Rating: 
Summary: Trog On Mars...
Review: There's no need to visit Mars in any of NASA's ultra-expensive space vehicles! Lloyd Bridges was there in 1950 and found out all about it. On a mission to the moon, Lloyd and his crew (including the lovely Dr. Lisa Van Horn) got bombarded by meteors, knocked unconscious, and knocked off course. They woke up dazed, confused, and able to land on the red planet (!) instead, where they found the remains of a devastated city. Were there any living organisms on Mars? Yep, mutant cavemen! Boulder-throwing troglodytes, complete with loin-skins! So, next time anyone brings up the subject of the possibility of life on Mars, just tell 'em Lloyd found cavemen there years ago. ROCKETSHIP XM is one of those fossils you've just got to have on your DVD shelf! Most of the journey is dullsville, but things pick up once the ship lands on Mars. That's when the cavemen get to do some serious killin'! Yee-Haw! The trip back to earth is even more disastrous, as they run out of fuel. Lloyd finally hooks up with Lisa, just in time to crash and burn in the Netherlands! Directed by Kurt Neuman (Kronos). Check it out...
Rating: 
Summary: Some high aims achieved despite the low budget.
Review: Anyone who likes Sci-Fi and grew up in the 1950's has seen this film. It was rushed together to beat the release of Destination Moon. It has some good effects which were enhanced by Wade Williams in the 1970's. Also, Ferde Grofe (Grand Canyon Suite) wrote an outstanding score with interesting orchestration and catchy melodic lines. This film broke new ground in American film due to the serious approach to the subject of moon flight. Many of the ideas in it were used in later sci-fi flicks (note the meteor shower and 0 gravity comedy relief). Lloyd Bridges and cast are very good. Morris Ankrum and John Emery would team up again in another sci-fi film. This film was the beginning of the post war science fiction boom and was probably shown in days of black and white TV more than any other film of it's type.
Rating:
Summary: A Simpler Time
Review: I bought this without ever viewing it previously.
First we must realize the time period it was produced in and that it is after all science fiction. Yes it was hokey, but if we
are a true follower of this classic genre we will want to see this one and the price is right. This 75 minute venture into the
unexplored with Loyd Bridges and Hugh O'brien is worth the trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Were we watching the same movie?
Review: I have a serious bone to pick with all of you who gave this film such high ratings. I ordered it on the strength of the glowing reviews I found on Amazon, so I think you guys owe me a refund. The acting occasionally rises to the level of so-so, but the plot and dialog are absolutely ridiculous. And the science! Lordy, lordy, where do I start? Spaceships that make 90 degree turns? The "darkness of space" ... what about that big, glowing thing at the center of the solar system? A minor error in astrogation, and two hours later you end up at Mars instead of the Moon?? (Was Sheila Jackson Lee the technical consultant?)
And -- I swear this is true -- when they did those 90-degree turns, they had all the actors pushing on the inside of the rocketship.Maybe -- MAYBE -- this thing is worth watching from a historical standpoint, as some kind of turning point from schlock to serious sci fi movies, but that's all. My overall rating is: "Embarassing!" For everyone involved, from the writer to the actors. Where is that guy and his two robots when you need them??? If you want a pivotal sci fi film, with serious science and ground-breaking special effects, get Robert Heinlein's "Destination Moon." And then go on to classics like "Forbidden Planet" and "The Time Machine." But skip this dog biscuit.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Sci-Fi
Review: I want to thank Image for a wonderful transfer. The sound and picture quality is wonderful on this DVD. The story has been told here so no need to go over it again. Very enjoyable story of the first rocket into space. I would add that the "pinkish" color used to "colorize" Mars looks very good, much better than the "cinemagic" used in the later movie, Angry Red Planet.
Rating: 
Summary: The moon , No Mars!
Review: In the 1950's before any really got into space there was a lot
movies about getting there and this was one of them. it is one
of those classics that warns man kind that if we don't cool it with
atomic weapons we are going to destory ourselves but, inorder to learn this we have to visit mars and see their ruined civilization.
This film came out around the same time as Destination Moon. This film is best seen as a midnight movie.
Rating:
Summary: Which Way to Mars
Review: In this movie, we have the story of earth's first flight to the moon but an accident occurs on the ship and the crew finds themselves heading toward Mars. Once on Mars, they discover a dome-shape building, a metallic mask and figure that at one time a "superior" race had once lived there. While most of the crew is killed or injured before the ship can take off and head back to earth, the crew does discover "prehistoric-like-people" still living on the planet. The film was made in the early 50's but the tinted-red filming on Mars is effective.
Rating:
Summary: Rocketship X-M
Review: Of course I was a kid when I saw Rocketship X-M, nevertheless I am tired of the bad press I have heard over the years. I remember, even now, that I thought it must have had a limited budget. The special effects, I thought, were more than acceptable, even for the time period, and you can believe that I paid special attention to effects even at the age of thirteen. The one reason that I don't give it another star is because of the scene that showed a jacket rising slowly from the back of a chair long after gravity had become nonexistent. And I think I remember correctly when I say that none of the crew ever floated . . . for the duration of the trip.
Rating:
Summary: the first episode ever.
Review: Perhaps most irritating is the Lloyd Bridges line to the token female astronaut when she comments sarcastically about women simply staying home and raising babies: "Isn't that enough?" I think the most remarkable thing about this terrible film is its stereotypes. Yes, the film was made many years ago, and I don't mean to say that these were not present in great films of the era or fault the filmmakers for this, I'm simply saying that it's an interesting cultural nugget. The man from Texas is deeply offended when someone says that Texas looks like a mere speck from space (come on, I'm from Texas, but it would). The woman who chooses career - and a male-dominated scientific career at that - over home and family is portrayed as cold (and overly emotional when her correct calculations are discarded) until she finally realizes that she simply needs a man to hold her. Further, how silly is it that there is an intensely planned trip to the moon and then oops! We're on Mars instead. You "can pretty much sense the string" elevating the objects that are supposed to be floating when gravity starts to go on the fritz (see "Things which are Funny Floating"). However, a much more tolerable version of this film was indeed done by that guy and his two robots. It was the first episode (#201) in the cable era of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and well worth it if you can find a copy.
Rating:
Summary: the first episode ever.
Review: Perhaps most irritating is the Lloyd Bridges line to the token female astronaut when she comments sarcastically about women simply staying home and raising babies: "Isn't that enough?" I think the most remarkable thing about this terrible film is its stereotypes. Yes, the film was made many years ago, and I don't mean to say that these were not present in great films of the era or fault the filmmakers for this, I'm simply saying that it's an interesting cultural nugget. The man from Texas is deeply offended when someone says that Texas looks like a mere speck from space (come on, I'm from Texas, but it would). The woman who chooses career - and a male-dominated scientific career at that - over home and family is portrayed as cold (and overly emotional when her correct calculations are discarded) until she finally realizes that she simply needs a man to hold her. Further, how silly is it that there is an intensely planned trip to the moon and then oops! We're on Mars instead. You "can pretty much sense the string" elevating the objects that are supposed to be floating when gravity starts to go on the fritz (see "Things which are Funny Floating"). However, a much more tolerable version of this film was indeed done by that guy and his two robots. It was the first episode (#201) in the cable era of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and well worth it if you can find a copy.
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