When this film was advertised on T. V. in 1979, when I was 11, I was not impressed or felt that going to see it would be worth it. Simply put ...it looked dumb to me. (The goofy "Unidentified Flying Oddball" song in the ad didn't help either).
(They should have gone with either of these titles : The Spaceman and King Arthur and A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court).
So, I never asked my folks to let me go see it, unlike most Disney movies in the past. I pretty much forgot about it not long after.
Fast forward to this year, March 2022. In searching Ebay for another Disney film (and as they will, they show others a person may like.) This was one of them. Now, since it came out on DVD in 199 , I'd had the chance to get it but never opted too, but I finally decided, "why not?"
It was inexpensive so, I did and recieved it 6 days later. Also, I don't have streaming / Disney Plus.
Much to my surprise , it wassactually a very good movie. Not perfect but it was actually fairly intelligent and funny as well. Silly humor sometimes but also humor coming out of the situation at hand .
Genius Tom Trimble , played by actor Dennis Dugan (who I recall from guest spots on MASH and The Rockford Files back then) is a scientist working for NASA the U. S. "National Aeronautics and Space Administration".
NASA has a new rocket that they wish to use for a 30 year mission in space (meaning it would conclude in 2009). Tom's look alike Andrioid Hermes is deemed perfect to send out n the mission, instead of risking human life.
Tom while making sure everything is secure on the ship, acccidentally gets launched with it. So, after it travels into the speed of light, time travels backwards and he and Hermes land on earth in the time of Camelot aka days of King Arthur.
After exiting the ship and making sure all's clear, he meets a timid young gal named Alisande. After assuring her he's not a monaster from another world , they go to the castle of King Arthur.
Our resident villain 'Mordred' is suspicious (and secretly fearful) pf Tom. Tom makes the error of boring everyone with full stories of human history up to 1979, that have not even happened yet.
The King, thanks in part to our villain, sends him to the dungeon (can't say i blame him.) Tom is such a straight arrow about things, he seems to only care of science and fact and doesn;t realize, he can be a bit off putting to others.
So now, Tom has to use every bit of his scientific intelligence & abilities in technology to not only get free, but convince the girl to help him. He also wins the assitance of a 'King's 'page', by bribing him with 'girly magazines" ?! Don't worry, the girl on the cover has a bikini on.
Meantime, Mordred is not only trying find a way to rid himself of Tom but , he's also secretly part of a plot to dethrone (or kill) Arthur and take the throne for himself. Tom gets wind of this and it's one more thing he has to tackle, in his efforts to survive and get back to his own time.
I'll leave it there, don't want to reveal the whole picture. Here's all the pluses, good comedy , as mentioned sometimes bordering on cartoon silly but still funny. All of the scietific things Tom states are factual and not 'made up' to save time.
All those playing people in the Camelot time, act very much correctly and the sets for the castle and costumes are period correct. (Although, this is the "cleanest" castle I've ever seen in a movie about that era...but hey, it's a family film.
Tom's makeshift inventions and gadgets are also pretty clever & cool, in terms of special effects and ideas in a 1979 movie.
On the slight down side (and I don't know if Dinsey did this purposely to be funny / silly or they were this cheap) .... the space ship in flight looks horribly cheap in special effect. I half expected to see marionette strings attached to the top & sides of the ship. (Lol.)
Some jokes on the movie didn't exactly fly either but overall, the humor was good enough to be entertaining. Dugan seems a bit stiff in delivery at the start (unless that's his character being a one minded scientist in the beginning. )
Once the story really gets going in Camelot and he has a love interest (although he hardly shows it) , his character truly loosens up and becomes funner to watch. Had to laugh at Tom inviting her to the ship listen to his Fleetwood Mac records and other 1970s bands!
So, to conclude, I likely should have seen this years ago. It's a good family film , I'd say it's for kids ages 9 and up, as younger ones might find it a bit dull.
7 stars. Just 3 off. Some bits that didn't work for me, the cheap looking space travel at the start and making the wizard Merlin a villain ! (Merlin was never this in the book.)
