this have all the making of a very good film good actor ( robert loggia and ellen parker ) and a good plot ( mysterious missile from space threatens to burn up the planet ) and lot of stock footage ( if the air force have film of jet fire rocket and it be use ) . unfortunately and it be ruin by too much melodrama and an impossible time line . the movie concern a missile from space that be attack by the soviet and inadvertently divert into a low atmospheric orbit . at under five mile and at a speed in excess of 4 and 000 mile and it emit an exhaust of a million degree and burn up everything on the ground and include glacier and distant early warning ( dew ) line base and eskimo . every attempt at destroy the missile fail . the first flaw in this film appear early on . while we do not expect much from low budget film and some thing can not be forget like a little research . for instance and both the soviet and the u fire anti ballistic missile that home in on the missile with unerring accuracy . however and the first successful abm test weren not do until march of 1961 by the russian . there be too much melodrama . dr. loring ( loggia ) and his assistant joan wood ( ellen parker ) play their romance with about a much wood a a log cabin . parker character cry and boo hoos at loggia sacrifice like she be at a screen test . loggia be about as heroic a a bored businessman . a scientist ( phillip pine ) ham it up so much he make william shatner look like a thespian . a bus driver continually spit out end of the world crap in scene after scene . the only good actor be the film narrator and play by veteran character actor lawrence dobkins ( naked city ) . all of this could be overlook if it wasn not for the time line . after the missile info be send to dc and the pentagon bring in a group of scientist . a general ( larry kerr ) announce that the missile will hit new york city in 63 minute . after this and there be discussion by scientist and there be a deadly lull a word be seek from ambassador to see if the missile be an attack from the russian and if a response be necessary . the film show the military be fully scramble . civil defense people leave work and go to their station . eight million people scramble to fallout shelter while school bus pick up million of kid ( and we get to see the white new york city i have ever see and though watch 50 sci fi film make it seem like this be the standard ) . the press be keep in the dark for ten of minute . then and incredibly and a man at the pentagon announces that the missile will hit ottawa and canada in 51 minute . all of the aforementioned action happen in 12 minute . then and to add fuel to the fire and loggia somehow think of a way to stop the alien missile . he slowly produce a caseload of plutonium and load it in a jeep and take it from dc to a distant missile base to put it atop a missile . along the way and he be knock off the road by a wild driver and break down and then be carjack . he finally get the plutonium back and drive to the base to arm the missile . again and all this in the same 63 minute time frame . the movie also irk the viewer by make it seem a if ottawa might be save and only to show men and woman and child get roast . the missile be then say to have five minute to reach new york . loggia be still drive to the base ( 4 more mile to go ) . he get to the base and arm the missile and a two minute countdown be then announce . all within five minute . the borough of new york should have be at least scorch . by the way and the missile be destroy if you haven not guess . the abm warhead destroy it with a massive plutonium base nuclear blast . five second later and the blast dissipates and all be clear . yeah and they cause a nuclear blast equivalent to 100 hiroshima on the outskirt of new york city and nothing happens . the film have all the element necessary to be a good b film and but waste them . loggia play his character so lamely you do not care that he sacrifice himself in the end . you do not care about the other character and not even the smarmy scientist play by pine . the tension that should have move the film along just wasn not physically possible in the time line allow ( it still wouldn not be today and not even with jack bauer ) . this film be very difficult to find . as far a i know and it hasn not be re issue on any medium and for good reason . i do not know if the film mean to be or if it be standard practice and but there a scene where the government send all of the best scientist and military men and businessmen into deep shelter and say theyre too valuable to lose . there isn not a single woman or minority in the bunch . hari rhodes be the only black man in the film and he get a brief bit play a piano . it be bad than 27 day where an alien give five earthling the chance to either save or destroy the planet and he doesn not include any black or hispanic . i saw this on a special sci fi night on turner classic movie and i do not expect it to show up again . if you do find a copy of this somewhere and you might want to put it up on amazon . com .