{{Infobox film | name = Mission Stardust | image = Mission-Stardust-poster.jpg | alt = | caption = | native_name = <!--{{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}}--> | director = Primo Zeglio | producer = {{ill|Ernst R. von Theumer|de|Ernst von Theumer senior}}<ref name="filmportal" /> | writer = | screenplay = {{plainlist|*Karl Heinz Vogelmann *Sergio Donati *Primo Zeglio{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}}}} | story = Karl Heinz Vogelmann{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}} | based_on = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} --> | starring = {{plainlist|*Lang Jeffries *Essy Persson *John Karlsen *Pinkas Braun}} | music = Anton G. Abril{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}} | cinematography = {{plainlist|*Riccardo Pallottini *Manuel Merino{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}}}} | editing = Renato Cinquini{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}} | production_companies = {{plainlist|*P.E.A. Cinematografica *Tefi-Filmproduktion Ernst Ritter von Theumer *Attor-Film S.A.<ref name="filmportal" />}} | distributor = <!-- or: | distributors = --> | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1967|8||Rome|1967|10||West Germany}} | runtime = 95 minutes | country = {{plainlist|*Italy *West Germany *Spain<ref name="filmportal">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/perry-rhodan-sos-aus-dem-weltall_ea43d4a6b8b35006e03053d50b37753d|publisher=Filmportal.de|title=Perry Rhodan - SOS aus dem Weltall|access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref>}} | language = Italian | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Mission Stardust''''' ({{langx|de|'''Perry Rhodan - SOS aus dem Weltall'''}}, {{langx|it|'''...4...3...2...1...Morte'''}}) is a 1967 science fiction film based on the early novels of the popular German ''Perry Rhodan'' series by K.H. Scheer and Walter Ernsting.{{sfn|Westfahl|2012|p=258}}
==Plot== In a quest to find a source of radioactive material more powerful than uranium, Major Perry Rhodan leads a four-man mission to the Moon on the rocketship ''Stardust''.
On the Moon, they find a stranded Arkonide spaceship, where Commander Thora is trying to save a scientist named Crest, along with a crew of robots. The earthmen find that Crest is suffering from leukemia, for which there is a cure available on Earth. Perry and others take an Arkonide shuttlecraft to Earth to bring back a doctor with the cure.
One of the Earth crewmen is a traitor, however, supplying information to a crime lord who is after the radioactive material, but who sees the encounter with the Arkonides as providing an opportunity for an even greater prize. The crime lord arranges to replace the doctor and nurses with his own people, and upon arriving at the Arkonide ship they kidnap Thora in a bid to gain Arkonide technology.
However, Crest provides Rhodan and Bull with Arkonide technology, which helps them rescue Thora as well as the real doctor, who is able to cure Crest. They soon leave the Moon in the ''Stardust'', promising to return with materials the Arkonides need to repair their spaceship.
==Cast== *Lang Jeffries as Perry Rhodan *Essy Persson as Thora *John Karlsen as Crest *Pinkas Braun as Larkin *Gianni Rizzo as Criminal Leader *Ann Smyrner as Dr. Sheridan *Joachim Hansen as Dr. Manoli *Luis Dávila as Mike Bull *John Bartha as General Roon<ref>{{cite book |last=Elley |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Elley |title=World Filmography: 1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp7ayTLX1D8C&pg=PA322 |editor-last=Cowie |editor-first=Peter |editor-link=Peter Cowie |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |year=1977 |page=322 |isbn=9780498015656}}</ref> *Tom Felleghy as Moreland *Daniel Martín as Captain Flipper
==Release== ''Mission Stardust'' opened in Rome in August 1967 under the title ''4... 3... 2... 1... morte'' with a running time of 95 minutes. <ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=22400|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Mission Stardust|access-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402232046/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=22400|archive-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> It was later released in West Germany in October 1967 under the title ''Perry Rhodan--SOS aus dem Weltall'' with a 79-minute running time.<ref name="afi" /> It was later released in Spain as ''Órbita mortal'' with a 92-minute running time.<ref name="afi" /> It opened in Los Angeles in October 1968.<ref name="afi" />
==Reception== In a contemporary review, ''Variety'' noted the dubbing in the film, stating that it was "only fair" and that the special effects were "crude, the color uneven, but the very audaciousness of the admixture keeps the attention."{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}} The review also praised the film score by Anton G. Abril and Marcello Giombini.{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=247|ps=: "Review is of 93 minute dubbed version viewed in New York on June 9, 1969"}}
From retrospective reviews, Gary Westfahl in his book ''The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969'' noted that the film contained "shoddy special effects" and recalled "Saturday afternoon serials more than science fiction films of the 1960s".{{sfn|Westfahl|2012|p=258}} Westfahl referred to the film as "one of the era's most reviled genre films."{{sfn|Westfahl|2012|p=258}}
==See also== * List of science fiction films of the 1960s * List of Italian films of 1967 * List of German films of the 1960s * List of Spanish films of 1967
== References ==
===Footnotes=== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Westfahl |first=Gary |title=The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786489992 |year=2012 }} * {{cite book |editor-last=Willis |editor-first=Donald |title=Variety's Complete Science Fiction Reviews |publisher=Garland Publishing Inc. |isbn=978-0-8240-6263-7 |year=1985 }}
{{Refend}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0063859|title=Mission Stardust}} *{{rotten-tomatoes|4_3_2_1_morte}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1967 films Category:Italian science fiction films Category:German science fiction films Category:West German films Category:1967 Italian-language films Category:Films about astronauts Category:Films directed by Primo Zeglio Category:Films with screenplays by Sergio Donati Category:Films scored by Antón García Abril Category:Films based on German novels Category:Films based on science fiction novels Category:Space adventure films Category:1967 Italian films Category:1967 German films Category:Italian-language German films Category:1967 science fiction films