Once setting down on the moon, a U.S. space mission, led by Major Perry Rhodan (Land Jeffries), discovers more than they bargained for – aliens. Thora (Essy Persson) and Kress (John Karelsen) are aliens stranded on the moon. Kress is ill and dying. He seems to be suffering from leukemia. Rhodan and crew know of a doctor working in Africa who may be able to help Kress. However, the alien craft is discovered in Africa setting off a race to take control of the craft between a government faction and a treasure hunter. Thora, however, will do anything in her power to save her ship.Disclaimer: Let me start by saying that I have not read any of the Perry Rhodan books that Mission Stardust is based on. As such, I'm not going to get into that argument. Mission Stardust is another of those movies that I really, really, and I mean really, wanted to love. It's got a bizarrely appealing premise, a groovy opening, some really cool gadgets, and wonderfully cheesy 1960s era special effects. Mission Stardust also has Essy Persson. Wow is about the best word I can use to describe her. Unfortunately, it takes more than one woman to make an entertaining movie. I think Mission Stardust suffers because it doesn't have a well thought out plot. The movie gets off to a fantastic start, tut it all grinds to a screeching halt in the second act. Dull isn't near a strong enough word. I'm not sure if there's a better cure for insomnia than the middle one-third of this movie. It's painful. If you can rouse yourself from the coma you're no doubt in, the films finale does, fortunately, pick up a bit. But by then, the damage is already done. Looking up Essy Person's filmography on IMDb, I'm shocked to see only 17 acting credits – and, unfortunately for me, most of her work does not appear to be in English. Too bad. She had a fantastic screen presence.

The utterly astonishing Primo Zelgio has surpassed all previous efforts of directors of bad Italian sci-fi movies by making his the most boring of all, and how does he do that? By setting most of it on Earth in the sixties of course! I would have never thought of that.A bunch of astronauts head off for the moon for precious metals only to find a crashed alien ship there with an old dying man and an extremely smug woman who initially appears to be wearing two brillo pads on her chest. This smug alien thinks mankind are morons even though they have a ship that works and can cure the old man's disease, and therefore we are dragged kicking and screaming through another 'battle of the sexes' plot.To make things worse, everyone head back to Earth to cure the old man, but the local government are trying to attack the ship and there's some rich (and gay, it's suggest?) guy who wants the ship or something. I'm so glad Star Wars came along and gave the Italian film industry something decent to rip off, because these early sci-fi films are boring beyond belief.There are only two good aspects to this film: The terrible effects and the rubbery faced-alien robot guys who shoot lasers from their eyes. Of course to keep the film as boring as possible the director waits until the last fifteen minutes to start the action going, but by that point you'll be totally nodding off.

Due to a recent discovery of an extremely valuable metal on the surface of the moon a 5-man team commanded by "Major Perry Rhodan" (Lang Jeffries) is sent into space to obtain some of it and bring it back to earth. Once they prepare to land however their electronics and communications suffer interference which prevents them from contact with earth. Additionally, as they begin to patrol outside of their spaceship they notice a large alien spacecraft in the distance. Upon further investigation they encounter a robot which takes them inside the spacecraft commanded by a beautiful but condescending woman named "Thora" (Essy Persson). Along with her is a very ill, older gentleman by the name of "Crest" (John Karlsen) who desperately needs medical attention. Since the disease he has contracted (leukemia) is unknown on their home planet of "Akron", the decision is made to transport him back to earth for medical care as quietly as possible in order to prevent any governments from getting their hands on advanced technology. Now, having given a quick synopsis of the plot, I think it's only fair to state that I was unaware that this film was based on a European science-fiction novel. Because of that I cannot compare how accurate this movie was with regard to the book. I would also like to add that the version I saw was titled, "Mission Stardust" and from what I understand there are other titles it goes by as well. Likewise, it was initially filmed in Italian and dubbed in English which might lessen the effect to some degree. Further, this movie was filmed 36 years ago and as a result the special effects appear quite primitive compared to today's standards. Add in the fact that the character development needed a bit more work along with some rather poor acting on everybody's part and this film should probably merit a very low score. But in spite of all the flaws, this movie was actually somewhat entertaining. But only to a certain extent. Of course, in order to get any enjoyment from it a person will need to make some allowances. But that doesn't excuse the poor character development, the substandard acting or the rather vague outline. All things considered then I rate it as slightly below average.

For the most part, Mission Stardust ignores the actual story of the first novel of the popular in Europe sci fi series, grafting on an uninteresting international crime subplot and amping up the romance and sexual innuendo between Rhodan (the suitably cast Lang Jeffries)and Thora (the astonishing Essy Persson). Burdened by very poor special effects and a limp supporting cast (poor Reggy gets next to no screen attention), this is a middling sci fi entry with a decent soundtrack but little appeal for any but the most anal Rhodanites.