From the Earth to the Moon (1958)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A Major Disappointment

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

When the reviews are more entertaining than the movie, then the movie probably isn't so hot. A Jules Verne adaptation is a good idea, a decent rivalry between the two leads doesn't hurt, and Victorian sci-fi is a rare treat.But it doesn't really 'get off the launchpad' for me. The main problem is the agonizing length. Never has there been a spaceship that survives so many meltdowns. I kept wishing that the meteorite shower would come back and finish them off. The spacecraft itself is pretty cool--as others have noted, the copious woodwork and generally ornate fittings make it seem very 1868. The nostalgia here operates on many levels. We're seeing a sixty-year-old film about mythical events occurring ninety years before that, involving a futuristic premise. Therefore I can easily buy into the drawing-room atmosphere of the spaceship, with its decent 1950s glowing hardware on board. But I can't buy the ever-present crane holding the ship up whenever we have an exterior shot. With the exception of the 'X' cannon demonstration, and Cotten's character meeting a very believable President Grant, most of the preliminary scenes just get in the way. I agree with others that 'Yankee Doodle' dumps its corny tone onto too many scenes. Some of the period details are haphazard too.The guys milling about in some of the public scenes look more like marching bandsmen than soldiers. As Cotten gives a speech to his workers, we see what appears to be a Russian and a French officer in full-dress uniforms among the luminaries standing behind him. The French guy shows up in a later scene too. But, if foreign nations have supposedly cold-shouldered us for developing the 'X' energy source/weapon, why are they sending observers? It's also weird, and tied more closely to the plot, when Cotten wins over his nemesis by pointing out how 'X' will "save millions of lives." But it's stunningly obvious (by 1958) that misuse of nuclear power ('X') has actually put humanity at greater risk.I also don't see that the subplot of some of the experts/investors insisting that the whole thing is a hoax. They saw the crew enter the spaceship and watched it take off; anybody sneaking out at the last minute would have been blown to bits.I really wanted to like From the Earth to the Moon, but it kept sabotaging its mission.

Normally, I try to find some good in every film I watch. In the case of FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, I would have to say the cinematography and lighting were very nice and I liked some of the music score. However, when you make a movie called FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, it's not unreasonable for audiences to expect to get at least what is promised in the title.*SPOILER ALERT*Now, I have read about this movie for about the last 40 years of my life and I saw it today. Not only is this movie as bad as they say it is, it's worse. I had read that this film was shot in Mexico and someone said it was shot at a location in Mexico formed from fairly recent volcanic activity. They said that scenes on the moon in this movie were shot there. Well, the location actually appears to have been used for scenes on Earth - not the moon and also, here's the part that makes this whole movie feel like you completely wasted your time watching it - you NEVER see anyone land on the moon. Sure, I guess it happens as viewed by someone else but it never seems to happen for me. Adding insult to injury, this climax (or lack thereof) is following 90 minutes of boring talk. The "special" effects are so bad as to defy belief. I'd read that you could see the bar holding up the spaceship in flight or that it flies against a blue sky while from the inside of the ship, space looks black. I suppose they ran out of money because it looks like it began as a fairly well-budgeted movie but perhaps the budget got cut. Regardless of the reason for it, the special effects, except for Lee Zavitz's full-scale explosions and other effects are so bad they wouldn't do in an Ed Wood movie. Sadly, the complaints lodged against this movie are all true.One of the stories is that this was the last movie made by RKO. The print I saw shows a Warner Brothers logo on front while there is an RKO emblem at the end of the movie. As early as 1984, this movie was released by VCI on videotape. Obviously, even Warner Brothers saw no reason to hang on to this. I watched it out of curiosity but I finally concluded I should have listened to the warnings I'd read in books telling me to avoid this boring trash like the plague. I think it's now in public domain, assuming anyone would ever care to seek out this film that is so dull and lacking of anything that might make it worth watching. Just remember if you are curious about this movie that it's not as bad as they say it is - It's worse!

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.

It's the late 1880s and Victor Barbicane (Joseph Cotton) has invented a new power source called "Power X." He realizes it has the potential to boost a rocket into outer space (or, more specifically, to the moon).After some initial flubs he manages to embark on his journey along with his assistant (Don Dubbins), semi-villain Stuyvesant Nicholl (George Sanders), and Nicholl's daughter Virginia (Debra Pagent).Nicholl thinks that Victor's Power X is sacrilege and sabotages their entire journey -- will they be able to get back to earth? This was presented on TCM as the least successful adaptation of Welles' material and it shows in every frame. The special effects are really pathetic - even for a 1958 film - and the acting is subpar. The great character actor Joseph Cotten looks utterly bored and disgusted at the fact that he's even remotely close to starring in this film - he basically just stumbles and mumbles through the entire project, and I truly felt sorry for him after seeing such superior films as "Citizen Kane," "Shadow of a Doubt," "The Magnificent Andersons" and of course "The Third Man." If you want to laugh, this is a good choice. If you're looking for something worthwhile (at least in terms of artistic merit) - look elsewhere!