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Full Frame - B&W - English - Mono
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2005-09-212002-12-15
2002-09-26The paternal commander played by Hayden Rorke (aka Dr. Bellows in I Dream of Jeannie) is obviously a stand-in for Heinlein himself -- think of SiaSL's Jubal Harshaw in uniform -- who bizarrely shows his kink in threatening to spank his unruly female subordinate. Definitely creepy.
This work anticipates Kubrick's 2001 etc by 15 odd years, but scans like the other straightforward, stiffly acted clunky space operas typical of the time. The plot and situations are adult and so I would not recommend this movie for preteens.
Gorgeous DVD of essential 1950s space opera 
2002-06-02
Somehow this movie never played on TV in my locale (Milwaukee/Chicago) when I was a horror-crazed kid (unlike apparently every other cheap SF flick of the period). For fans of low-budget 1950s space operas this is a terrific find. Project Moonbase neatly straddles the fence between "serious" science-fact specimens such as Destination Moon or Riders to the Stars and tacky "babes in space" fare like Cat Women of the Moon or Queen of Outer Space. It shares a similar look and feel with all those films and other typical titles of the era from Astor, Allied Artists, UA, and other independents, such as Missile to the Moon, Fire Maidens of Outer Space, War of the Satellites, etc. Co-written by pioneering modern SF icon Robert Heinlein (Destination Moon, The Puppet Masters, Starship Troopers) and low-budget western producer Jack Seaman, PM contains enough sober "speculative fiction"/rocketry tech stuff to satisfy hardware geeks as well as plenty of cool atomic-age design and forehead-slap-inducing sexism ("I ought to turn you over my knee and spank you") for irony-wallowing bad cinema fanatics. `Genre' names peppering the credits include director Richard Talmadge (the silent movie star, stunt man, and 2nd unit director); Ed Wood's house cinematographer, William C. Thompson, and makeup man, Harry Thomas (unfortunately no one gets their face burned off with acid in this); former Columbia art director Jerome Pycha (Riders to the Stars, Unknown Island, Prehistoric Women), and future director (Cry Baby Killer, Twilight Zone, Lost in Space) Justus Addiss.
The year is 1970, the United States has a floating space platform, and the government is about to embark on exploration of the moon. The Russkies, who look and sound like Midwestern businessmen, find out, and decide to sabotage the operation by commandeering one of our spaceships and crashing it into the space station. To accomplish this, they infiltrate the mission with one of their 350 (!!) Exact Doubles of Prominent Scientists that they just happen to have lying around. After some talky explanations of gravitational principles by General "Pappy" Greene (Hayden Rorke, I Dream of Jeannie's Dr. Bellows), Major Bill Moore (Ross Ford), and Colonel Briteis (pronounced "bright-eyes," cringe now) played by Donna Martell (Rocky Jones: Space Ranger) are selected, along with the doubled Dr. Wernher, for the mission to observe the dark side of the moon, much to their mutual consternation. See, Maj. Moore and Col. Briteis used to be an item . . . . During these set-up scenes it seems like you're in for one of those dry Gog type of flicks, but hang in there, things start to pick up once the space flight gets underway. For some reason they scream and sweat profusely on takeoff (?!), and they all wear easily the silliest uniforms ever seen, comprised of tee shirts, short shorts, big honking belt buckles, and demure felt aviators' caps, which look cute on Ms. Martell but laughable on everyone else. Once they arrive at the space station we get a docking-with-the-space-wheel sequence, crazily angled sets, some (intentionally?) hilarious scenes of crewmembers matter-of-factly walking on ceilings and sitting on walls, and "please don't walk on the walls" signs posted in the corridors. (These scenes are strangely prescient of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey; could this be one of the dozens of SF flicks he screened while preparing his masterpiece?). Bill, Col. Briteis, and the fake Dr. Wernher take off from the station on the observation mission, Bill suspects Dr. Wernher's true identity (he's unfamiliar with the Brooklyn Dodgers!), they're eventually forced to ditch their craft on the Moon, and Bill and Wernher go EVA to set up a communications relay. Throughout all this we get lots of nicely realized spaceship and moonscape sequences, conceptually on par or better than anything in a comparably-budgeted movie, forgiving a few laughably obvious gaffes. I also love how it appears that people on the ship's view screen seem to be simply sitting behind a hole in the wall, and late-night TV junkies will fondly nostalgia-trip on the B&W "target" test pattern they occasionally display. It all climaxes (spoiler alert) with an incredible only-in-the-50s "family values" denouement wherein the downed craft is proclaimed Moonbase #1; the now-clinching Bill and Briteis are "ordered" to get married by Dr. Bellows, er, General Greene since they'll be cohabiting on the Moon until a rescue mission can be mounted; the president of the United States turns out to be a woman (!!); and Maj. Moore jumps Col. Briteis just as the closing titles fill the screen. While not as patently ludicrous as Cat Women, Fire Maidens, or Queen of Outer Space, Project Moonbase is similarly bent in its own unique way, and easily as entertaining (the 63 minutes fly by). Fans of cheap B&W 50s space epics cannot fail to be entertained. Highly recommended.
