The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I am a fussy critic when it comes to sci-fi and horror, not so much into space movies as I am into campy rubber monsters or the results of atomic energy abuse. To discover this film, however, at least on my first viewing, I found it surprisingly unique and even intelligent. Some of the details, especially the 2001 setting with an allegedly peaceful planet Earth, are too far fetched to be remotely realistic, but the idea of Uranus being occupied by an all knowing basically invisible ruler was intriguing. The group of astronauts (lead by John Agar) must face their worst fears, or their most haunting emotions, and the evil being uses this for control over their every move. Certainly, some of the psychedelic effects are very dated, but you can't judge a 55+ year old film by that. What you can judge it by is how it effects you emotionally or what kind of a message it leaves you with, or the artistic feelings that it brings on, and this touched me in all three aspects.The transition of Uranus from its alleged reality to the emotional memories of one of the astronauts is powerful. I, too, grew up in a forest filled landscape that had a stream running through it, complete with a large rock in the middle that was a child hideaway. I too would be manipulated by that, as I would be by certain fears that resulted in recurring nightmares. There are several appearances by some scary giant creatures, and the voice of the ghoul of Uranus is frightening as well. One of the beautiful female creatures quickly becomes a demonic monster of manipulation, still beautiful physically but obviously a ploy of evil by the sinister mastermind who may seem like God in his fierceness, but is closer to the Lord of the underworld. Give this one an open mind outside modern expectations. Some elements may not quite work, but overall it's much better than many other science fiction space films of the same era, and one of American International's best films.

An international team of astronauts is dispatched to the planet Uranus. It seems that the U.N. has been receiving radiation signals from the seventh planet, so these brave men have the task of exploring and determining the cause of this signal. They land to find a strange environment where an all-powerful alien intelligence has the power to turn the thoughts of man into reality. Fortunately, since these men often have women on the brain, a succession of beautiful babes materialize, to entice and confuse them.This could have and should have been more fun. Alas, it's not that enjoyable, because even if one approaches it as a "so bad it's good" schlock production, it doesn't work that well because it's basically too dull. Sidney W. Pink (who also wrote the screenplay with the famed writer Ib Melchior) isn't much of a director, because he brings no energy and a fatally slow pace to these proceedings. The women, including Greta Thyssen...as Greta...and Ann Smyrner as Ingrid, provide some appreciable eye candy, but the acting from most everybody concerned is atrocious. Starring actor John Agar, playing Captain Don Graham, has some fun playing a cheerfully sleazy guy, but his talents alone can't spark much life into this movie.At the very least, "Journey to the Seventh Planet" can boast what are reasonably amusing visuals given the obvious cheapness of the production, and a priceless one eyed rat monster, which sadly isn't on screen for very long. The evil alien antagonist is likewise a hoot. Also, this has a rather lengthy (and innovative) closing credits sequence for a movie of this age, accompanied by a silly theme song.If you're a dedicated sci-fi junkie, you might want to give this one a look, but you're advised to go in not expecting very much.The pronunciation of the name Uranus here is funny; whether or not the filmmakers wanted their audience to keep from snickering is uncertain, but this approach backfires.Five out of 10.

Nothing shows up Sci Fi movies like the passage of time. Sure this movie has loads of clichés ... right down to the curly antennae on the space helmets but this movie could easily have been the pilot for Star Trek. As I understand it this movie came out the year before Star Trek and judging from the colours in the movie it felt the need to compete with T.V versions of Lost in Space and Batman which competed on opposite TV networks boasting how many colours they showed! Not for the Sci Fi purists this is a good old ripping yarn set in space. I love these old classics, how the characters accept totally bizarre situations as the "norm" and can make great leaps in figuring out "the science" of what's going on.Believe it or not the gloves worn with the space suits... red glove with yellow wrist band were known as "Radiac" gloves and were carried on U.K Fire appliances in the 70's and 80's for dealing with radiation incidents.Good steady paced nonsense and with some stop frame animation that is obviously inspired by the late great Ray Harryhausen superb.

Journey to the Seventh Planet (Sidney W. Pink, 1962) - Kind of a piece of crap, but, damn, it's an amusing piece of crap with some good ideas. It's not entirely its fault that the filmmakers had no money (and little talent), and, besides, its cheapness gives it some additional amusement.So these guys are journeying to the seventh planet. Hmmm. Let's see: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, um...Yes, it's an expedition to explore Uranus. I'm curious as to whether the big joke with Uranus was the same back then. I think the British pronounce it with a short "a" sound, with the emphasis on the third syllable. It seems to me then that the joke would change from "your anus" to "urine us". Not quite as funny, but I'm sure British school boys still titter at it. This film, a US/Danish co-production, gets around the gag by pronouncing it "Yer-ah-nus", a pronunciation which I do not believe is acceptable anywhere.Deep within Uranus, they discover a sentient creature which can control the astronauts' minds, and also has the ability to reproduce the astronauts' greatest fears and desires as physical objects. It produces stop-motion dinosaurs and stock footage tarantulas to attack the astronauts. It also produces their left-behind-on-Earth loved ones to distract them from their mission. This is reminiscent of Stanislaw Lem's novel Solaris, which was published the year before (and it's very doubtful anyone involved with this film had read it by then). The film also has a lot of similarities with Star Trek. Star Trek's biggest inspiration is probably Forbidden Planet, but the astronauts, the nature of their mission, and the Earth they've left behind are even more Trek-like than Forbidden Planet.Again, this is not a good movie by any means. But if you're a fan of B sci-fi, this I'd probably categorize as a must-see. I really want to see some of Sydney Pink's other films now. Hell, the title Reptilicus sells itself, doesn't it? I also want to mention Journey to the Seventh Planet ends with the most ludicrous lounge-singer end credits song ever