Pretty Good

Fresh and Exciting

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Riders to the Stars ** (out of 4) A group of scientists, astronauts and other types are brought together by the government to try and determine a few secrets about meteors. Three are eventually put in charge of trying to capture one in motion. RIDERS TO THE STARS isn't going to be mistaken for a classic or even a good movie for that matter but I do at least give director Richard Carlson credit for at least keeping the viewer entertained and especially considering the movie runs a short 80-minutes and they don't reach space until the seventieth minute. With that said, obviously this is one of those films that contain a lot more dialogue than anything else. The scientists are constantly talking about what meteors are, what they do, how they effect the Earth and they discuss just about every other thing imaginable. With such an obvious low budget there's really not too much action going on unless you consider the love story to be action. As much talk as there is I have to give the director credit for at least keeping the film interesting. I thought the scenes were very well directed and I also think Carlson got lucky by having a good cast who do more than just deliver lines. Carlson, William Lundigan and Herbert Marshall play the three leads and all do a fine job. The biggest problem with the film is that there's simply not enough going on to really make the film work. There's just no getting around the fact that there needed to be something else going on to keep you interested and by the time the movie's over you're really wondering what the entire point was.

Pretty decent, low-budget sci-fi film about a group of men first being selected for a dangerous space mission to lasso a meteor in space and return it to Earth so its outer hull can be analyzed. The men are taken through various tests such as patience, constitution, and the ability to not pass out under 12 g's of gravity. Finally, four men are selected and then we have out "Riders to the Stars." This film, directed by one of its stars Richard Carlson (of The Creature from the Black Lagoon fame), is rather well-done despite some obvious budgetary problems such as the rockets that move and go in space look more shaky and technologically inept than most clunkers on the road. There is in some instances a heavy use of stock footage - fortunately not over-played in true developmental scenes. I loved the opening credits with its operatic song "Riders to the Stars" and the beautifully painted backdrops, but I do wonder what they really have to do with THIS film. There are no aliens here. The actual time in space in the film is minimal. All that being said, this film has a nice, taut, tense pace and is filled with actors and actresses that know a bit about acting. The head scientist of the whole operation is played by smooth and urbane Herbert Marshall with his voice of command. Marshall looks relaxed in the role but is good nevertheless. The two primary male leads are the aforementioned Carlson and beefcake William Lundigan(as a physicist no less). Both actors are good as is the rest of the cast. The female love interest for Lundigan, a scientist in her own right, is the ever vivacious Martha Hyer. Riders to the Stars isn't a great sci-fi film in the tradition of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invaders from Mars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing from Another World,This Island Earth, or The War of the Worlds. Again, it is more science than fiction in terms of what its story is about. I think it is more in line with something like the very excellent Destination Moon - a discovery picture as to the human effort to travel to far horizons. It is more interested in the how of space travel, the getting there thinking, and character development than it is in gruesome or bizarre life forms. I tend to like both kinds of sci-fi films from that era, but the viewer that is looking for alien encounters may need to pass. A good, quality effort from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

The film manages to capture the wonder and awe of the space age you may have felt as a teenager in the 1950s. It comes through clearly with the superb cast in the movie (Richard Carlson is one of my favorites in this genre). And even though some people don't like the stock footage used, I enjoyed it. With the interaction of characters, and even love interest in the film, the movie takes you to another time and place. About the only the missing from this movie that usually draws me to these films was the usual flying saucer/UFO kind of connection. But even without that, I really enjoyed this movie. I would have loved to have grown up in that era. See it if you get the chance.

As a long time classic sci fi fanatic, I must admit I'd never even heard of this film before. This comes as no surprise as it seems to have had essentially no significant release to VHS or DVD yet. For the fan of classic black and white '50s sci fi, this is essential viewing. Though the model effects are primitive and the "science" is rather dubious, the cast is first rate. Reasonably effective use of stock footage of U.S. military V-2 rocket tests helps overcome some of the budgetary limitations.