MOON-WALK ANNIVERSARY: It was 45 years ago today that Apollo 11 made its historic moon landing during an eight-day flight that would redefine the limits of human space travel. All these years later, Armstrong and Aldrin remain part of an elite group: less than a dozen other people have since walked on the surface of the moon. The moon has always been an object of wonder for human-kind, hoping to touch it, reach it. Here are some of the best vintage films made about attaining the moon: A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902): Georges Méliès’ 14-minute film is the first science fiction movie ever made, and at its time exceptionally advanced in terms of its special effects and use of animation. Based very loosely on works by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells it was not available in its complete form until 2002, when the ending sequence was discovered in a French barn; you can catch the newly-restored version on the 2012 Blu-ray release. BY ROCKET TO THE MOON /FRAU IM MOND (1929): Perhaps not one of Fritz Lang’s masterpieces, but this could well be the first “serious” movie about travelling to the moon: actual rocket designers (one of which may have been Werner von Braun) were used as consultants, hence the film’s portrayal of a multi-stage rocket. THINGS TO COME (1936): Screenplay written by H.G. Wells, Things to Come tells the story of a future history where a decades-long war is followed by a period of advanced technology and space travel – including a cannon able to fire a craft that circles the moon and returns to Earth. DESTINATION MOON (1950): An early stab at a realistic account of a Moon mission, George Pals film sees a consortium of industrialists financing a rocket launch – rather like Elon Musks current efforts. Unlike most 50s sci-fi movies, there are no bug-eyed monsters here – the biggest danger the crew face is equipment failure, pre-empting the Apollo 13 mission. FROM EARTH TO THE MOON (1958): Based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name (which also inspired A Trip to the Moon), this Technicolor romp, set just after the end of the American Civil War, concerns a munitions expert that invents the most powerful explosive of all time – in other words, the perfect propellent for a rocket to the Moon. Sadly (and somewhat hilariously), a slashing of the budget due to studio RKO’s collapse led to all the scenes taking place on the moon being cut.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 18:18:22 +0000
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