I love 1950s sci-fi films, so seeing FIRST MAN INTO SPACE is a natural. While there are usually two types of sci-fi from the era, serious and bug-eyed monster types, this film managed to be a little of both. In the process, it ended up being neither so super-cheesy it was funny nor serious enough to merit seeing--making it instead an adequate time-passer.

The first third of the film has to do with the experimental rocket plane program of the 1950s. Instead of calling them 'X planes' (like they actually referred to them at the time),they were called 'Y planes' and were concerned with seeing if a rocket plane fired from a bomber (in this case, an old B-50) could pass through the Earth's atmosphere. Problems seemed certain when a hot-shot pilot (the brother of the Commander in charge of this specific program) showed a lack of restraint and caution--taking unnecessary risks to go farther and higher than anyone before this time. Eventually, on the second flight, he actually does leave orbit and then something terrible occurs. The plane crashes, but the pilot is nowhere to be seen. Unknown to everyone is that the guy was alive...of sorts, and is now an enemy of mankind (what else?).

Overall, despite being released by MGM, it has all the marks of a reasonably well-done B-movie from a secondary film studio. All of the actors are unknowns or nearly unknowns and some times they tend to talk over each other's lines. As far as the special effects go, mostly they were excellent for the era...but the guy with the slime layer over him is a bit silly (you'll just need to see it to understand).

Ah, just what I love, a '50s B-movie. This low budget, shuddery sci-fi shocker uses much the same premise as THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN would twenty years later, but obviously without the gore. The plot is pretty minimal, and with most '50s films, the main thrust concentrates on pseudo scientific babble about why what has happened has happened. Although the film is obviously dated because of this, it's kind of fun too, as we listen to the gobbledegook about 'cosmic dust' and stuff like that. Very funny indeed.

The cast is nothing to write home about, but the dialogue can be hilarious and frequently is, because it has dated so badly. The man of the title is an excitable chap who speaks like one of the teens from I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF all grown up, talking about "dope" and other silly things. The rest of the cast are all pretty stiff and stilted in their delivery of their clichéd lines, but there's no need to worry about that, it's just typical for a film like this.

The special effects aren't bad. The space travel looks quite poor in these post-STAR WARS days, but at least it has some imagination put into it and has that odd quality of looking fake and unrealistic yet looking interesting, magical even, in a way that CGI animation can't create. I can't explain it very well. The makeup for the monster is surprisingly simple and effective, he just looks like he's been covered in some molten rock or something which has then settled. I like the way you can see one of his eyes too.

While FIRST MAN INTO SPACE may not be original, or scary, it remains a solid piece of entertainment from a much different time. The scenes of the rampaging monster and weird space travel deserve classic status, these types of things WERE cinema in the '50s. Not brilliant, but okay anyway.

A not too exceptional fifties science fiction film involves an impulsive astronaut who can't follow orders. The up side is that it has allowed the program to go ahead by leaps and bounds; the down side is that he is out of control. On a dangerous mission, he breaks through the earth's atmosphere and finds himself in orbit. While there, he passes through some space dust which coats his ship and him. The ship comes down, an automatic parachute breaking the fall (sort of hard to swallow) and when it is found, Dan is gone. We finally get to see him. He is in a monster suit that is impenetrable (actually it's his skin). He also has a lust for as many pint of bloods as he can get his hands on. He goes on a killing rampage. Hs brother, who warned him about his lack of coach-ability (spoilsport),is trying to save him while other work to do him in. He ransacks a blood bank and siphons several innocent people. The movie shots of space are better done than most, but the acting is stiff and uninspiring, with dull sets and little real action.