This is another in Image's generally outstanding Wade Williams Collection and doesn't fail to impress. For a movie of its poverty-stricken pedigree the print is spectacular, with excellent black level, contrast, and brightness; rich gray values and crisp shadow/highlight detail; and virtually no damage save some very light speckling and spotting. As near to pristine (as claimed on the case) as could possibly be expected. The only extras are 12 chapter stops and a lightly speckled and lined but otherwise very nice looking trailer. A bare-bones yet essential addition to the DVD library of any 1950s SF aficionado.
A lot of fun to watch... 2001-11-27
It is a hoot. A silly but enjoyable piece of work from start to finish. The special effects (produced by an old friend)are fun to look at. The 1950s good guys (Americans) against the bad guys (communist)shows an interesting little piece of the American social world then. Worth the price just for the fun it supplies.
50's Popcorn Fun Adventure!! 2007-12-28
Actor Hayden Rorke (later of I Dream of Jeannie fame) is the general in this outer space fun fest with lots of sexist remarks (I'll turn you over my knee and spank you) and yet some interesting turns for a 50s scifi film, such as cordless phones and a radiophone conference call.
The commies sound like Midwesterners and the space rockets wobble into the sky. As we can't have two single young people on the moon all by themselves, they are married for the "good of the country".
And they have a female president of the USA! From the credits, Robert Heinlein had a hand in the story and script.
Two stars for the wobbly special effects and campy story, but five stars for the imaginative tech marvels of the 1970s from the 1950's perspective. I liked the shorts and tight teeshirts for space suits, but why the big gobs of sweat on takeoff??
Destination Moon: 15 Year Anniversary Edition
Good vs Evil 2007-07-09
A nice simple old fashioned film made for enjoyment and to say the good guys win. I enjoy it for simple entertainment. There are no monsters coming to slice and dice everyone, there are no super CGI effects. And for those who care about such things - A man and a woman are equals. Both are traveling in space and end on the moon.
Heinlein lands another one! 2007-04-17
I never read a book from Heinlein I didn't like. Of course his earliest ones are my favorite. Everybody is over educated, in fine shape, and ready for the next opportunity to spring into action. He and Roddenberry were both optimistic--hope I spelled his name correctly--but in Heinlein's books it showed you how to do it.
Heinlein's earlier books allowed women to have any job they were qualified for. They had to have the education as well as be in good shape. I think the good shape was a package deal--mind and body go together and enhance each other. After all, a person keeping themself in good condition meant self restraint as well as determination to succeed. Secretly, of course, the men always ruled the world. Nevertheless the cuties had a slice of the pie and the responsibitly it cost.
PROS:
1. Heinlein wrote it and must have been around when they shot it.
2. Col. Briteis (pronounced Brighteyes) is a cutie and yes they are bright eyes--she is also a proper-girl in the military. No 'hanky panky' with her.
3. This film proves what I've always said, short-shorts look better on the ladies and strange on men.
4. I've read a complaint about everybody wearing that skull cap. You should read Heinlein's Have Spacesuit will Travel, it explains these things in detail. But here is the short version--you can't have long hair in a space suit, if just one hair falls across the faceplate seal or helmet seal you loose air pressure and die. You'll notice all our original astronauts not only wore the same cap but cut their hair off. In the movie Starship Troopers, you remember the girl starship pilot? Well, in the book she shaved her head (for a different reason). This is the way science goes--you pay the price or someone else goes.
