Review of Mission Stardust

1967's "Mission Stardust" (... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Morte in Italy), from Italian director Primo Zeglio (West Germany, Spain, and Monaco also involved), the lone screen adaptation of a series of Perry Rhodan novels that began in West Germany in 1961. Those familiar with the paperbacks dismiss the feature as being unfaithful, no surprise as it comes off as a relic of its time, the story blasting off for the moon fairly quickly before returning to Earth for the remainder of the film, less science fiction than Eurospy hijinks with a super sexy alien commander in Essy Persson that no male viewer worth his salt wouldn't go for (along similar lines would be the ultra cheap "Star Pilot"). A top secret expedition to the moon is headed by Major Perry Rhodan (Lang Jeffries) and Captain Mike Bull (Luis Davila) on the spaceship Stardust, intending to find a new metal stronger than anything terrestrial but quickly downed by Commander Thora (Essy Persson) of the Arkon galaxy, seeking a cure for ailing scientist Crest (John Karlsen). Despite their obvious superiority, the Arkons have yet to achieve significant advancement in medicine, a lethal case of leukemia convincing Perry to maintain complete secrecy by returning to Earth to find blood specialist Frank Haggard (Stefano Sibaldi) for prompt treatment. Now the location shifts to the African desert, where local military bombardment is foiled by an impregnable force field, while a portable control for weightlessness is also used to quash an attempted coup by nefarious villain Arkin (Pinkas Bruan), and his secret henchman aboard the Stardust. Scripted to reflect its meager budget, diehard sci fi addicts may be disappointed by a first viewing but it has action, pacing, and amusing gadgets, unlike a stone cold stiff like W. Lee Wilder's 1958 "Spy in the Sky!" Were it not for the casting there might have been at least another in a potential series, but Lang Jeffries as Perry comes off as too straight laced and less effective than Luis Davila, who at least offers some comic asides as Mike to differentiate between the two, very much a buddy movie along the lines of the Kommissar X series. The villains are about as dangerous as Zachary Smith on LOST IN SPACE, but one cannot argue that the picture proves entertaining, just not very memorable.