DESTINATION MOON (1950)

DESTINATION MOON (1950)

Tagline: Up Up Up Seven Miles A Second 

(Sci-Fi, Adventure, Rockets) [G]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a G. This movie was also known as JOURNEY TO THE MOON. 

I will be, if we run into any more red tape! Now look, there's no law against taking off a spaceship: it's never been done, so they haven't got around to prohibiting it. If we ask for permission, they'll find a way to block us. So we go now, as soon as we can!

In this one, Dr. Charles Cargraves and General Thayer are basically trying to make sure the United States gets to the moon before the freakin Russians. After a brief Woody Woodpecker cartoon (no I am not kidding) they gather the support they need for yet another attempt after their latest rocket failed. In an effort to avoid delays they send up another rocket prematurely and the effort is successful, but not without its challenges after the crew arrives on the moon. 

First off, I recently watched APOLLO 13 for the first time and was impressed by how much effort they put into that movie. However, when you see DESTINATION MOON, it’s pretty bonkers how accurate it is a movie made before we even got to the moon. In this situation, a lot of science fiction became "science fact". Interestingly this is the first time Grace Stafford voiced the character Woody Woodpecker. She would go on to voice the character for another 21 years. 

This movie ended up being part of a movie race as well. Robert Lippert rushed to make ROCKETSHIP X-M to capitalize on DESTINATION MOON’s public production campaign. Of the two films, however, ROCKETSHIP X-M serves better as sci-fi while DESTINATION MOON almost serves better as a “look what we should be doing” film. 

Acting-wise this movie is incredibly strong and the storyline moves quickly. I am not going to say this is a film that has you on the edge of your seat all the time, but it manages to ramp things up when it needs to while providing outstanding effects for the era. Around half the movie is spent just listening to the scientists give their reasons for going to the moon in the first place (and Woody Woodpecker giving his two cents as well). John Archer is solid as Jim Barnes and is probably my second favorite character in the movie. Barnes might be best known for 1941’s KING OF THE ZOMBIES. Dick Wesson kind of plays the comic relief in this as Joe Sweeney and definitely is my favorite character. Partly for what he attempts to do in this movie. Warner Anderson is good as Dr. Charles Cargraves as is Tom Powers who plays General Thayer, but the first two I mentioned make this movie regarding the acting. 

With a run time of just over an hour and a half, this movie is a bit longer than most sci-fi flicks of the 1950s, but it’s a fun ride. If you are expecting exact scientific accuracy, maybe go for APOLLO 13 instead, but I actually liked this movie quite a bit better than that one, just because it’s almost as if the producers had some kind of crazy crystal ball. 

I have seen some critics complain about the different colors of the spacesuits but that is explained in the movie and I thought the reason was plausible. In fact, I kind of wish NASA had gone with some crazy cool Olympic-style space suits instead of the plain ones we get. 

Overall this is a pretty solid outing, but it won’t be for the sci-fi fans seeking vacuum cleaner-nosed aliens with carpet fur or mad scientists turning people into frogs with jetpacks. I give this one a 5 out of 7.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF GEORGE PAL PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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