Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

"Destination Space" was a pilot for a series that networks declined to accept. I can understand why--this show was a bit talky and slow (which to some degree is necessary for a first show). I think more action and less talk might have resulted in the show being given the green light.When the show begin, there's an accident aboard the space station orbiting the Earth in this sci-fi show set in the near future. A bombastic congressman takes advantage of this and the leader of the project (Harry Townes) has to go to Washington to defend his program and the high costs. Later, the action finally goes to the station and a space launch from this station is about to occur--presumably to be followed up in subsequent episodes. But there's nuclear explosion to contend with first...When you see this today, the special effects look crappy. But for 1959, they're actually pretty good. I also appreciate that this is not a distant sci-fi show with bug-eyed monsters but a look at where folks back in '59 thought we might be in the next decades Not a great pilot but one that makes you wonder how the show might have progressed.

A teacher once told me that the first rule of writing was to never be dull. This may be the dullest science fiction film I've seen. A n astronaut spends more time in a Senate hearing than in a space station that is being maligned for nearly biting the bullet during a meteor shower. He has the usually adversarial Senator who is looking out for the taxpayer's pocketbooks. He, of course, is presented as a bit of a buffoon. The return message (one that is certainly valid) is that we must know; we must explore. Danger is part of the equation. So they send an independent observer, a scientist, to take his business suit and tie to the space station and observe them at work. Anyway, they don't simplify things (which is a strength), but the dialogue and interaction are about as vanilla as you can get. There is also a love story going on that doesn't' really get resolved. The predecessor, "Conquest of Space," is even more idiotic and it's fortunate that at some point the space program went on.

I'm a hard core 1950s science fiction fan, and this movie baffles me. It uses footage from Conquest of Space, specifically "The Wheel" and the spaceship. It's a black and white film, so it was weird to see that footage which I know to exist in color displayed in black and white. To be honest, I fast-forwarded through 3/4s of the movie, it's THAT bad. Way too much yakking and virtually no action. The climax involves one of the spacemen working to free a valve after crawling down a tube which reminded me a lot of the "Jeffries Tube" on the original Star Trek series. Another small bright spot is Ed Platt's role. He was "Chief" on "Get Smart" in the 1960s. Overall, even if you are a hard core collector, this is just a deadly boring movie.

Destination Space appears to have been a pilot for a CBS TV series. You can tell it was a pilot as the end of the 'movie' leaves things unanswered. John Agar is wasted here and Agar Sci Fi fans will be disappointed. John shows emotion late in the film by breaking a pencil (Whoo Hoo!).Majority of the film is the main character trying to convince the powers that be to try another rocket launch (zzzz). When he finally convinces them, they try again and have to abort. Can you imagine a series where each week they try and fail to launch the rocket? Neither could CBS.