Movie Review: The Cat From Outer Space

Is this what awaits us in Area 51?

Today is the day, the day in which around 2 million internet denizens shall storm the elusive, Area 51 base in Nevada. Will we get to "see dem aliens", and will they be as cuddly as our titular character in this week's movie review? The movie in question is the cult classic live-action Disney film The Cat From Outer Space. The 1978 film takes the beloved combination of cats and sci-fi and makes it the focus of the movie, when a feline like alien is in a race against the clock to fix his spaceship before the rest of his race leave him behind. Luckily our furry hero, Jake (Ronnie Schell as voice and Rumpler and Amber as the purr-formers) is able to get help from military scientist, Frank (Ken Berry), his wacky buddy Link (McLean Stevenson) and his love interest, Liz (Sandy Duncan). By the way, pre-purr yourselves this re-mew is going to be full of cat puns.

The movie opens like how any "space invasion" film does, on a farm in rural America, owned by a old couple. The old farmers are awoken when a mysterious spacecraft lands on their property, and though they do investigate a bit, they quickly make the rational decision to call the US military. Before they arrive however, the ship opens up to reveal just who or what this alien is, a small cat named Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7... okay, maybe Jake is a better name. It is revealed that he had crash landed there, but when trying to call mothership for a rescue he is told that they will not be able to come for him because they are leaving the galaxy in approximately sixty-four hours, which isn't long to repair his ship. Luckily being a cat, sneaking around isn't too hard for him as he manages to sneak aboard a military Jeep as the humans take his ship to a classified hanger believing it to be a Russian air-craft, oh cold war era movies and your conspiracies.

After getting a good idea of his predicament, Zunar sticks around hidden to look for some help. That help comes in the form of Dr. Frank Wilson who catches the cat's attention upon hearing his theory on how the ship must work. The cat follows Frank to office where upon being found, Frank thinking him to be a normal cat accepts him as a buddy and gives him the name, Jake. After successfully invited his colleague and love interest Liz on a date, this is when Jake finally fully reveals himself to the human. Of course Frank is a bit shocked at first, though he takes it rather well after watching Jake demonstrate his powers. They make a deal that Frank will help Jake fix his ship and in return Jake will teach Frank about his spe-cat-acular scientific knowledge.

In purr-suit of advanced knowledge, Frank reluctantly cancels his date with Liz, making the excuse that Jake is sick and needs to see a vet. Luckily despite being a scientist, employed by the US military, Liz buys it (Because God forbid a woman be smart, and beautiful). The two manage to sneak into the hanger, unknowingly being followed by an actual Russian spy, but don't worry that isn't important until the last one-third of the film. Using a spare collar from the spaceship, we are greeted to a scene where Frank spends what felt like five minutes telepathically flying around using the collar (well actually they're using partially visible wires, but that isn't as fun to say, is it?). After some troubleshooting Jake finds out his ship needs a small amount of what he calls "Org 12", which is revealed to be gold. However, it is revealed that they need $120,000 worth of it. No wonder Disney won't remake this movie, in today's terms that's nearly half a million dollars! The two are then spotted and now they must escape the base. After some running around, Frank steals a motorcycle and Jake makes it jump over the fence in a ET-esque manner. Although ET will not have come out until 4 years after this movie's release... wait, did ET steal it's most iconic scene from The Cat From Outer Space!?

The duo return to Frank's apartment disappointed because there is no way they can afford to buy that much gold. They are then interrupted when Frank's moocher of a friend Link comes by to watch a horse race on tv he bet some money on. Jake, at first wanting Link to leave, makes the horse he bet on win the race, using his plot-convenience-collar™. Jake and Frank then get a idea, but first they need to convince Link that the cat is a alien who can win him all his bets. Link at first is very reluctant to believe, until Jake telepathically lifts him up. The three then make tons of bets on three different football games, at first this is a purr-fect plan, until during the second football game they are interrupted by Liz as Frank had rescheduled their date to that day, and she brought along her cat Lucybelle, which Jake promptly falls heads over heels for of course. 

After a series of misunderstandings, Liz brings the resident vet in the apartment building over to Frank's apartment, believing Jake to still be sick. The vet then uses drugs to make Jake fall asleep. After kicking the vet out, Frank has to now explain their cat-astrophe to Liz, who doesn't need any parlor tricks to convince. The four now head off to the folks (mafia) who handle Link's bets to cancel them. Upon arrival though it is revealed it is too late, so they try to come up with another idea. They decide to have Liz play a game of billiards while they gamble away their life savings. Since Jake is still asleep, Frank tries to use it to manipulate the game in their favor, failing terribly. Just when all hope seems lost, Jake finally wakes up, now with their hopes restored, they make the ultimate bet, and as you have probably already guessed, it goes incredibly! Thanks to Jake they win the $120,000 they need to buy the gold, they never show the buying of it though. The movie cuts back to the apartment where Jake uses his powers to shrink the block of gold to what he needs for his ship. The military then barge in on them, attempting to capture them, but are temporarily frozen by Jake. Our group of heroes now head back to the military base where they fix the spaceship. Now it was after this part where my brain officially checked out. 

Remember the spy I mentioned, yeah, that's relevant now. He and his boss kidnap Liz and Lucybelle and hold them hostage, wanting Jake's collar in return. Jake wants to help, but with his ship fixed, he needs to return to mothership now, or be stranded on Earth forever. After thinking it over, Jake selflessly makes the decision to stay on Earth and help save the girls. The military are also chill now, I don't know what happened there. Jake fixes and flies a broken down biplane to have Frank save Liz and her cat who are trapped in a run-away helicopter. After the arial rescue scene that goes on too long, we cut to a courtroom where Jake has not only been declared now a re-purr-resentive of a off-world friendly power, but is also approved to be a citizen of the United States. Jake may like it on Earth, but just wait until he finds out he has to get neutered.

That was, The Cat From Outer Space. Despite it's many flaws and general campiness, it's still rather enjoyable to watch all of Jake's antics, it also helps that he is very adorable. Purr-sonally I would recommend giving this film a watch, and who knows maybe you'll end up joining the niche fanbase for this flick. I would've considered giving it a three out of five, but it's so enjoyable to watch, whether you are laughing at or with it. Though it's not a five either because of the last twenty-five or so minutes of the movie. Thus this extraterrestrial feline earns a humble score of 4 Paws out of 5.