First Men in the Moon (1964)

Director: Nathan Juran

Writers: Nigel Kneale, Jan Read, H.G. Wells

Composer: Laurie Johnson

Starring: Edward Judd, Martha Hyer, Lionel Jeffries, Miles Maleson, Norman Bird, Gladys Henson, Hugh McDermott, Betty McDowall

More info: IMDb

Tagline: H.G. Wells' Astounding Adventure in Dynamation!

Plot: Based on the HG Wells story. The world is delighted when a space craft containing a crew made up of the world's astronauts lands on the moon, they think for the first time. But the delight turns to shock when the astronauts discover an old British flag and a document declaring that the moon is taken for Queen Victoria proving that the astronauts were not the first men on the moon. On Earth, an investigation team finds the last of the Victorian crew - a now aged Arnold Bedford and he tells them the story of how he and his girlfriend, Katherine Callender, meet up with an inventor, Joseph Cavor, in 1899. Cavor has invented Cavorite, a paste that will allow anything to deflect gravity and he created a sphere that will actually take them to the moon. Taking Arnold and accidentally taking Katherine they fly to the moon where, to their total amazement, they discover a bee-like insect population who take an unhealthy interest in their Earthly visitors.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

The opening Moon landing is fantastic.  I love the model work and the feel of it all but then I'm a sucker for NASA shit from the 60s and 70s so I'm predisposed to like it.  Anyway, it's awfully exciting, especially when they find something very peculiar.  Minutes later we're in Britain in the year 1899 and it's more than a half hour before we're on our way back to the Moon.  That 35 minute stretch is cute but not really all that interesting to the 6 year old boy in me (no jokes, please). Then we're off and we get to see some neat Moonscapes complete with caverns, mysterious formations and giant ant-like creatures that wish to do us harm.  The last half hour is fun.  I could do without the silliness and over the top acting but this isn't sci-fi for the brain, it's sci-fi for the kiddies and a visual feast for the eyes.  While I have no interest in seeing this again, I would love to watch it on the big screen with an audience as it was intended.  I have a feeling it would be quite magical, that is if I could take my brain back to when I was a child with eyes filled with wonder and dreams.