FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964)

[ulthar]

Another Harryhausen treat, FIRST MEN was a fun film overall though I did find the first 45 minutes or so very sloooow.  Once it got going, though...not too bad.  I expected the anti-go-to-the-moon message, but the anti-war, man-is-violent stuff took me a little by surprise.  Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised to get that message from HG Wells.

We had a lot of fun with the plot holes of the 1899 flight to the moon.  Here are just a couple.  The ship was 'reflecting' gravity, so how did it steer a particular trajectory?  If they never anticipated someone being inside the little air tight locker, why was it air tight and why did it have a latch on the inside?  They used diving suits as space suits (and I think I've seen this in another movie)?  Their 'space suits' had no gloves?

The visuals were spectacular, though, especially for 1964.  Some of the space flight sequences were a bit jerky, but to me that is actually endearing as evidence of true hand-animation.

The big reason I am posting this here, though, is that I was quite amazed at how much I was reminded of Star Wars while watching this.

(1) The Selenites resembled Greedo in physical appearance.

(2) The Selenites, the small ones, acted like Jawas.  When Cavor first observed them disassembling the sphere, even the music was similar to the Jawa music in A New Hope.

(3) The voice of the larger Selenite that was initially communicating with Cavor sounded remarkably like the voice effect of the 'droid that assigned R2D2 to work as a waiter in Jabba's entertainment barge in Return of the Jedi.

And finally, not Star Wars related, the voice of the nursing home attendant (Gladys Henson) was mighty reminiscent of the voice of the housekeeper in 101 DALMATIANS.  I was soooo excited that I recognized this voice, but alas, Martha Wentworth was the voice in DALMATIANS.  Man, they sound alike.

[Just Plain Horse]

I loved that the "moon calfs" looked like giant centipedes. Try milking one of those!!!

[Gerry]

Great movie and a great novel--recommended if you ever get a chance to read it.

[Andrew]

I was able to mostly turn my mind off and just enjoy this one.  The slow way that the moon civilization is revealed was handled well and kept me interested.  The interactions between the characters were also interesting.  Nobody was terribly bad, but each had their own view of what was right and wrong.  It is refreshing, because many movies just opt for a bad guy character who pops out all the sudden.  Heck, even "Aliens" did this.

I loved the giant caterpillar monsters.  Sort of amusing to see that a skeleton was left behind (and not meaning an exoskeleton) when it was killed and stripped down.

[Scott]

I remember viewing FIRST MEN IN THE MOON about 4 years ago and really enjoyed it. Well done and fun. I especially liked the discovery of that anti-gravity type stuff and how they burst out of the building and how impossible with our current technological "knowledge" how the whole thing of these people actually making it in space with the craft they were using. Fun film that keeps you watching all the way.

[Flangepart]

Just Plain Horse Wrote:
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> I loved that the "moon calfs" looked like giant
> centipedes. Try milking one of those!!!

Contented moon cows make great moon cheese!

[BoyScoutKevin]

Another recommendation from me, who has seen it and enjoyed it, to watch it.

[trekgeezer]

I always loved the gloveless "space suits". I think they steered the sphere by opening and closing the the blinds in different combinations.

[Shadowphile]

trek-geezer is correct in his description of the steering.  According to a book I have that describes the ship (and journey) as if it were real, the mechanism allowed for extremely delicate maneuvering.  It also stated that despite the detailed description of the ship and it's contents, no mention of sanitary facilities was made....

[Flangepart]

Oh, such things were not mentioned those days, dear boy. Too....unseemly, don't cha know...