Gosh Leslie Nielsen is handsome. It's pretty cool to see one of the funniest actors who ever did live in this early, serious role. He carries the authoritative role pretty solidly, if not entirely impressively, doing his best with a character that's not all that interesting. Luckily the events that befall him are, and they're given the appropriately epic treatment of any good sci-fi. It's a genre that needs two things to really succeed: spectacle and ideas. In the former camp it delivers in spades, offering the sort of magnificent set design and special effects so ahead of their time as to still wow audiences today. It's not without its share of ideas either, delving into psychological duality quite admirably, though these certainly don't go terribly deep. A campy performance oozing mystery from Walter Pidgeon is a real treat, revelling in a wonderful is-he-isn't-he goateed villainy. It's a film that basically met my expectations head on, leaving me one thoroughly entertained chap. And gosh Leslie Nielsen is handsome.