The Green Slime (1969)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Just refamiliarized myself with the Japanese/American coproduction "The Green Slime" (1969), which I had not seen in many years. In this one, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, space station he-men Robert Horton and Richard Jaeckel, along with a few others, rocket off to an asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth and blow it to smithereens, but unfortunately, they also bring back to the space station traces of the titular slime. The slime somehow makes it through the decontamination process and quickly morphs into two-legged, one-eyed monsters that squeak and suck energy and electrocute with their flailing tentacles. The two men sure do have their hands full, when not bickering with each other and trying to impress redheaded hotty doctor Lucianna Paluzzi, who looks very fetching indeed. (Could this redheaded female head doctor have possibly been the inspiration for the Beverly Crusher character on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"?) Though deemed quite justifiably a camp classic today, the film yet has many fine aspects to commend itself to the viewer. It is as fun as can be, and the FX range from the hokey to the surprisingly effective. I love that shot of the flaming space station as it falls to Earth at the end; GREAT FX there! And although "The Blob" usually gets the award for the monster movie with the best theme song, the psychedelic number that plays during "The Green Slime"'s opening credits is at least as good, if not better. All in all, most entertaining, and the print that TCM showed recently was absolutely pristine looking and gorgeous to look at....

Released the very year when "2001" revolutionized sci fi ,"the green slime" looks like a comic strip,sometimes involuntarily very funny,notably in the sequence of the attack on the infirmary. The special effects ,particularly the rubber creatures ,are priceless and the rockets ,the launching ramps and the orbital station look like toys .In its way ,the first part is an "Armageddon" (1998) in miniature whereas the second one predates "alien " (1979) ,its sequels and its countless imitators.The two astronauts ,with diametrically opposite characters but good friends in the end ,vying with each other for the doctor's love ,will return in too many thrillers ,as far as the detectives are concerned .They must be forgiven ,because the physician is none other than the gorgeous Lucianna Paluzzi who played Fiona Volpe ,my favorite villainess in the Bond saga .I must confess I watched the flick because she was in it.

I watched this expecting to find a typical, late 60's low budget sci-fi movie of little interest. Instead, while I found some of that (especially the low budget angle) what I actually found was a fun, fairly exciting movie. The special effects included were pretty standard for this kind of movie, the sets were well designed and the alien creatures were silly-looking but nevertheless interesting.The story is set mostly on a futuristic space station. A huge asteroid is discovered that's on a collision course with earth, and a team led by Commander Rankin (Robert Horton) is assigned to blow it up. Rankin's assignment is the source of friction with Commander Elliott (Richard Jaeckel), who's normally in command of the station but is displaced by Rankin for the mission. The fact that these two are former best friends who obviously have some issues left over from having worked together in the past creates tension, and complicating that tension even further is the fact that Elliott's fiancé (Luciana Paluzzi) is also Rankin's ex- girlfriend. Yes, there's a bit of melodrama involved with this! On the asteroid the team discovers a strange green slime (as the title implies) and inadvertently carries some of it back to the station when they complete their mission. The slime turns out to be alien blood cells that feed off electricity and grow rapidly into these weird looking creatures that also produce electricity and can therefore electrocute those they come in contact with. The story basically revolves around the battle against these creatures, and whether the crew of the station will survive.All things considered, it's pretty well done. The performances are, I would say, a bit above standard for this kind of movie. Despite being set well into the future it's very much a product of its cultural times (as the theme music suggests) but it makes for an enjoyable hour and a half. (7/10)

The Green Slime is one of those rarities of film history, a Japanese production with all Occidental players. I guess the Japanese actors were to busy fighting off various monsters on earth who keep smashing up their country to worry about The Green Slime from outer space.Robert Horton is a future astronaut working for the United Nations Space Administration and he's got a nasty mission. There's a big asteroid that's come out of orbit and heading here toward earth. The mission is get to the space station that's commanded by another astronaut colleague Richard Jaeckel and pick up a crew and plant some really heavy duty nukes on the asteroid and blow it up.There's some nasty green slime on the asteroid and one idiot scientist takes some back with him. It grows and turns into some nasty creatures who multiply faster than insects and you can't kill them.In addition there's an old rivalry between Horton and Jaeckel over a mission they were on together years ago and over station doctor Luciana Paluzzi. As if the slime monsters weren't enough problems Horton and Jaeckel get all testosterone over Paluzzi.There are elements of The Blob, The Day The Earth Stood Still and the Danish science fiction film Reptilicus in The Green Slime. You'll find a few unintentional laughs in it.I guess these players must have been desperate for work.