L'umanoide (1979)

Country of Origin: Italy
Year of Production: 1979
Running Times: 100 mins
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio:
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Merope
Producer: Giorgio Venturini
Production Supervisor: Cecilia Bigazzi
Production Manager: Viero Spadoni
Unit Manager: Giuliano Principato

SCRIPT
Script: Adriano Bolzoni, Aldo Lado
Story: Adriano Bolzoni

DIRECTION
Director: George B. Lewis (real name: Aldo Lado)
2nd Unit Director: Enzo Castellari
1st Assistant Director: Nello Vanin
2nd Assistant Director: Walter Italici

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Silvano Ippoliti
2nd Unit Camera Operator: Giovanni Bergamini
Stills: Bruno Bruni, Roma's Press Photo
Film Stock: Kodak
Labs: Movielab; Technospes S.p.a.

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Mario Morra

MUSIC
Music: Ennio Morricone
Music Recorded and Published By: RCA S.p.A.

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Ugo Celani
Dubbing Mixer: Romano Checcacci
Sound Re-Recording: Fono Roma
Sound Editor: Massimo Anzellotti
Dialogue Recording: Minotaur Photoplay
Sound Effects: Luciano Anzellotti

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Giannetto De Rossi
Hair: Mirella Sforza
Wigs: Rocchetti e Carboni
Costume Designer: Luca Sabatelli
Wardrobe Supervisor: Nadia Vitali
Costumes: G.P. 11 Safas Cantini
Shoes: Pompei

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Supervisor: Antony M. Dawson (real name: Antonio Margheriti)
Special Effects: Armando Valcauda

VISUAL EFFECTS
Optical Effects: Ermanno Biamonte, Studio 4, Studio Verzini
Models: Emilio Ruiz, Paolo Zeccara

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Giacomo Caló Carducci
Set Dresser: Alessandro Alberti
Property Master: Giuseppe Ranieri
Construction Manager: Stefano Ortolani
Scenic Designer: Enzo Bulgarelli
Draperies: D'Angelo

MISCELLANEOUS
Publicist: Enrico Lucherini
Insurance Consulting: Cinesicurtà
Arms: Rancati

LOCATIONS
Studio: Cinecittá S.p.A. Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

STUNTS
Stunt Arrangers: Rocco Lerro, Freddy Unger (real name: Goffredo Unger)

CAST
Richard Kiel (Golob)
Corinne Clery (Barbara Gibson)
Leonard Mann (Nick)
Barbara Bach (Lady Agatha)
Arthur Kennedy (Dr Kraspin)
Ivan Rassimov (Lord Graal)
Marco Yeh (Tom Tom)
Massimo Serato (Great Brother)
Venantino Venantini
Vito Fornari
Giuseppe Quaglio
Attilio Duse

PLOT SUMMARY

The evil Graal sets in motion a plan to overthrow his brother, the ruler of the planet Metropolis, using a chemical newly developed by mad scientist Dr Kraspin. It transforms ordinary humans into killing machines as they prove when they test it on pilot Golob, turning him into an indestructible, superhuman assassin.

CAPSULE REVIEW

One of the best of the Italian Star Wars (1977) knock-offs, which isn't really saying all that much, but at least it's fun. Stupid, but fun. Ivan Rassimov's bad guy is hilariously ineffective, Ennio Morricone's score sounds like it was written on a very bad day and the kid is deeply, deeply annoying. Still, given a choice between this and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Lado's dumb but loveable film wins out every time.

AVAILABILITY

USA
Theatrical Distributors: AIP

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Norway
Rating: 15

West Germany
Rating: 12

TIMELINE

1979
March
21: Italy - passed by the ratings board

April
11: Italy - theatrical release

June
22: West Germany – theatrical release

August
8: France - theatrical release

POSTER TAGS

Light years beyond tomorrow...

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

The Humanoid - US title
El humanoide - Spanish title
Humanoidi - Finnish title
Kampf um die 5. Galaxis - West German title
Robot mennesket - Norwegian title

KEYWORDS

dogs, the future, post-apocalypse, robots, scientists, space wars, spaceships

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008