Cosmos: War of the Planets
Entry updated 25 November 2024. Tagged: Film.
Italian film (1977; original title Anno Zero – Guerra Nello Spazio; vt War of the Planets; vt Year Zero – War in Space). Nais Film. Directed by Alfonso Brescia. Written by Alfonso Brescia (as Al Bradley) and Aldo Crudo (as Al Crydo), plus the uncredited Maxim Lo Jacono and Jacob Macchi. Cast includes John Richardson. 89 minutes. Colour.
A lump of rock flung from a "stellar explosion" is on collision course with a Spaceship, so Captain Hamilton (Richardson) asks the ship's Computer, named Wiz, for a course change. It replies that will be unnecessary, but does not explain why until after the rock has passed harmlessly through them, only then informing the relieved crew that "That was a refraction of a cosmic explosion occurring 10 million years ago." (This was originally a later scene but US distributors had it moved to provide a dramatic opening.) We next see Hamilton assaulting a superior officer at Earth's space travel headquarters for delegating his responsibilities to Wiz, as he dislikes taking orders from a computer. At the disciplinary hearing his commanding officer calls him arrogant and "a barbarian"; nonetheless he respects Hamilton's abilities as a captain, putting him in charge of the MK31 spaceship leaving for the Vega sector. Shortly after arriving on board he shows the cut of his jib, saving the life of a reckless crew member by risking his own.
Six months later a mysterious signal interferes with Earth's Communications, which Wiz says is caused by "an Alien intelligence that knows all", adding that the source must be destroyed. As the nearest vessel, the MK31 is tasked with this: approaching the source two spacecraft appear and fire at the spaceship, forcing it to land on a nearby planet. An exploring party investigates: two are attacked, the rest pass through a stone arch and are transported to a cavern where a glowing sphere transmits the signal. Humanoid Aliens appear and their Telepathic leader explains they were once powerful but were enslaved by their machines, following which an "atomic catastrophe" reduced them to an animal state; now they hide from "the Black Peril" underground. He adds that the crew members were attacked by the "immortal Monster" (a Robot). Hamilton says he will help them overthrow the Black Peril and, after fighting the robot, goes back to the ship to consult Wiz, who tells him: "The enemy is a computer ... to destroy it press button for its elimination – probable colour red."
Hamilton returns to the caverns to confront the Black Peril, who explains its origin. At the height of their civilisation the planet's inhabitants' only chore had been to control the great machines (see Technology) responsible for their happiness (see Utopia); but they tired of this, so built a computer to do the work. Then they were attacked by aliens who destroyed all the machines, save the Black Peril. Some of its memory circuits were however damaged: once restored, it will have the knowledge to build new machines. "I will make these machines invincible, then I will be able to conquer the galaxy." (See Imperialism.) The Earthlings were lured here to perform the repairs: as Hamilton does so, he seeks and finds the red button. Now fully operational, the Black Peril laughs maniacally, but Hamilton has improvised a sling from a belt, propelling an object towards it and presumably hitting the red button, as the Black Peril explodes – though not before declaring, "I will follow you to the ends of the galaxy and annihilate you". The planet begins to crumble but the spaceship manages to escape: however, the Black Peril is on board, having possessed one of the crew via Identity Transfer, and goes on a killing spree until Hamilton expels him out of an airlock. All seems to have ended happily ... until Wiz speaks with the voice of the Black Peril.
With a message about over-reliance on machines leading to humanity's stagnation from a loss of manly vigour, this virtue epitomized by Hamilton (see Clichés), Cosmos War of the Planets can be considered one of the worst sf movies. Plot, dialogue and acting are all poor. It looks more like a low budget television series than a feature film: the spaceship lands on the night side of the planet, to be followed by scenes in ill-lit caverns; drama is often conveyed by shaking the camera. The crew is multinational (see Race in SF) and there are several woman on board, but the latter stand around doing nothing whilst a colleague is attacked or have hysterics at the sight of dead bodies (see Women in SF). Since we learn that Sex in the future involves two couches separated by a globe, the target audience was presumably adult despite the simplistic story. Aside from the Black Peril's design and voice, the level of camp is too low to earn a "so bad it's good" verdict.
This film should not be confused with Brescia's Battaglie Negli Spazi Stellari (1978; vt Battle of the Stars), which shared a similar cast. [SP]
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