naseby This starts out as promising, with Paratroopers disappearing out of the sky, 'in comes Jim' (Patrick Allen) as the sort of armed forces special investigator to try to find out what's happening. If you didn't know Sean Connery's brother, Neil, was in it, just watch and you'll almost think it was Sean, as Allen's right-hand man/pal. Although his acting's pretty wooden, it's worth taking a look for this reason alone.The plot as I have said, starts off interestingly enough, but Allen is given a pseudo Anthony Hopkins Naval Officer (When Eight Bells Toll) type of persona coupled with Bond in chasing every bit of skirt that happens to come his way. Liaising with the sceptical 'Ministers' and top brass that values him (a rather uninterested-looking George Sanders) this bumbles along.The location scenery is fair and there are a rash of good supporting British actors that make it a little interesting from a British film history point of view. Patrick 'The JAW' Allen's role is much like he always can't get out of, the suave-cardigan lolloping type. He's a good enough actor, but the script here doesn't do anyone justice. The plot concerns of course, yes, you guessed it, aliens snatching our boys, an enigmatic female (Lorna) whom Allen can't wait to pounce on, which is central to the plot (not him pouncing, Lorna!).This was very 60s from Tigon at the end of the horror/sci-fi genre in British film making and it didn't do it any favours. The music score/incidental music is done to the death/lamped up almost at every moment, perhaps it helped you from dozing off in the cinema as the plot gets lost, slows and is a disappointment, as is using the 'flying saucer' from the Dr Who film 'Daleks Invasion Earth, 2150'. That part of it definitely let it down further. Again, worth watching for a good British cast a lot of us grew up with in British film making but that's about all, don't invite your friends around for pop and popcorn on this one.

pottedstu A few minutes of well-shot footage of parachute jumps and aerobatic flying seem the real impetus for this British science fiction picture. When there are no bodies hurtling towards the ground or planes shooting past each other, what's left is a bad script with far too many scenes of men in suits talking in offices and not nearly enough science or action. Since it was made for a family audience, there isn't even much in the way of female flesh.Patrick Allen and his improbably large chin take the lead. His character, a NATO troubleshooter, is big on the sub-James Bond womanising and tough posturing. Yet for all his smooth lines and fetching cardigans, he does curiously little to actually solve the mystery of disappearing military parachutists. Plot development consists of supporting characters waving a Geiger counter over a few things while Allen chases the girls.George Sanders is normally a reliable figure (see the far superior Psychomania, for instance), but he is wasted here as a personality-deficient general. Hilary Dwyer has the requisite qualities for a female star, being very pretty and a great screamer. Lorna Wilde is quite fetching as a mysterious blonde, but the rest of the cast do little.This is a competently-made film from people who understood the limitations of their budget, limitations which mean rare special effects and few action sequences. The real problem is an absence of ideas or any ambition beyond filling the screen for 90 minutes. Once all the aerial footage has been used up, what is left is a very unoriginal story with little imagination or characterisation and lots of dialogue of a "The minister isn't going to like this" type. Nonetheless, Reg Tilsley's jazz score deserves a mention, ratcheting the tension even when the most mundane action is unfolding on screen.It's hard to recommend this film when there are so many better British exploitation films from the era; it lacks even any Austin Powers-ish campness and shows nothing of 1960s Britain. As an attempt at family-friendly science fiction from Tigon, a studio better known for its sexually-frank horror, it's a slight curio of film history. For entertainment, you're better off jumping out of a plane, or even watching an in-flight movie.

Mumbingo This film is worth seeing just for the opening sequence alone. A surprise from the outset leading into a thunderous Sixties-style score, before the rot sets in. There is curiosity value for a performance from Patrick Allen (The Jaw, in what nearly amounts to a leading role) and a very rare appearance of Sean Connery's brother Neil in one of only two film roles that he made that I am aware off. Mid-way the love interest on a moonlit beach really sags and does not help the film much, while the ending is a let down and even stranger to see a prop stolen from the Doctor Who film Daleks: Invasion Earth. I almost expected Peter Cushing to materialise out of.....THIN AIR!!! Still, overall I found it...quite enjoyable!!

chinaskee Playboy aviator George Sanders is called into service by the British Government to solve the mystery of why some highly qualified British military is disappearing into thin air.About 90 minutes later there's about a minutes worth of some half-way decent special effects:that is,if you're still awake.