Fairy Tale Spotlight: First Men in the Moon (1964 Film)

[Some spoilers.]

What a wonderful film this is. 1964's major scifi film "First Men in the Moon" has been a treat for me to watch since I was very young. The movie is adapted from an H.G. Wells book of the same name. It tells of a surprisingly believable story about a two men and a woman who travel to the moon in the surprising year of 1899.

Because the movie was made before we actually first set foot on the moon, the writers try and envision something of a pipe dream of what the first modern moon landing would be like. Hilariously, they saw it as a world-wide joint venture conducted by the U.N. Something that would never have happened back them and pretty much would not happen today. At least, they gave the first step to an American. Even so, the intro to the film is really not the best part of it. The story picks up when they find out that man had been up there before.

The 1899 portion of the movie goes out of its way to explain how a low tech ship could not only make it to the moon but make it back. The scientist who came up with the idea was hilarious. In fact all the characters were very entertaining.

As you might expect from old science fiction, the moon was inhabited by an alien race, but they were very well developed and interesting in the film. Their culture and lore was well explained. I am really trying to avoid too many spoilers here, so just bear with me.

For 1964, the special effects were extremely well done. From the ship, to the planet's surface, to the alien architecture, everything about this movie is wonderful to see. Nothing but top notch work was utilized in this movie. Even today, it blows my mind.

I was really happy to see this because the 60's are not really well known for taking scifi so seriously. I mean... Yes, the characters were a little goofy, but it never distracts from the seriousness of the scenario.

I think the thing that always surprises me about this movie is how much it excites me despite the very real fact that none of it is true. We know how the real moon-landing went. There were no aliens up there. In fact, the idea of aliens being inside the moon is a bit silly now. But this movie really brings the idea to life. They did such a great job.

I entirely recommend this movie for people who like dark or exciting scifi movies. The movie is available on DVD, but it is a bit expensive. The better option is to go through Amazon Prime. It's not free, but it is the cheaper alternative, and they have an absolutely superb HD remaster of it. Watch this movie!

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