''Journey to the Seventh Planet'' is a 1962 Danish-American

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interste ...

. It was directed by Sid Pink, written by Pink and

Ib Melchior Ib Jørgen Melchior (September 17, 1917 – March 14, 2015) was a Danish-American novelist, short-story writer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter of low-budget American science fiction movies, most of them released by American Inter ...

, and shot in Denmark with a budget of only US$75,000.

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cro ...

, the seventh planet in the solar system, has not been charted by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

' Space Fleet. Therefore, in 2001, an international crew has been dispatched to Uranus by the United Nations, which has become a

world government World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. A world gove ...

, on a space exploration mission. The film's ideas of astronauts exploring outer space only to confront their inner mindscapes and memories precede the similar-themed 1972 film '' Solaris'' by a full decade (although the novel '' Solaris'' was published a year prior to this film). The film is also reminiscent of

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...

's 1948 short story "

Mars Is Heaven! "Mars Is Heaven!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, originally published in 1948 in ''Planet Stories''. "Mars Is Heaven!" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of t ...

" and the manifestations of the subconscious in "

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story by Allen Adler and Irving ...

Plot

In the year 2001, while an international five man team is on their way to Uranus, an alien presence briefly assumes control of the crew's minds. They awaken safely but notice that a long – and unexplained – period of time has passed. Upon landing, the crew finds a forested land oddly like Earth's, rather than the cold, bleak world they were expecting. This forest is surrounded by a mysterious barrier. One of the crew pushes his arm through the barrier, only to have it frozen. New features and forms begin to appear each time they are imagined by the crew. A familiar-looking village appears, complete with attractive women the various male crew members have known in the past. Soon, they must face a series of strange beasts including a giant bipedal cyclopean rodent and a lobster-like insect. The crew realizes that they have been the victims of mind control by a gigantic one-eyed brain living in a cave. There, they are confronted by the "Being", whose mysterious brain cuts to the inner thoughts of the explorers and causes their thoughts to appear as seemingly real. The brain-Being plans to possess the astronauts' bodies and have them take it with them back to Earth where it will implement a plan for global domination. The crew gradually come to realize their peril and start to fight back against the presence, even eliciting aid from the sympathetic women. They must then confront the Being in its lair while it assaults each with monsters spawned from their fears.

Cast

John Agar John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In hi ...

as Captain Don Graham (American) *

Carl Ottosen Carl Ottosen (18 July 1918 – 8 January 1972) was a Danish actor, screenwriter and film director. He appeared in 70 films between 1947 and 1972. Filmography *'' De pokkers unger'' - 1947 *'' Bag de røde porte'' - 1951 *'' Vejrhanen'' - 1 ...

as Commander Eric Nilsson (British) * Peter Monch as Lt. Karl Heinrich (West Germany) *

Ove Sprogøe Ove Wendelboe Sprogøe Petersen (21 December 1919 – 14 September 2004) was a Danish actor. Life Born in Odense, his parents were Arthur and Inger Sprogøe Petersen. He married Eva Rasmussen in 1945, with whom he had three children. O ...

as Barry O'Sullivan (Irish) *

Louis Miehe-Renard Louis Miehe-Renard (11 April 1919 – 21 January 1997) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1948 and 1988. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and died in Denmark. Filmography *'' Det hændte i København'' - 1949 *'' ...

as Svend Viltoft (Swedish) *

Ann Smyrner Ann Smyrner (3 November 1934 – 29 August 2016) was a Danish actress who was active in the 1960s in Italy, the United States, Austria and West Germany. She played in adventure, comedy, science fiction, crime, and horror movies, among which are ...

as Ingrid * Greta Thyssen as Greta * Ulla Moritz as Lise Martens *

Mimi Heinrich Mimi Heinrich (1 November 1936 – 31 May 2017) was a Danish actress and writer. Outside Denmark she was mostly known for her roles in the cult movies ''Reptilicus'' and '' Journey to the Seventh Planet''. She had her debut at the Det Ny Teater ...

as Ursula * Annie Birgit Garde as Ellen * Bente Juel as Colleen

Reception

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

reviewer Craig Butler wrote that although the film "is a cheesy, terribly bad slice of low-budget science fiction," it was also "one of those bad films that's quite a lot of fun to laugh at. It's also rather endearing." Writing for Reel Reviews, Loron Hays described the film as "laughably silly" and that " is is not a good film. But you will laugh."

References

External links

* * * *
''Journey to the Seventh Planet''
review at Badmovies.org
''Journey to the Seventh Planet''
film trailer at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...

{{Sidney W. Pink 1962 films 1960s science fiction horror films American International Pictures films American science fiction horror films 1960s Danish-language films English-language Danish films 1960s English-language films Films about astronauts Films set in 2001 Films using stop-motion animation Fiction set on Uranus Films directed by Sidney W. Pink Danish science fiction horror films Films scored by Ronald Stein 1960s multilingual films American multilingual films Danish multilingual films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

Further reading

External links