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I feel tvholic's views are a bit harsh. It mustn't be forgotten that Verne wrote this in 1865 some thirty years before Wells wrote 'War of the Worlds". It must also be remembered that RKO was going broke at the time so special effects were not what they should have been. Stars Joseph Cotten and George Sanders did well with the script they had. Where this will not go down as a great sci fi movie, it is still an interesting one if for no other reason than the interplay between Cotten and Sanders.

Stories like War of the Worlds, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Around the World in 80 Days have lent themselves to the use of special effects and unfortunately for this film, the film production company did not have the wherewithal to have effects in the same class as the aforementioned three.

The first half of this movie was surprisingly close to Jules Verne's novel of the same name. However, once the projectile begins heading to the moon, the plot changes significantly--and you can only assume it was because the studio was broke and keeping everyone in the sabotaged ship was a cost-savings measure. Ultimately, this RKO film was released by Warner Brothers because of the bankruptcy.

The story is set about 1870 in the United States. Mr. Barbicane (Joseph Cotten) is a munitions magnet who announces he's developed a super-explosive. His rival, Styvesant Nicholl (George Sanders) isn't impressed and says his metal plate can withstand anything...and soon after Barbicane blows the plate to pieces. So what is Barbicane going to do with the new formula, Power-X? He intends to use it to blast a projectile to the moon and back! Foolishly, Barbicane brings along his rival...not realizing Nicholl is a bit of a maniac!

For a going out of business film, it is surprising that one was made in color and actually looks good. It also has some decent actors in the script. But the film does suffer a bit here and there due to some lulls and the movie sadly just abandoned Verne's script halfway through the film. Decent and watchable but it could have been much more...especially if they'd geared up for a sequel as Verne had a follow-up book that continued the story.

To bad many of the comments here seem to be from jaded action film viewers. They can't seem to appreciate this films many merits including the fact it's a showcase for Cotton's and Sander's enormous talents. Talents to rarely used after their heydays in Hollywood. They both do a marvelous job here, especially Cotton. Yeah, compared to the action packed plot less junk we have today this may seem "slow" in comparison. But there is much more to this film then the gun fights, explosions, and "cool" space battles people seem to require these days. The colorful sets and the acting are a joy to see. And if you look just below the surface you'll find this a refreshing variation on the typical "horrors of atomic energy" films so popular in the 50s.

If you have an open mind and love sci-fi films that dare to be different for their time, you should enjoy this.

Byron Haskin was a science fiction specialist, for the big screen and also the TV industry: OUTER LIMITS, the best known and most terrific sci-fi series ever made, the most daring, brilliant, and which Byron Haskin was a lead director, with Gerd Oswald too. So it was not a surprise to enjoy this historical and fiction, Jules Verne's adaptation, movie. Joseph Cotten is wonderful in this enjoyable film, very entertaining, where tension grows all long the movie. You can be a bit bored by long talks, but don't be bothered by this. This is a great film from this director, maybe not his best, I agree, but he was the perfect choice as a director for such a topic. Of course I prefer NAKED JUNGLE or WAR OF THE WORLDS....

Certainly the effects of this film are no where near what we are used to today, but the inventiveness to even attempt to portray Vernes' rich imagination are secondary to the effort to bring such imagination from the page to the visual arts. There are inventive approaches to pre-real space travel, and the scientific accuracy (or real lack thereof) are secondary to the underlying Drama and dilemma presented about technological advances and the impact they have by affecting Man's commission of War upon his fellow man. So when watching this movie enjoy the players and do not cast aside because of reality fallacies and liberties taken in order to bring a book to visual life.