De la tierra a la luna

Rocketship X-M is a solid film, and is a darker, less optimistic effort than 1951's "Flight to Mars". The 50th anniversary DVD edition is amazing, and the "Sepiacolor" scenes on the martian surface are quite effective.

Buffs will notice that the very brief (5 second) image of the ship on the surface is a different image than in the original. The use of Death Valley for the Martian surface (at dusk) is much more effective that in scenes from Flight to Mars, which were probably all shot in a studio. Lloyd Bridges is in love with himself even more than he is with the German girl scientist on board - which is kind of nauseating - but overall, the film is a favorite.

Classical music lovers will take note of the music score by Ferde Grofe, better know for his Grand Canyon Suite and other orchestral works.

Got to remembering this old flick lately and decided to try to find a copy. Imagine my suprise when I found it in a dual pack which included "Destination Moon" (1950). Bought them both in a heartbeat! Although both are "primitively" produced I personally think they did a good job for what they had to work with. I would be a gas to see a remake of both using todays technology.

I low-rated this film for years -- but for all the wrong reasons. There's one key scene in the film, and if the viewer misses the point of this scene, the whole story seems ridiculous and badly done. Some sci-fi fans tend to reject stories that have a spiritual element in the plot. Don't reject this one until you've given it a fair chance. The story involves a lunar mission which suffers engine failure en route. After repairing the engines, the ship accelerates too fast, causing the crew to black out. When they regain consciousness, they discover that the ship is within a few hundred thousand miles of Mars. This is the part that used to bother me. How the heck could a ship accidentally go to Mars? The odds against this are about the same as the odds against evolution being true (oops, that different soap box. Continuing...) But the scientist in charge of the mission specifically states that the only way this could have happened was by the act of a `higher power'. Most reviews do not mention this important idea. The rocket did NOT accidentally go to Mars. You'll have to watch the movie to find out why the `higher power' brought them to Mars. Suffice it to say, the reason was good enough to have been copied by dozens of later films. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And while your watching, keep your ears open for the great music by Ferde Grofe, with the very first use of a therimin in sci-fi films. During the 1970s, the rights to `Rocketship X-M' were bought by Wade Williams for $2,000 (what a deal!). He had seen the film as a child and loved it. Williams shot a series of redone special effects scenes which are now part of the prerecorded tape and DVD. He even makes an on-screen appearance as one of the characters in a long shot of the ship on the Martian surface. Consider the irony in this -- Williams saw the movie as kid, and LATER he actually appeared in it! Marty McFly, eat your heart out!

Writer-Producer-Director Kurt Neumann put together an excellent ensemble cast, and accomplished having Lippert Pictures finance this $96,000 venture in 1950. This is a simple picture that works due to fine direction, players and technical staff. Karl Struss, one of Hollywood's most admired photographers, lensed the picture. One of the best known American composers, Ferde Grofe, wrote the musical score, and one reviewer found it more original than John Williams' STAR WARS score. Although the technical knowledge that exists today dates the picture somewhat, this picture is not campy because it has a serious tone to it, and most audiences key in on that. The original soundtrack recording of the score received an LP release on the Starlog label during the 70's. There are now moves underfoot to re-record the entire score for a CD release, possibly in 2001.

ROCKETSHIP XM received some updates in the 70s, when some new special effects scenes were shot and released on VHS. This version is currently available from video sources.

This is one I've carried in my memory for years.

Without the Technicolor budget of George Pal and Robert Heinlein's "Destination Moon," "Rocketship X-M" succeeds in becoming a far more meaningful and memorable pre-"2001" science fiction film.

"Destination Moon" attempts a "scientific" preview of man's first lunar visit. Of course, this effort seriously dates the movie (I also smile at the rather whimsical, seat-of-the-pants, "outsider" endeavors of our heros as they manfully put forth, launching their rocket one-step ahead of the narrow-minded "authorities." Okay, so much for that!).

Rocketship X-M had to vie with "D.M." for entertainment bucks at the box office. X-M's b&w budget (with special effects courtesy of White Sands V-2 stock footage and model-making of the string and cardboard variety) didn't allow the producers to throw a lot of "science" at us, however. What they did have going for them, however, were a few excellent character actors doing star-turns for a change of career-pace, a script by Dalton Trumbo, music by Ferde Grofe, and excellent -- and evocative -- sound and camera work...etc.

Granted: The film's overall messages are a bit simplistic -- nuclear war is bad and should be avoided and the human spirit for exploration and discovery cannot be put down by failure and difficulty (I guess they never considered budget shortfalls as a "failure of spirit"). These ideas are, at least, given voice here during what was, after all, a dangerous era in American politics. Remember, Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted!

The science? Okay, it sucks. Who cares!? Science fiction, to my liking, is less about science and numbers than it is about people and life. This has all of that and carries it forward with distinction and class.

When I first saw this movie as a kid, I remember being truly frightened by the bleak view of a post-apocalyptic Mars and shivered in disbelief then terror at the onrushing tragedy of the about-to-crash rocket bearing the two doomed lovers and their sole-surviving crew-mate (a young Hugh O'Brien) to a fiery demise over the Ural Mountains. The producers did a terrific job with what they had and they deserve a great deal of credit.