Mission Stardust
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"Mission Stardust", a 1967 movie based on the Perry Rhodan universe (released in Italy as ...4...3...2...1...Morte), was not a faithful rendition of the first Perry Rhodan novel.
The film starts with colorful 1960s music by composer Anton Abril, accompanied by Marcello Giombini’s wordless song ‘Seli’ and some psychedelic opening credits. The opening scene is some poorly duplicated stock footage of rockets blasting off and low budget special effects.
In the movie, Thora, the Arkonide expedition’s commander is a platinum blonde with a wardrobe of skintight spacesuits. The film adds an intriguing subplot about a super criminal that doesn’t appear in the novel. The evil ‘Homer Larkin’ plots to get the Moon's wealth before Terra’s governments take it all for themselves. Mr. Larkin has a pet similar to the running gag in James Bond movies.
Perry Rhodan: Lang Jeffries, a Canadian thespian working in Europe from 1961 until his death in 1987.
Thora: Essy Persson, a Swedish model who appeared in films for directors Radley Metzger and Joe Sarno.
Crest: John Karlsen, an Italian actor seen in 2003’s The Order. Also, he worked with directors Fellini, Polanski, and Corman.
Larkin: Pinkas Braun, a Swiss actor still active today.
Criminal Leader: Gianni Rizzo, who was a papal envoy in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1986 film, The Name of the Rose.
Director Primo Zeglio generally directed spaghetti westerns and costume dramas, and this is his only science fiction work.
Co-writer Sergio Donati worked on A Fistful of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Duck, You Sucker!
