First Men in the Moon (1964)

I wanted to but couldn't!

Don't Believe the Hype

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This adaptation of HG Wells work tries hard but never quite clicks. The actors are very good (Lionel Jeffries is a real hoot)but the lines they're given don't seem to shine with any profundity or emotion, they're just going through the motions.The science is what it is. Though vastly more accurate than Wells' depiction, it was outdated even in 1964. I was just a 10 year old proto-nerd when it came out but I knew better than to buy it.But it is Harryhausen's contribution that makes this worth your time. Of course the Dynamation pales in comparison to modern CGI. I'm sure kids would see it as laughable. But for those of us who grew up watching schlocky sci-fi in the 50s and 60s that were filled with poor quality special effects it is simply magnificent.

This is one of those adaptations of works of authors like Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, and H. G. Welles. While short on science, it's a fun venture into the stars. Of course, there is a simplistic romance that goes on. The space ship is primitive at best and wouldn't work at all, but we are in the realm of the speculators. This is played tongue in cheek and there are lots of funny bits. But it is a story of courage and effort to find out about the great beyond. There is an interesting confidence in the principle character. These writers weren't accurate scientifically, but they brought joy to the people of the time. Watch this for its colorful presentation of the great stories.

A typical slice of British science fiction, this is an ultimate B-movie, full of awful special effects, hilarious acting, and an outlandish plot. It's a bit like THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, only ten years earlier and with space instead of history. Thankfully, the film also has its tongue firmly in cheek, unlike the earlier FIRST MAN INTO SPACE which was so stultifyingly serious as to be almost boring. The cast are obviously enjoying themselves a lot here, and the spirit of the thing rubs off on the viewer as well.While there are a few neat original scenes in the film, most of it simply rips off what has gone before. The theme of travel to the moon was already done 14 years earlier with DESTINATION MOON. The alien leader looks a bit like the guy from INVADERS FROM MARS, while the moment where Judd and Jeffries discover their space sphere has been dragged away through a huge door is directly ripped off from THE TIME MACHINE. If you've seen both the films, the similarities are overwhelming. There is even conflict between the heroes, as one wants to communicate with the aliens, the other destroy them, bringing to mind films like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, which explored similar friendly/destructive issues. At the end the aliens are killed by the common cold, just like in WAR OF THE WORLDS. Is this film better than the sum of its parts? Not really, but it's a whole lot of fun anyway.Still, even if the film isn't original, there are still plenty of reasons to watch. Action is always of the utmost importance, so things don't get bogged down in scientific jargon. What science there is, about a helium liquid which protects against gravity, is totally ridiculous, yet explained in such a serious way that you almost wonder if it is in fact possible (thanks in part to Nigel Kneale, scriptwriter). You can also sit back and enjoy the many cheap, makeshift special effects in the form of rubber-suited alien dwarfs, buildings exploding, and the space craft itself, let's just say it's pretty obvious the special effects guys were 13 light years behind STAR WARS.The cast is also excellent, with only the underwritten role of Martha Hyer being disappointing (yes, all she does is scream and have to be rescued, incredibly sexist these days). The role of the square-jawed hero is played admirably by Edward Judd (ISLAND OF TERROR), an actor whose performances I've always enjoyed. However, the show is stolen by one Lionel Jeffries whose endless comic relief provides a constant source of amusement. In fact he plays his character very similar to the way Peter Cushing played Doctor Who - fussy, funny and crazy. Further down in the cast list, we have solid comic relief from Miles Malleson, while Marne Maitland, one of Hammer's favourite foreigners, appears fleetingly.There are other reasons to enjoy the film, apart from the outstanding cast. Firstly, the clever framing device which updates H G Wells' original story to contemporary times; the wraparound story makes the most of the then-current 'space race'. Secondly, some great stop motion animation work from that SFX master, Ray Harryhausen, the man responsible for some of the most memorable monsters of all time. Here, he gives us some giant killer maggots, and also some weird, spooky alien creatures. Harryhausen's work here certainly isn't his best (it may even be his worst), but it's still ahead of contemporaries. The aliens are pretty memorable in their weirdness, the effectiveness only being detracted by some brief moments of rubber suited aliens (obviously Harryhausen had neither the time nor the budget to make more than two or three stop motion aliens). These factors help to make FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, while admittedly no classic, a fun, exciting science fiction adventure in the quaintest British tradition. They just don't make films like these anymore!

Once Ray Harryhausen hit his stride with Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, he practically never looked back. First Men In The Moon was a bit of a hiccup.It's not an unsuccessful movie as such, but it's not terribly successful as a vehicle for Harryhausen's particular artistry, and this is because there isn't a great deal of opportunity for the type of effects sequence in which he specialised.It is an adaptation of HG Wells' story about an eccentric inventor who invents an anti-gravity substance which he paints on a sphere which becomes the vehicle for his moon trip, framed with a non-Wells (then-)contemporary sequence. Lionel Jeffries plays inventor Cavor very well: it is not his fault that the character, as written, is profoundly irritating. Edward Judd has more luck (but not much) as impetuous everyman Bedford, and Martha Hyer is called upon to stay there where it's safe a lot.Set design is terrific, physical effects are fine, but Harryhausen's work seems a little lacklustre, perhaps due to the technical difficulties encountered in readying effects for the widescreen format used: there are even moments when you notice sub-par registration of different elements in an effects shot.Not a failure, but not wonderful either.