intergalactic robot that has decimated the inhabitants of a nearby planet. There's an awful lot of cheesy special effects, unimaginative set decoration, random solar flames and ubiquitous laserblasts, underscored by the typically puerile over-dubbing, and punctuated by Strauss and other stock music of the ilk, serving as some misguided attempt at a sophisticated backdrop. It's actually very tame and very lame with little redeeming qualities. Richardson looks assured despite the tripe, and he's ably assisted by the intense-looking cast of relative unknowns (Yanti Somer, West Buchanan, Vassili Karis and Percy Hogan in a minor supporting role) as they plod through 90 minutes too long of futuristic bunkum.Too derivative to capture a cult following, just another C-grade snore- fest that's found its way into unsuspecting loungerooms via the 1-cent movie bundles - which is not to suggest every film in those boxes of goodness are as laborious as "War of the Planets", but this is definitely one of the few to avoid.

gpeltz 2001 a space odyssey came out in 1968, Nine years later, War of the Planets! It is a mystery for whom this movie was made for. It is so poorly done, one doesn't know where to start. No plot, crummy effects, stilted acting, it looks like it was shot in Italy and dubbed in English, but that does not seem to be the case (maybe I am wrong). Like a star trek plot jumble, this film bounces from tired plot line to inane plot line. No one involved seemed to be taking it seriously, there are 2001 rip offs galore, down to an illogical use of classical music in the score. There are times it tries to be funny and fails, then there are times it tires to be dramatic, and ends up funny. One could argue that it was made for kids, but for the inclusion of an "orgazmatron" complete with some blue movie groaning and moaning. The robot villain looked like the grill of some Italian sports car, it had flashing lights, Oooohh! It is also immobile. Do we need to see the crew of the spaceship jump up and down and hug each other, as if their team scored a point, when they are not destroyed by a meteor? Lame movie making.