MYSTERIOUS PLANET (1982) – Written, produced and directed by Brett Piper, this was his first film ever and it manages to be bad in every conceivable way, running the gamut from fun-bad to boring-bad to incomprehensibly bad and even rising to “how could you NOT be ashamed to release this under your real name” bad at times.
Mysterious Planet is, as the opening titles say, “very freely based” on Jules Verne’s novel Mysterious Island. If you’ll recall, that book featured Civil War POWs escaping in a hot-air balloon and being taken far off course to a mysterious island. In this movie, which may be set in the far future or in deep space given the level of technology, a spaceship loaded with medical supplies is the vessel which transports our main characters.
Some reviews of this movie claim our heroes are escaped prisoners or prisoners of war but nothing in the actual film supports that. Those reviewers may just be assuming they were POWs simply because the characters in Mysterious Island were. The dialogue is so hard to understand that I can’t really blame any reviewers for jumping to conclusions while trying to make sense of this jumbled mess.
As the story opens, some kind of space fleet is informing all of its ships that no take-offs will be permitted until an “asteroid storm” passes through. Most of the captains are content to obey, but not Commander Rogan (Paula Taupier), the combined captain and science officer of the medical transport ship. (If you can make out the name of the vessel you’ve got me beaten, and I replayed most of the dialogue several times to pick out what nuggets of information I could.)
Rogan argues over the radio with her superiors and insists that the inhabitants of some planet whose name I could not make out are in desperate need of the supplies on board her ship. Our heroine is still insisting she should be allowed to take off when fate intervenes on her behalf.
A fleet of some alien race whose name I could not understand attacks the star-base and amid all the chaos, Commander Rogan takes off without permission so she can get the desperately needed medical supplies to the Whoevers. Rogan’s craft tangles with some of the raiders while simultaneously dodging asteroids from the storm/ swarm. Continue reading
FIVE SCARY BUT NOT GORY HORROR FILMS – For those who like scary Halloween flicks that lack intense gore. Click 
GHOST RIDER: THE MOST HALLOWEENISH COVERS – A look at the original 1972-1983 run of the Marvel Comics horror character Ghost Rider. Click 
BLADE THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: THE EARLY YEARS – A look at the original 1973-1983 run of the Marvel Comics horror character Blade. Click 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2018) – MERRY CHRISTMAS! Balladeer’s Blog’s eleventh annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon takes a look at this Scottish adaptation of the Dickens classic. David Izatt directed and Stuart Brennan wrote and stars as Ebenezer Scrooge. 
A DIVA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (2000) – Balladeer’s Blog’s Eleventh Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with a look at this Vanessa Williams venture. Due to the nature of this adaptation of the Dickens classic it is often categorized as one of the “African-American versions.” Among other such Carols I have reviewed are Christmas is Comin’ Uptown with Gregory Hines and John Grin’s Christmas starring Robert Guillaume. 
LATITUDE ZERO (1969) – Long unavailable, this Japanese and American sci-fi monster tale features an underwater civilization and stars Joseph Cotten and Cesar Romero as good and evil scientists, respectively. Click 
THE FIRST TWENTY IRON MAN STORIES FROM THE 1960s – Cold War and Vietnam War-era stories featuring the armored superhero. Click 
RICH LITTLE’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979) – Balladeer’s Blog’s ELEVENTH annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues! If you’re into celebrity trivia from the 1970s and earlier Rich Little’s Christmas Carol will have you laughing from start to finish over all the sly jokes and riffs that abound in this Canadian- made special. For those unfamiliar with Little he was the Frank Caliendo of the 60s, 70s and 80s, a first- class celebrity impressionist. The Canadian comic’s first venture into using the voices and personas of iconic celebrities as characters in the Charles Dickens classic began in the 1960s. Part of Rich’s stand-up act was a several minute sendup of A Christmas Carol with John Wayne, Jack Benny and other figures playing roles in the famous story.
DANGEROUS DAN: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER – Another look at a forgotten gunslinger whose life was at least as exciting as any of the big names from the old west. Click 
AMERICA: PART OF THE ALIEN FRANCHISE – With Democrats as the Xenomorphs, Republicans as Weyland-Yutani Corporation and the rest of us as the humans trying to survive. Click 
MAVERICK (1994): MOVIE REVIEW – A detailed look at the movie and the James Garner television series which preceded it. Click 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL ADAPTED BY MARTIN PREST (2017) – Balladeer’s Blog’s ELEVENTH Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this look at British actor and producer Martin Prest’s one-man performance of the tale. As the poster says, it’s “spellingbinding” … (?)
A CHRISTIAN CAROL (2016) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 11th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this look at a religious-themed variation of A Christmas Carol. Directed by Stan Severance and written by Wesley T Highlander, A Christian Carol follows in the footsteps of the 1983 production The Gospel According to Scrooge. 
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