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Released by: Kino Studio Classics
Released on: April 5th, 2016.
Director: Sidney W. Pink
Cast: John Agar, Greta Thyssen, Carl Ottosen
Year: 1962
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The Movie:
Quirky, colorful and kooky, director Sidney W. Pink's 1962 film Journey To The Seventh Planet was a Danish/American co-production released stateside by American International Pictures. The opening narration tells us that the film takes place in 2001, once all of those pesky space travel problems have been sorted out, and war has stopped because, again, mankind has managed to sort all of these problems out. From here, a rocket launches into space. Dubbed Spaceship Explorer 12, this ship's mission is to land on and explore the seventh planet from the sun - Uranus. All of the closer planets have already been colonized and the UN wants to see what Uranus holds (snicker).
Captain Don Graham (John Agar) leads the crew, made up of Commander Eric Nilsson (Carl Ottosen) and astronauts Barry (Ove Sprogoe), Svend (Louis Miehe Renard) and Karl (Peter Monch) and the landing goes smoothly enough. Of course, once they start poking around the planet, that changes and once a giant brain starts sending out nefarious giant brain signals the guys all start to experience bizarre hallucinations. These increasingly trippy experiences work sort of like a mirage, coaxing them into getting comfortable on the harsh planet and then tricking them into seeing a bevy of beautiful babes - which is quite clever when you figure these guys are travelling alone and far from earthly female companionship (the giant brain is pretty crafty). But sex appeal soon turns to monster appeal as the lovely ladies give way to horrible monsters and giant spiders! Will our intrepid spacemen ever make it off the seventh planet alive?!?!?
Journey To The Seventh Planet might have been made on what was clearly a modest budget but despite the fact that the sets are clearly sets and that the décor on those sets is obviously artificial, there's a lot of inspired creativity on display here. This is a quirky, colorful work of pop art that blends pulp science fiction elements with trippy, acid-tinged moments that border on surrealism. Once the action is transported to the surface of the planet, the movie becomes awash in bizarre set pieces, particularly when the powers of the sinister brain pulling all of those strings behind the scenes starts to wreak havoc for our intrepid team of astronauts.
As to the acting, John Agar does a fine job in the lead, playing his part of Captain Don Graham as a real man's man type. He's the sort of tough, no-nonsense space captain that's going to get the job done and Agar was always good in parts like this. Ottosen, Sprogoe, Renard and Monch are all fine here too while Danish sex kitten Greta Thyssen is a lot of fun to look at in her role as the fetching and lovely Greta.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Journey To The Seventh Planet is presented on Blu-ray in 1.66.1 widescreen in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer and generally speaking it looks very nice. There are a few small scuffs and scratches evident here and there but overall the picture is quite clean. The increase in detail is frequently very impressive when compared to the previous DVD release from MGM while texture and depth are strong throughout as well. Black levels are solid while shadow detail is quite good as well. There is no evidence of any noise reduction or edge enhancement nor are there any compression artifacts.
The only audio option for the feature is a DTS-HD Mono track, in the film's native English. No alternate language options or subtitles are provided. Again, we get a nice upgrade when compared to the DVD. The score has more depth and clarity to it while balance is spot on. That means that there aren't any problems understanding the dialogue when the music or effects kick in. Hiss and distortion are non-issues. A very fine mix overall, one that would seem to be an accurate representation of the original elements.
The main extra for this release is an audio commentary track from Tim Lucas. It's an interesting talk about Pink's intentions with the film, AIP's conflicting views on what it should have been and how it ended up in the form it appears in on this Blu-ray debut. He also details how and why the different cast members who appear in the picture wound up here, how music is used throughout the movie, the effects, the costumes, the script and quite a bit more.
Outside of that we get a trailer for the feature, bonus trailers for trailers for Donovan's Brain, Invisible Invaders and The Magnetic Monster, static menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Journey To The Seventh Planet is well paced, creative and interesting in how the story sees the cast confronting their own inner demons in the far reaches of space (as opposed to just combating an alien menace). Kino Lorber's Blu-ray debut for the film presents the movie in very nice shape with a colorful, detailed transfer, good audio and a rock solid audio commentary as its main supplement.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
