Pretty terrible low-budget Italian sci-fi film has future star Franco Nero in a small role, but the story is mainly about a mad scientist who kidnaps important leaders and shrinks them down to keep them in a state of suspended animation inside a cigarette case-size container. The film does have a European swingin' 60s Barbarella vibe to it which is fun, as are the terrible special effect, which do make the film somewhat enjoyable on a so-bad-it's-good level of camp entertainment, but generally speaking, it's an awful film.

I saw this when I was 14, at the theater in 1967. Back then, it wasn't bad. Now? Not so much. I compare it to the B movies that came out in the 1950s. They weren't bad when they were released but I guess tastes change when you get older. I would compare this one to the Green Slime, which came out in 1968 I believe. Robert Horton is a good actor but that movie did nothing for his career. But Italian movies can be unpredictable. Clint Eastwood and Sophia Loren as examples of actors and actresses becoming famous due to their association with Italian films. I do have Wild, Wild Planet in my old movie collection, along with Attack of the 50ft Woman, Tarantula, X the Unknown, and Brain from the Planet Arous for nostalgia purposes.

I really like this one myself but most will find it a little slow-moving. But this cool-looking New Age Sci-Fi is filled most importantly to me with lots of retro 1950s style spaceships and 1960s style futuristic landscapes. The story is a little bit confusing but the film is a fun watch if one likes to enjoy the stuff in the background..model work, colors and such.

Like Plan Nine From Outer Space (which is only slightly worse), Wild Wild Planet is an absolute must-see if only for the unintentional laughs and the I-Can't-Believe-This-Got-Released reaction. The "City of the Future" set is so obviously a model that it took me a while to realize they were trying to fool me into thinking it was a city. The star troopers patrol the city in a flying saucer dangling from a string. Instead of "nit-wit", the insult of choice is "helium head." And the scene that actually made me laugh out loud...when the star troopers get to the planet Doofus...er, Delphus, they are given a tour of the facility, which includes a "space conditioning" room. In it, there are these rotating "steam boxes" with men in them, only their heads are visible, and they slowly go around and around like some goofy little carnival ride. I split a gut! And then there's the Proteo Theatre, which features a gay production of Madame Butterfly or something, set to music by the Ventures...oh, yes, friends, this is a hoot. Grab some popcorn and a glass of Saurian Brandy, and drink a toast to the way we thought things were going to be now, back in the 60's.