Released in Europe in 1958 but not until 1961 here in the States, this Italian-French co-production was co-directed by Paolo Heusch and (an uncredited) Mario Bava, who did the cinematography and special effects. A manned mission to the moon has to be aborted. The astronauts eject, but the atomic missile booster continues, exploding in an asteroid belt that dislodges many of them from their orbit, sending them hurtling towards Earth. As the tight cluster of gargantuan rocks approach, tidal waves, earthquakes, high winds and firestorms plague the planet. Is our world doomed? Hero scientist/astronaut, John McClaren (Swiss actor, Paul Hubschmid, veteran star of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) labors with scores of others to find a solution to the onrushing cataclysm. Wunderkind Bava was also responsible for the ingenious assembly of the prodigious amount of disaster stock footage here.
“The Day the Sky Exploded… drums up a bit of suspense and believability, just so long as you don’t ask how 3,000 A-bombs happened to be on warhead rockets capable of reaching outer space on a moment’s notice.” – Wild Realm Reviews
