At first one is confronted by the "Poe's Law" dilemma: Is this a really bad film or is it a really good parody of a bad film?
The answer is neither - this is not a bad science fiction movie, it is a really good adventure for young children. Suddenly the simplistic dialog, comic relief and low budget make sense. This film is contemporary with the second incarnation of Doctor Who (Patrick Troughton) and has many similarities with children's TV programmes of that era. The dialog and scientific explanations have that restricted vocabulary and easy to understand structure one associates with Blue Peter, Rainbow etc. Elizabeth Lutyens' cut down wind and percussion score is reminiscent of the Clangers, Noggin the Nog etc. The characters are one dimensional stereotypes: the mean boss, the handsome hero. his loyal workmate, cockney cleaning lady and fussy accountant. There is also the attractive female but there is no sex or even mild love interest here - that's strictly for grown ups - who are not the target audience for this film.
The special effects are awful and the story is silly. The dialogue sometimes sounds like it was written for radio (when Sandy disappears before their very eyes constantly asking "where is she?" seems a bit pointless). My favourite bit - which even 1960's kids would roll their eyes at - is where the hero has to drop his pencil to demonstrate that despite being in space they still have gravity - as though that wouldn't otherwise be apparent.
So, not a parody, not a bad "B" movie, not a contender for MST3K, just a good space adventure for 9 year olds.