Otheriwse , glad I finally gave it a look, it's not the King Arthur books,of course, but it's a fun and funny film. (END)
(They should have gone with either of these titles : The Spaceman and King Arthur and A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court).
So, I never asked my folks to let me go see it, unlike most Disney movies in the past. I pretty much forgot about it not long after.
Fast forward to this year, March 2022. In searching Ebay for another Disney film (and as they will, they show others a person may like.) This was one of them. Now, since it came out on DVD in 199 , I'd had the chance to get it but never opted too, but I finally decided, "why not?"
It was inexpensive so, I did and recieved it 6 days later. Also, I don't have streaming / Disney Plus.
Much to my surprise , it wassactually a very good movie. Not perfect but it was actually fairly intelligent and funny as well. Silly humor sometimes but also humor coming out of the situation at hand .
Genius Tom Trimble , played by actor Dennis Dugan (who I recall from guest spots on MASH and The Rockford Files back then) is a scientist working for NASA the U. S. "National Aeronautics and Space Administration".
NASA has a new rocket that they wish to use for a 30 year mission in space (meaning it would conclude in 2009). Tom's look alike Andrioid Hermes is deemed perfect to send out n the mission, instead of risking human life.
Tom while making sure everything is secure on the ship, acccidentally gets launched with it. So, after it travels into the speed of light, time travels backwards and he and Hermes land on earth in the time of Camelot aka days of King Arthur.
After exiting the ship and making sure all's clear, he meets a timid young gal named Alisande. After assuring her he's not a monaster from another world , they go to the castle of King Arthur.
Our resident villain 'Mordred' is suspicious (and secretly fearful) pf Tom. Tom makes the error of boring everyone with full stories of human history up to 1979, that have not even happened yet.
The King, thanks in part to our villain, sends him to the dungeon (can't say i blame him.) Tom is such a straight arrow about things, he seems to only care of science and fact and doesn;t realize, he can be a bit off putting to others.
So now, Tom has to use every bit of his scientific intelligence & abilities in technology to not only get free, but convince the girl to help him. He also wins the assitance of a 'King's 'page', by bribing him with 'girly magazines" ?! Don't worry, the girl on the cover has a bikini on.
Meantime, Mordred is not only trying find a way to rid himself of Tom but , he's also secretly part of a plot to dethrone (or kill) Arthur and take the throne for himself. Tom gets wind of this and it's one more thing he has to tackle, in his efforts to survive and get back to his own time.
I'll leave it there, don't want to reveal the whole picture. Here's all the pluses, good comedy , as mentioned sometimes bordering on cartoon silly but still funny. All of the scietific things Tom states are factual and not 'made up' to save time.
All those playing people in the Camelot time, act very much correctly and the sets for the castle and costumes are period correct. (Although, this is the "cleanest" castle I've ever seen in a movie about that era...but hey, it's a family film.
Tom's makeshift inventions and gadgets are also pretty clever & cool, in terms of special effects and ideas in a 1979 movie.
On the slight down side (and I don't know if Dinsey did this purposely to be funny / silly or they were this cheap) .... the space ship in flight looks horribly cheap in special effect. I half expected to see marionette strings attached to the top & sides of the ship. (Lol.)
Some jokes on the movie didn't exactly fly either but overall, the humor was good enough to be entertaining. Dugan seems a bit stiff in delivery at the start (unless that's his character being a one minded scientist in the beginning. )
Once the story really gets going in Camelot and he has a love interest (although he hardly shows it) , his character truly loosens up and becomes funner to watch. Had to laugh at Tom inviting her to the ship listen to his Fleetwood Mac records and other 1970s bands!
So, to conclude, I likely should have seen this years ago. It's a good family film , I'd say it's for kids ages 9 and up, as younger ones might find it a bit dull.
7 stars. Just 3 off. Some bits that didn't work for me, the cheap looking space travel at the start and making the wizard Merlin a villain ! (Merlin was never this in the book.)
Otheriwse , glad I finally gave it a look, it's not the King Arthur books,of course, but it's a fun and funny film. (END)