Battle of the Worlds (1961)

Il Pianeta degli uomini spenti
Guerre planetarie
Planet of the Lifeless Men

Cast:

Claude "Louis, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship..." Rains is Professor Benson
Bill Carter is Cmdr. Bob Cole
Umberto Orsini is Dr. Fred Steele
Maya Brent is Eve Barnett
Jacqueline Derval is Mrs. Collins

What the box says:

In this memorable tale of science fiction, Claude Rains (Captain Renault in Casablanca) leads a team of scientists striving to stop a stray planet on a collision course with Earth! Set sometime in the future, scientists at an observatory decide to ask the advice of the brilliant but cranky Professor Benson (Claude Rains). To their surprise, he has already predicted the planet's arrival.

Unmanned spacecraft are sent to investigate, but they are destroyed by a fleet of flying saucers! The only means of dealing with the unearthly threat is for a team to land on the planet and confront the alien menace! What Professor Benson and his scientists find when they arrive on the rogue planet is not what they expected!

Plot:

At a science complex, Eve searches for Fred. They get news about their mission and leaving the island to get married. The lab has been studying meteorites. The scientists are alarmed about telling the Old Man, Professor Benson.

Fred volunteers to take the data to Benson who already knows about it. He doesn’t want anyone to know about the “Outsider”, the approaching planet.

Mars Base 3 can’t contact Earth. Fred is able to finally send a coded message to them. A convoy approaches Mars but is off course.

This is the captain speaking, we've reached a cruising altitude of 189 million miles from Earth... The base commander reads Fred’s message. Apparently, Deimos is out of orbit. The commander is able to get the ship to avoid crashing.

Benson chews out Eve out and then returns to his work. The good professor finally reveals the Outsider won’t hit the Earth and disregards everyone else’s opinions. The world panics. Eve tells Benson the Outsider is orbiting. He suddenly wants the government to destroy the Outsider.

The military has decided to explore the Outsider before destroying. Benson watches on a video feed. Suddenly, flying saucers attack the military ship.

Why're all flying saucers intent on destroying Earth?

Benson realizes the Outsider is orbiting Earth because it was being controlled. Contacting the government, he reveals the Outsider will close in on Earth’s orbit and alter the climate. Benson will handle things if he’s given total control of the project. The government refuses and leaves the project in the military’s hands.

Fred breaks up with Eve and wants to leave the scientist group to join the military attack group. Benson agrees to let Fred go because he doesn’t think much of Fred’s skills.

In space, Fred’s ship is able to destroy a flying saucer.

Benson is able to get the saucer wreckage. He finds a cylinder and is desperately trying to study it.

As the Outsider approaches closer, stock footage of natural disasters ensue.

Military Bob meets Benson who has just deciphered the alien language to order them to self-destruct. The next group of ships approaches the saucers and is able to order them to self-destruct.

Benson wants to study the Outsider before destroying it. He finally gets the government to agree. Landing in short time, the group including Benson, Eve, Fred, etc…search the surface. They find a number of dead aliens and radiation.

The military order them to return to the ship. Benson keeps heading hoping to discover the aliens’ plans. Eve and Cathy follow to bring him back. Benson finds the alien computer as the Outsider starts collapsing.

The group leaves Benson behind to return to the ship and barely get there in time as the countdown to launch the missiles begins.

Benson is ecstatic as he has the truth and can order the Outsider away.

It is not I who is insane, it is I who is MAD!!! The ship takes off before the missiles blow up the Outsider. Fred comments how Benson didn’t have a heart but a formula.

What I say:

The 1950s and 1960s may have had some truly outstanding sci-fi movies like the Day the Earth Stood Still and Earth Versus Flying Saucers. Unfortunately, the same time had some truly atrocious examples of the time. You may have noticed that Battle of the Worlds isn't going to be on a classic sci-fi alien invasion movie from the period.

Genre movies made in Italy typically aren't known for being of much quality. We saw the post-apocalyptic genre virtually entirely created by the popularity of the Road Warrior. When the movie's director is a pseudonym for Antonio Margheriti. Most people won't recognize his name at least until a couple of his other movie titles are mentioned. Does Cannibal Apocalypse or Yor, the Hunter From the Future sound familiar?

Claude Rains may be best known for being Captain Louis in Casablanca. In this movie, he is super-genius scientist. Have to admit, I was surprised he didn't at least use the "bureaucratic fools" in the Indiana Jones tone at one point. This is the scientist that Dr. Frankenstein would tell him to turn it down a notch.

The main scientists in movies of the late 1950s and early 1960s were "mad scientists" tampering in the realms best left untouched unless they were battling giant grasshoppers in Beginning of the End or trying to stop some evil aliens ALA They Came From Beyond Space.

This is almost the shotgun version of an early 1960s sci-fi movie. It wasn't just a rogue planet but one that had been inhabited but the residents had died. However, the planet kept on its trek through the stars to find a new home. Low budget movies aren't going top chock full of great special effects or even middling effects. Rogue planet on a collision sourse for Earth. Humanity has a station on Mars. UFOs are launched from the rogue planet. Scientists barely are able to devise a way to stop the UFOs. Each of those ideas sound like they were taken from separate sci-fi movies and put together into Battle of the Worlds.

Quotable Dialogue
"Can you tell me why Fish-Face is so frantic?"
"We're falling!!! We're falling!!!"
"I've come to drink me a cup of gall."
"I have one advantage over all of you. Calculus!"
"Don't look at me like that, I'm not INSANE!!"
"Cornfield, you're wonderful!!"
Morals of the Story
Earth has colonized Mars in the 1960s.
Space is used to flammable rockets.
Astronauts were crash helmets but not oxygen tanks.
1960s Earth has a ready fleet of spacecraft.