I didn't see this as a kid, but in my 50s,when it appeared as some Saturday afternoon movie.A combination of an alien creature with atomic bombs, multi-staged rockets and communist threats kind of threw everything into one basket so this was probably a stretch even when it was made. Add to that making the main protagonists a group of children muddied it up even further.The acting was pretty good. Since I knew Russell Johnson only as the Professor, it was fascinating to see him playing the ugly, tough guy role he was known for. Michel Ray was too dreamy-eyed and hammy, even for a kid. Jackie Coogan was fun and Peggy Webber adorable. The science, on the other hand, was pretty bad but that's to be expected. As others have noted, it was way too preachy and pie-in-the-sky. The alien was interesting but not particularly compelling.Overall not a bad way to spend 90 minutes on a slow day, but if it's sunny outside, let it go.

I can't understand the low rating this interesting film has on IMDb either! I just watched it for the first time, and I found it very entertaining, compelling, atmospheric, and ahead of its time. The most interesting aspect of the film is not the cold war intrigue but the war between the old and new generations. The children (with the guidance/power/control of a growing, glowing alien brain) rebel against their military-industrial complex parents. The parents attempt to fight back, resorting to physical violence against their own kids twice in the movie. In the end (mild spoiler alert here) the kids get the upper hand. One of the most interesting lines for me comes at the admittedly heavy-handed preachy ending (what 50's sci-fi film would be complete without a pedantic lecture about the dangers of man and science going too far?). But here, the leader of the rebellious alien-allied children says something about how ALL the children of the world joined together to oppose the military buildup. "You mean all the children in Russia and Prague too?" says one of the military leaders. And this, a full 10 years before Prague spring and the Democratic Convention Riots. Someone saw the youth revolt coming!It's a great looking film too. The landscapes are so bleak and eerie, and the children's faces are so interesting and ambiguous. So much is done with silent looks in this movie! And forget about whatever silly TV shows you might have seen the actors in, the performances are good. Russell Johnson (aka, The Professor) is a great physical actor here, and Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester) is good too. The best performance though is the leader of the children, Michel Ray, who is impressively understated and subtle for such a young actor. This is a smart, well made movie, much better than Invaders from Mars (which has a rating on IMDb exactly twice as high as The Space Children). I say you should definitely give it a chance.

Leave it to the director of several excellent 1950s sci-fi flicks to take a no-budget plot and turn it into one of the best and most intelligent Cold War melodramas of the period. CHILDREN concerns a brain-like alien blob that teleports to Earth with the purpose of stopping the American military from launching a nuclear weapon into orbit. To do so, it enlists the aid of several children residing on base. For reasons best known to the script writers, the blob keeps growing in size, until it is the size of a tank. The acting is at least of TV quality, the production solid. No big names in the cast, but pay attention to the actress playing little Edie. This actress dropped out of Hollywood early on, which is a shame since one can see her potential here. For old-time TV buffs, watch for Uncle Fester, the Professor (minus Maryann) and the McCain kid.

Somewhere on the California coast, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, a small group of scientists, engineers and technicians working in a secured base are preparing to test-launch a six-stage rocket carrying a satellite with a nuclear warhead: The Thunderer. The satellite is designed to be an immediate-response strike against enemy aggression, anywhere in the world. It is supposed that other nations are preparing similar satellites and weapons....Unbeknownst to the powers that be, other minds have reason to want to see the project fail, and utilize an unsuspected resource to carry out their plans...This small but effective little sci-fi tale is long on atmosphere, novel in viewpoint and execution, and well worth a couple of viewings for fans of the '50's sci-fi genre.More than a few familiar cast members, and an impressive band of juvenile performers, under Jack Arnold's sure and spare directorial hand, give this a fresh and simple feel, and don't spend a lot of time hammering home its message (rare for the immediate post-Sputnik years).