Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Has a good science fiction film ever come out of Italy? Plenty of bad ones have, and this one might be the worst of the lot. This "2001" wannabe has a disjointed script, amateurish acting, inane-looking sets, crappy costumes with idiotic red helmets, supercomputers made of cardboard with flashing lights and robotic voices, and a dubbing job that makes the Gamera films sound professional.The plot: When the Earth receives a mysterious transmission from beyond its solar system, Captain Alex Hamilton and his starship crew investigate. After much tedium, the ship lands on the planet that sent the signal. It has been taken over by a supercomputer that has killed much of the planet's population and frightened the survivors into living underground. The computer sent the transmission because it needed help replacing its burnt-out circuits, and the natives weren't smart enough for the job. Hamilton destroys the supercomputer (by throwing a rock at it!), but in the process causes a chain reaction that blows up the entire planet. Oops!Item: in the space scenes, the stars bear an uncanny resemblance to light bulbs.Item: in several scenes, the background is solid black. Was a bluescreen beyond the budget, or did the director simply not give a damn?Item: the aliens suggest a cross between Yoda and Hare Krishnas, dipped in Rustoleum.Item: in this futuristic world, people have sex fully clothed and with no physical contact, instead laying their hands on a big ball that sits between them. (Hey, don't ask me!)Item: Captain Hamilton takes one of the alien beings, Etor, aboard the ship (for no apparent reason). Once they're in space, Etor watches the destruction of both his planet and species. His reaction? Well, he doesn't actually have one. For all the emotion on his face, Etor might as well have been watching "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report."Item: The film "climaxes" with a crew member, who the supercomputer has somehow possessed, attempting to sabotage the ship. His face has sprouted ugly red abscesses, he appears to have grown fangs, he foams at the mouth, and his nose runs copiously. As for how a computer can possess a man…. You can't possibly think this film would provide an explanation!Finally, my two favorites lines of dialogue:1) "We disappeared from one place and appeared in another!" 2) "Those strange signals are so baffling."

Okay, this movie is definitely for fans of films so bad they can only be enjoyed for their flaws. We have cardboard characters wandering around in the classic futuristic jump suits and spacesuits designed by a Halloween costume designer. The plot ... is there a plot? We have plenty of shots of a model spaceship (whose spaceship ?!) coming or going. Are we watching ourselves come and go or someone else come or go? It seems to be to cut between these shots of a model and volcanoes exploding and the voice of the All-powerful Robot sharing his thoughts of conquering the universe. No redeeming jokes. No redeeming babes. It's really a truly bad film. Only die-hard fans (like me) could power through this flick.

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).

Captain Alex Hamilton aka "Mike Leighton (John Richardson) and his team of astronauts land on an alien world and agree to help its population battle a cyber entity that has taken control of the planet," according to the DVD sleeve. Re-titled "Cosmos: War of the Planets" for English language listeners, this wretched film features the standard science fiction storyline involving a futuristic society being taken over by the machines it created. Those involved must have been asking, "What button do I have to push to get me out of this lousy picture?" * Anno zero, guerra nello spazio (1977) Alfonso Brescia ~ John Richardson, Yanti Somer, Vassili Karis, Katia Christine