If this movie was made in 1950........it'd make some sense. But when you consider it was made just 3 years before Armstrong walked on the moon, the "not too special effects" are pathetic. The opening scene looks like a jr. high project. Also, it was made 3 years before 2001, a space oddysey.
So if you are a sci-fi buff intent on sitting through it........be prepared.
Just watched it for the second time the other night. I'm the guy that said it was a hoot, but on second viewing I have to give them an "A" for effort (but an "F" for execution). It was someone's vision of the future, and no one can see the future. The furniture and architecture was all mid-century modern...but recall that back then, we didn't CALL it "mid-century modern," we just called it "modern," because we thought that that's what the future looked like. Well, in a sense we were right...but we had no idea it would survive as a campy retro look. Back then, we thought, this is as good as it gets! As to the effects, I think we learned a LOT from the making of this movie...like, what NOT to do. Very simply, don't make low-budget sci-fi/vision of the future films. But someone had to make the mistake in order for us to learn from it! That's about the best defense I can muster.
Seriously, though, I love that they tried. They tried to capture on film our collective dreams of a utopian future. And for that reason, the film is somehow...endearing.
==JJS==
You have to have a certain affection for retro sci-fi. Almost all movies prior to 2001 and most until Star Wars had less than awesome special effects.
Yeah, if you are Roger Ebert, you will probably strongly dislike most of these movies. If you can have a temporary childlike sense of wonder, this kind of movie is enjoyable.
To say that this movie has less than awesome special effects is an understatement. What’s interesting is that Margheriti used miniatures in his films throughout his career in many different genres and well into the 90s.
The man has a great filmography full of fun movies.
If I came out with a movie about a thinking machine three years before the first computer, what would it look like?
This is a movie that was done on a budget. Just like Star Trek had to use salt shakers because they didn't have enough money to "invent" McCoy's tools, this movie had to make do with whatever was handy.
2001, A Space Odyssey, had a script and music. Other than that, it was a guy floating in space talking to a computer. And that movie had money to burn.