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It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A Titanus/Ultra Film presentation, released in the USA through American-International Pictures: 13 December 1961. Rome opening: 25 August 1960. 79 minutes. COMMENT: Although it has maybe three or four effectively presented action sequences, for the most part this over-talkative, dialogue bound, ploddingly scripted, slackly acted and unimaginatively directed space entry offers rather dull sledding to all but the most inveterate sci-fi hounds. Time-wasting dialogue exchanges like "Indian Zebra Why Fourteen calling Jungle King Two Eleven" abound. Aside from a ho-hum one or two tracking, scene-establishment shots, the director seems unacquainted with any other camera set-ups than deadly routine TV-style close-ups and two-shots. The heroine is probably a most attractive girl, but you wouldn't know it from the hide-all space outfits she models throughout. Admittedly, the writer tries real hard to work up a bit of tension in a three-way split between heroine, reporter and commander, but it's all stale old stuff which has been presented with far more skill and vigor in at least thirty thousand other pictures. AVAILABLE on DVD through Alpha. Quality rating: ten out of ten.

I could write a book on this heavy-handed Italian-made cliché fest. The filmmakers treated a simple space opera like it was King Lear!First, the paper-thin plot. In the year 2116, Ray Peterson, a reporter for the Interplanetary News, is assigned to write a story aboard a space station. Tensions mount between Peterson and the station commander over the affections of Lucy, the ship's navigator. But the men set their differences aside to keep a runaway spaceship from colliding with the Earth. The ship somehow has the power to incinerate our beloved planet. (The commander explains it all, but like most of the scientific explanations in these films, it sounds like BS.)When Ray boards the space station, the commander is readying his crew for a mission to Mars. When the High Command orders that Ray be allowed to go, the commander must leave a crew member behind due to weight issues. He decides the mission can do without Lucy, the navigator. However, in the very next scene, guess who's aboard the ship on its way to Mars?The visual effects are as cheesy as one would expect. In one particularly memorable scene, a ship crash- lands on Mars and blows up. During the explosion, both a building and a Chevrolet are clearly visible in the shot. But the worst thing about ASSIGNMENT: OUTER SPACE is its numerous failed attempts at profundity and moralizing. Here are some examples:LUCY (to the commander): You work hard to prove that you're worthy of your position, but are you worthy of yourself?RAY: Why is it that whenever man wants to protect himself, he hides under a dome?AL (the ship's engineer): One of man's dreams has finally come true: an indestructible destroyer.AL (again): A man in space changes his position, but not his character. He is what he is, wherever he is.COMMANDER: The world of human feelings has been much less explored than the whole of the universe put together. What have we been doing all these thousands of years? We've congratulated ourselves on our progress and going faster and faster and faster, when in reality, we've only been getting further away from ourselves.RAY: I believed, but there's no faith that can destroy the fear of death.There is, however, one thing here that impressed me. Six years before "Star Trek," ASSIGNMENT: OUTER SPACE prominently featured a black man: Al, the ship's engineer. And he's not just a token; he is essential to the storyline. In 1960, skin color must have mattered a lot less in Italy than it did in the U.S. (How's that for a profound statement?)

"Rik Van Nutter (as Ray Peterson) stars as an overbearing but fundamentally decent reporter who is on assignment as an observer on a space mission. He clashes with the ship's captain (Alain Dijon) over the affections of the beautiful Lucy (Gabriella Farinon), but their differences are set aside when they must save Earth from an impending collision with a runaway spaceship," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. This ordinarily plotted dud was dubbed "Assignment: Outer Space" for poor, unsuspecting American viewers.More often than not, Mr. Van Nutter clashes with the ship's commander (David Montresor). It would have been more interesting to see him clash with Archie Savage (as Al) over the demure female cosmonaut, herein called "the weaker sex." Her make-up application is a strength. The handsome Van Nutter is most remembered for playing Felix Leiter, James Bond's friend, in "Thunderball" (1965). "Space Men" is amazingly routine and looks incredibly cheap. The film's scientific knowledge is out of this world. ** Space Men (8/25/60) Antonio Margheriti ~ Rik Van Nutter, Gabriella Farinon, David Montresor, Archie Savage

*Spoiler/plot- 1990 Assignment: Outer Space, The Earth is threatened by a rogue computer controlling a Earth spaceship orbiting Venus and moving closer. Differences between the crew are tense as a runaway spaceship heads for planet Earth. *Special stars- Rik Van Nutter (CIA man Felix Leiter from 'Thunderball') stars as a obnoxious but decent reporter on a space mission. Alain Dijon as the authority figure butts heads with everyone and seems to be doing his best 'Ed Sullivan' impression ordering everyone about in the space service. The plot has a interesting black helpful and fatherly character (choreographer/actor Archie Savage) with stark white hair that provides most of the film's necessary 'exposition' to glue the film's plot together. His film presence is huge and overwhelms all others in camera frame. *Theme- Hunanity, when working together, can always beat the odds. *Based on-rocketry of the 50's. *Trivia/location/goofs- Huge 'continuity' errors in this film's photographed scenes from one to another. *Emotion- The special effects are good. The script is poor and makes this film an effort to watch.