Though the anti-Communist hysteria in America peaked in the early-mid 1950s, it didn’t vanish entirely as the nation entered the next decade. For evidence of this, we go to 1960’s Rocket Attack USA.

When a Soviet satellite appears over US soil, the government reacts. This sends American agent John Manston (John McKay) to Moscow in an attempt to discern the goals behind this.

Along with Soviet defector Tanya (Monica Davis), Manston learns that the Soviets intend to launch a missile assault on the US. The pair work to foil this plot.

As seen elsewhere on this disc, Rocket eventually became the target of mockery as part of the satirical Mystery Science Theater 3000 series. That should offer a clue that the film – shot in 1958 but not released for a couple years - won’t offer a quality production.

Honestly, I think MST3K tended to go after low-hanging fruit, and that becomes the case for Rocket. A severely low-budget little exploitation flick, I doubt anyone involved felt they were making anything more than cheap drive-in fodder.

That said, even with the low expectations that come with productions of this sort, Rocket really does offer a pretty terrible movie. I won’t even call it so bad that it’s good, as it seems far too dull to achieve that status.

Rocket fills barely 64 minutes of cinematic real estate. How can such a short film feel so intensely padded?

I suspect the aforementioned crazy low budget contributed to the choice to fill out Rocket with so much material essentially unrelated to the main plot. After all, scenes of violent conflict cost money, so bargain basement filmmakers need to find other ways to flesh out the running time.

In this case, much of Rocket consists of footage that just shows the research and assembly of US missiles. We also end up with seemingly endless shots of Russian performers while Manston waits to connect with Tanya.

These choices rob Rocket of any potential tension and mean we barely find a plot. Instead, we locate a collection of vaguely related scenes that barely manage to point toward one overriding tale and this results in an essentially incoherent final product.

Though clearly viewed as comedy now, I find Rocket too dull to turn into camp fun. In particular, the actors tend to underplay their parts in a way that ensures we get no unintentional laughs from their work.

At least if they overacted, they’d create some humor. Instead, all involved come across as so wooden and stiff that they drag down an already dull enterprise.

Though Rocket provides intensely poor visual effects – even for its era – those become the least of its worries. Dull, meandering and pointless, Rocket can’t entertain even as goofy fun.

Note that this Blu-ray credits the film’s title as Rocket Attack, USA. While a movie poster included that comma, the credits don’t so I went with the more logical Rocket Attack USA for my discussion.

Rocket Attack USA appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This doesn’t mean alternating ratios, as instead, the viewer gets the option of which he/she prefers.

In terms of quality, both appeared identical. Framing differed in that the 1.37:1 presentation goes with “open matte” and 1.85:1 cropped it.

I suspect the movie ran 1.85:1 but who knows? Select whichever you prefer.

No matter what version you screen, expect bland visuals. Though the disc’s cover states the movie boasts a “NEW HD PRINT”, the end product looks flat.

This mainly impacted sharpness, as Rocket never offered appealing delineation. At best, the image showed mediocre definition, but it usually came across as softer than that.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Lots of grain came along for the ride, and probably too much, as I suspect this stemmed from an inferior print.

At least the movie lacked notable source flaws. A few streaks cropped up but Rocket looked much cleaner than I expected.

Blacks seemed mushy and grey, while shadows appeared dull. The absence of source flaws forced me to give this one a “C-“, but it really didn’t become an attractive presentation in any manner.

Don’t expect anything better from the bland DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, as it seemed weak. Granted, I don’t expect much from mixes created for no-budget movies shot in 1958, but even by those standards, the audio became iffy.

Speech came across as muddy, with decent but occasionally dodgy intelligibility. Music felt shrill and lacked range.

Effects seemed bland and distorted during louder moments. I got the impression noise reduction techniques impacted the track and created a muffled vibe. Given the film’s age and origins, I thought the mix deserved a “C-“, but as with the picture, that was a grudging “C-“.

As we head to extras, we find an audio commentary from film historians C. Courtney Joyner and Mark Legan. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at genre domains, cast and crew, some historical context and their view of the movie.

We get a light and rollicking track here, as the guys understand they must discuss a silly film. They balance their jovial mockery of the flick with good notes related to it, though Joyner needs to do the heavy lifting, as Legan gets some facts wrong at times.

Next comes the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Rocket. Aired in 1990, it runs one hour, 37 minutes, 35 seconds.

If you wonder how a 64-minute movie fills a 98-minute episode, this occurs because the show also includes some character sketches as well as the leads’ look at the 1939 Bela Lugosi short The Phantom Creeps. That one occupies about 20 minutes.

The Rocket segment doesn’t launch until 28 minutes, 32 seconds into the program and it goes until 1:33:14, with breaks and sketch comedy to fill in the rest.

Obviously MST3K enjoyed its fans but I admit I don’t find much humor in their shtick. Anyway, those who enjoy their work will feel happy to get this episode.

Along with the movie’s re-cut trailer, we get two offerings under Atomic Era Shorts Collection Part 2. The disc features 1951’s Our Cities Must Fight (8:46) and 1956’s Warning Red (13:50).

Both offer a combination of PSA and propaganda, with a slant toward the latter category. They suffer from poor quality but they nonetheless offer good historical artifacts.

The set concludes with a booklet that provides art and essays from film historians Don Stradley and Toby Roan. It adds value to the package.

Even if one enters Rocket Attack USA with minimal expectations, one will still find a borderline unwatchable film. It doesn’t even bring campy fun, as it becomes a dull and amateurish experience. The Blu-ray provides sub-mediocre picture and audio along with a few bonus materials. Nothing here works.

Note that this Blu-ray of Rocket Attack USA comes as part of a double feature along with 1952’s Invasion USA.