5. Heinlein, as I remember when I read his 38 or 39 novels was always proper in his earlier novels so of course when they crash/land on the moon and, could not be rescued for weeks or long months, they must get married.
six. Yes, there is an enemy agent onboard--he's out of shape and a bit 'slow'.
7. Nice sharp image, neat idea.
8. If you read the earlier reviews you see complaints about 'spanking'. I'm 54 years old now but was young once. Back then, several times, I remember waggeling my index finger in females face--right in front of their nose--and told them if they didn't stop I'd spank them like a little girl. Such where the way things used to be--now you go to jail for it. Back then usually they'd throw their cute little noises up in the air and snort. Other times they'd twirl around and 'throw over their shoulder' "No you won't." Then that nose would go up in the air and snort in a girly way that pretty much spelled out "You wouldn't dare!" Then there were the other type girls that would take a slap at you. Basicly there were no complaints from either side...I guess it must have been dieing out about that time because it didn't last very long.
9. In the movie the spacestation shoots smaller rockets to them and 'Brighteyes and her new man' land them by radio remote control. That was like Heinlein. It's quicker to just rocket them supplies until a new ship can be built rather than risk more lives with an untried, slapped together, spaceship rescue mission. And besides, they decided to build their first moonbase there.
CONS:
1. Should have been a hour longer.
So there it is, another classic. One written by Mr. Heinlein in his typical style. I recommend this movie and all his books. This is a one bowl of popcorn and one half hot dog move. Why half a dog? Most of it is spelled out to you. Bye!
Project Moonbase 2007-02-17
Curious thing about this film. It made an effort to be accurate. At least as accurate as the gut-level understanding of space flight could be in the early 1950's. There was an effort made to show the loss of a "ground reference" in (what we now call micro-gravity), and by golly there is no sound in the vacuum of space. There was no rocket roar from the ships in transit to space station, and the moon. Wireless telephones are in evidence, but they will make the viewer laugh...out loud! Aside from the "technical" efforts at accuracy, the socio-political content was woefully juvenile. This is post-McCarthy era science fiction. There are evil commies, and there is no domestic security available to intercept their plot in a timely fashion. There is a woman space commander, but the then extant culture was unable to cope with such a concept (Robert Heinlein was apparently struggling just to allow a professional woman in this script.) She does look great in the cuffed hot-pants that are the speculated unisex ship-board attire. The guys look dumb in the same outfit.
Watch this film. It is a history lesson.
Really!
Who Cut the Cheese? 2006-05-05
This has to be one of the cheesiest science fiction films I've ever seen. It's certainly no PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE but it would be stretching a point to even call it a B movie. That is surprising seeing as how Robert A. Heinlein is credited as one of the creators. He had little time for cheesiness.
The story is a simple one of conceived in the cold war. The US is sending a reconnaissance ship around the moon to gather information prior to a landing attempt. The Soviets are desperate to stop the effort and infiltrate an agent onto the crew as a saboteur. He is not caught out soon enough and, in the chaos of the fight, the ship goes off course. The only choice for survival is to go ahead and land.
There is more going on in the story than just the race to the moon and the cold war. The mission was originally assigned to an up and coming major (male). For political reasons, he is reassigned as co-pilot and command is given to a woman, a Col. Briteis (pronounced "Bright Eyes"). She is not a bad woman but it is apparent that she has been promoted to colonel for PR reasons and because she looks good in a skirt. Her indecisiveness and tendency to turn towards her co-pilot for advice and help is somewhat demeaning of what women are able to accomplish.
Possibly the silliest thing about the film is the costumes. The uniform for the US Space Force seems to be shorts, a t-shirt and the dumbest looking skullcap ever to grace the screen. The sets are fairly low budget as well.
All of that seems bad but I did find the show entertaining to a degree. It captured the spirit of the 50s and was fun in small doses. The "science" is rudimentary but generally correct. That must be Heinlein's doing. I suspect a female commander and a female US president were also. This show, while not as technically excellent as DESTINATION MOON, did have more of a story to it.
