Space Probe Taurus
January. 01,1965In the year 2000 the spaceship Hope One sets off to find new galaxies for colonization. However, an encounter with an alien being and a swarm of meteorites sends the ship streaking off course into a sea of monsters on an uncharted world. Written by Jeremy Lunt
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I love this movie so much
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
This journey into outer space flick is fairly typical of the B movies, the low budget films that weren't supposed to be liked. As a result of being the low man on the totem pole, those involved made the most out of a little. That often resulted in the superior sci-fi flicks. Such is the case here. The overwhelming factor in these cases is the use of "credible characters in incredible circumstances", something I believe I was the first to use in critiques some thirty or forty years ago. Here, the astronauts are three men and a woman. They begin as seeming to be one dimensional, but that's where the writing, directing, acting team fool you. They gracefully become real characters, particularly the two supporting astronauts. I admit I usually pay more attention to the "supporting players", and usually it's the women who care about the romantic leads. The romantic lead pair go through this as a bit of a cliché, but show some dimensions in character near the end. All together, the quartet was superior to most of the "A movie" astronauts in credibility. The character of John Andros must have been the delight of the team making this film, and it's fascinating in the way they bring him along late, almost as an after thought, as though he would be just "hanging around". He is basically the story here, and I believe the story is told through his eyes, which I won't spoil by how it ends. There's a lot to like here. It is craftily directed. Despite the low budget and limited action, there's not a dull moment. It grips you throughout. That's some directing, writing, editing, acting, the who shebangs! There's even a terrific Gilligan's Island style dream sequence. A hidden gem. I probably won't put it on my top 20 sci-fi films of all time, but it's definitely in the top 40. Of course, as I noted before, this is more of a "man's movie" than a chick flick.
By any standard, the greatest movie every made.It's a WWII submarine movie, complete with sonar pinging.Plus Sea Hunt, with underwater grappling with a monster.The background music is in both major and minor keys.The sets are comparable with those of Star Trek.The dialog is minimal and nary a word is mispronounced.The computers beep and boop obligingly.There's a countdown scene, all the way from 10 to 1. The tension builds relentlessly.The technology is comparable to that in any garage.The Mystery Science Theater guys are not in any scene.The captain is considerate enough to spell out the new planet, "Andros I," for the preliterate.Best of all, the movie end reliably, each time it's shown.All things considered, the synergy is stunning. Stunning, I say.
I've read so many bad reviews about this film that I just had to watch it when the chance arrived. It's got all the indications of being a bad film (Five aliases not withstanding: Space Probe Taurus, Space Monster, First Woman into Space, Flight Beyond the Sun and Voyage into the Sun).Keep an open mind. Remember that American International Productions and Leonard Katzman made most of these on a shooting schedule of three weeks or less with production costs of under $50,000. (In 1965 it cost Irwin Allen $150K to produce two episodes of 'The Time Tunnel' using BackYard sets in So. Calf).If you keep the above in mind and watch the actors carefully, it's not a bad film. Sure, by today's standard there's more melodrama than Si-Fi and yes, I didn't like the Model Rocket Ship in the Lobster Aquarium either.Now just sit back, relax, quite looking for things to call hokie and like I said, 'Listen to the actors, try to put your self into their shoes for 80 minutes'.The main cast were all good 'B' picture stars with the exception of the film's 'Hero' James B. Brown, (this is the same actor who brought us 'Persuit Pilot Tex' from the movie 'Airforce', also co-stared in 'Wake Island' in additions to many other fine performances) and Ms Francine York (YUM - take a look at the '02 photo of her from the DGA Tribute for George Sidney and you'll see what I mean..)There are a few scenes that actually have some pucker factor or at the very least, will have you shouting 'Come on! Hurry Up! Get out of there before something jumps out of the shadows and GRABS you!'All things considered, I liked it and if you do too, then count yourself fortunate. Movies are much more enjoyable if you can appreciate the efforts of all the participants. Not just the blockbusters who spent all the money and won all the awards.Scotty Jensen
Directed and written by Leonard Katzman, this space probe is slow and lacks excitement. The special effects seem as if this TV project was produced ten years earlier. A team of scientists, including the attractive Francine York, set out in the year 2000 to find a livable planet in space. The craft is forced to land on a strange planet , where they are attacked by crusty humanoid sea creatures and giant crabs. The voyage turns out successful after all and they name the planet after a comrade they lost in their discovery...Andros 1.Besides Miss York, this bad piece of Sci-fi features Russ Bender, Baynes Barron and James B. Brown. Take the journey, but don't expect much.