Destination Moon (1950)

Fresh and Exciting

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Interestingly, the opening title sequence looks vaguely familiar, let's see, could it be that George Lucas could have 'borrowed' the receding prologue sequence in Star Wars from Destination Moon? Certainly this is no coincidence and a testament that there is nothing new under the sun...or moon in this case. Though dated, as so many 50's Sci-Fi films are, this one, with Heinlein's influence, attempted to be as factual as it could and showed some very sophisticated special effects for the time. In fact, the film won a Oscar for that category. The film's very striving for authenticity is the very thing that makes this film so genuinely a period piece...the lack of security at the lift site, the footage of the 'computer', the wise cracking radio man, the zero gravity sequences and, my fave...the obligatory rescue scene. All have become stereotypical features in countless films to follow...yet this is, in many ways, ground zero for films of this genre. If you are a fan of 1950's Sci-Fi, this is a must.

In 1950, Destination Moon was in a battle with Rocketship X-M for the earliest release date. There had been little like them before. You'd probably have to go back to the 30's and Flash Gordon for prior space travel films and a time when rocketships were considered kids' fare because space travel seemed such a far off reality.Moon missed out by a couple months in the release battle, but together with the more fictional Rocketship, helped usher in a whole decade of mainly teenage sci-fi. Actually, Moon is in a different sub-category since it tried to be more reality based, though its concessions to commercial values are all too obvious.Nonetheless, Moon managed to convey basic principles of space travel, including a look at a Technicolor lunar landscape, both within a popular entertainment context. For this 11-year old, the 90-minutes proved genuinely fascinating; at the same time, it introduced me to a whole new arena of movie imagination, and I expect it did the same for thousands of others, both young and old.In that sense, the movie represents a milestone in post-war film fare, and just as importantly, served as a popular introduction to the so-called space race of the 1960's. Note too, the allusions to Cold War competition for space supremacy and its military value, another timely aspect then on the national horizon.Too bad the film has become so obscure. Sure, the effects have dated in the meantime, while much of the byplay with Sweeney (Wesson) now seems a silly concession to commercialism. Nonetheless, the movie remains a milestone in the evolution of modern science-fiction, and for many of us oldsters, a striking introduction to the space age.

I wonder if America of 1950 had any greater worries than the possibility that Russia could get to the Moon before them? I bet they did, but that didn't stop Destination Moon from handling the subject with the most earnest of touches. Its serious science fiction, researched fact mixed with sober speculation and served up with a dollop of right wing attitude. I can't say as I think this one has aged terribly well in many aspects other than its effects sequences actually, though I found it broadly watchable enough. For starters I wasn't sold on the political attitude. The anti Commie slant is fair enough and not something I would expect to be given serious treatment, but I thought rather less of the idea of free enterprise bypassing the law and then being applauded when they succeeded, indeed I found it rather too simplistic. The film brings up the notion of public opinion being agitated against the idea of an atomic rocket, which is interesting, but never dwelt upon, there is mention of the possibility of a saboteur when an early rocket explodes, this is also never dwelt upon, most importantly in terms of characters little discussion goes into the possibilities of danger for the land around the site should the mission go wrong, other than that it has been evacuated. Now, I don't generally like to get into politics in cinema but here it stands out, as the writing isn't up to much, the acting is mediocre and the events too sparsely exciting. Everything seems more concerned with asserting grandeur and importance of the mission and then putting some scientific accuracy on screen, rather than drawing interesting characters to invest the audience in events or stirring up excitement. Having said this, the emphasis on accuracy is pretty interesting in itself, especially when contrasted with the lunacies of so many fellow science fiction films of the time. Destination Moon is really the result of smart minds doing their best to come up with an absolutely plausible account of man landing on the Moon and its remarkably prescient stuff, from plans of the later Apollo missions to even the first words spoken on the eventual landing in 1969. Everything comes across accurate and the special effects are excellent (they bagged an Oscar) with fun depictions of weightlessness and low gravity, some ace matte painting work and shuttle take off excitement. Cast-wise no one impresses too much and Dick Wesson irritates in a lamely written everyman role, but things just about hold together until the lightly suspenseful end. Altogether I wasn't a big fan of this one, its respectable and probably a worthy watch for the serious science fiction fan but it isn't all that much fun. A fair 5/10 from me then.

The problem I have with a lot of the early science fiction stories is that they were more often than not heavy on the fiction and light on the science. I have to give credit, therefore, to "Destination Moon." It completely reverses that. It's actually quite heavy on science and the fiction element is pretty light - at least in the sense that it treats the story very seriously. The title sums it up perfectly. A group of scientists and industrialists team up to build a rocket to travel to the moon. As it turned out those who made this movie weren't accurate prognosticators - the method of space travel portrayed (atomic powered engines) turned out not to be what eventually propelled humans to the moon - but the thoughtfulness was there, and I appreciated it. I liked the fact that the effort didn't involve the U.S. Government - in fact, the government wasn't completely supportive. It was all American (and in the context of the very early years of the Cold War the point was made that "we have to get there first or else we're in trouble") but still, it was private citizens doing this. I appreciated that. For 1950, I thought most of the effects were pretty good; the movie rarely seemed dated at all. It had a fresh look and feel pretty much the whole way through, with perhaps only the animated scenes (which were long distance views of the "astronauts" outside the rocket while in flight) looking a bit primitive. Even the Woody Woodpecker cartoon seemed appropriately placed.This isn't especially dramatic. There are a few attempts to introduce drama and excitement, but for the most part I didn't feel any real tension until the very end, when it did seem as though someone was going to have to be left behind on the moon's surface. Aside from that, it was the technical quality and the serious nature of the movie that really appealed to me. The cast (largely unknown, at least to me) was decent enough. Until seeing this, I would probably have dated "Forbidden Planet" as perhaps the earliest truly "serious" sci-fi movie made that I had seen. This was made 6 years earlier, though, and so now takes that prize. Well done, indeed! (7/10)