Rocketship X-M

Rating:
Summary: A Blast from the Past.
Review: Rocket Ship XM, this is a real blast from the past that I last saw when first released in 50's England. The sepia tinting of the Martian sequence gives an authentic feel to the Martian landscape. A great Sci-Fi flick of it's day, the only disapointment with the DVD is the replacement of the mish-mash of Rockets used for the launch, by vague rocket trails that look very NASA.

Rating:
Summary: Did much to inspire the space movie craze of the 1950s
Review: Rocketship X-M was really one of the first good science fiction films of the 1950s, and its influence can be seen in the slew of space movies released throughout that decade. In some ways, it is the quintessential science fiction film of the era; it sends a crew of four men and one woman into space for the first time, and these characters actually get a chance to express their own personalities during the journey. While the science of the film misses the mark in a number of ways, the filmmakers did not rely on alien "monsters" to help the story along. The movie has a message, and its plausibility and rather unhappy conclusion bring that message home to viewers. The film also reflects to some degree the culture of the time in terms of gender, sporting a number of chauvinistic lines sure to rankle many modern viewers.

Our intrepid crew for this secret first manned spaceship launch consists of ship designer Dr. Exum (John Emery), navigator Floyd Graham (Lloyd Bridges), engineer Major William Corrigan (Noah "Rockford's Dad" Beery, Jr.), some less important guy played by Hugh O'Brian, and brilliant female chemist Dr. Lisa Van Horn (Osa Massen). When Floyd isn't navigating, he's putting the moves on the cold and aloof Lisa. Things go swimmingly at first (with the ship, not with Lloyd's advances), but then a problem with the fuel mixture (sure - blame the woman) causes the engines to die. When Dr. Van Horn defends her computations, she is treated to a few chauvinistic remarks about acting like a woman; the great and mighty men figure things out on their own, and before you know it everyone is knocked unconscious and the Rocketship X-M (which was supposed to land on the moon) finds itself flung out into deep space. As luck would have it, though, they wake up to find themselves within reach of Mars and take advantage of the opportunity to land there. This is a Lippert film, so you knew there would have to be many scenes of people climbing hills and mountains somewhere in it. Well, the crew members make a few discoveries about the state of past and current life on the red planet and try to make it back home to spread the word to the people of earth - it's your basic nuclear was is bad kind of advice. The ending is not a happy one by any means, but it does serve to further man's (or at least science fiction script writers') determination to explore outer space.

There's nothing fancy at all about this movie, yet it really does deliver the type of message a science fiction film should carry. Along with the science, weak as it turned out to be in places, and a "scientific moral" to the story, we actually get to see characterization come to life before our very eyes (especially in terms of Floyd and Lisa). I think this 1950 film deserves to be called a classic in its field, and it still has much to offer all fans of science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Did much to inspire the space movie craze of the 1950s
Review: Rocketship X-M was really one of the first good science fiction films of the 1950s, and its influence can be seen in the slew of space movies released throughout that decade. In some ways, it is the quintessential science fiction film of the era; it sends a crew of four men and one woman into space for the first time, and these characters actually get a chance to express their own personalities during the journey. While the science of the film misses the mark in a number of ways, the filmmakers did not rely on alien "monsters" to help the story along. The movie has a message, and its plausibility and rather unhappy conclusion bring that message home to viewers. The film also reflects to some degree the culture of the time in terms of gender, sporting a number of chauvinistic lines sure to rankle many modern viewers.

Our intrepid crew for this secret first manned spaceship launch consists of ship designer Dr. Exum (John Emery), navigator Floyd Graham (Lloyd Bridges), engineer Major William Corrigan (Noah "Rockford's Dad" Beery, Jr.), some less important guy played by Hugh O'Brian, and brilliant female chemist Dr. Lisa Van Horn (Osa Massen). When Floyd isn't navigating, he's putting the moves on the cold and aloof Lisa. Things go swimmingly at first (with the ship, not with Lloyd's advances), but then a problem with the fuel mixture (sure - blame the woman) causes the engines to die. When Dr. Van Horn defends her computations, she is treated to a few chauvinistic remarks about acting like a woman; the great and mighty men figure things out on their own, and before you know it everyone is knocked unconscious and the Rocketship X-M (which was supposed to land on the moon) finds itself flung out into deep space. As luck would have it, though, they wake up to find themselves within reach of Mars and take advantage of the opportunity to land there. This is a Lippert film, so you knew there would have to be many scenes of people climbing hills and mountains somewhere in it. Well, the crew members make a few discoveries about the state of past and current life on the red planet and try to make it back home to spread the word to the people of earth - it's your basic nuclear was is bad kind of advice. The ending is not a happy one by any means, but it does serve to further man's (or at least science fiction script writers') determination to explore outer space.

There's nothing fancy at all about this movie, yet it really does deliver the type of message a science fiction film should carry. Along with the science, weak as it turned out to be in places, and a "scientific moral" to the story, we actually get to see characterization come to life before our very eyes (especially in terms of Floyd and Lisa). I think this 1950 film deserves to be called a classic in its field, and it still has much to offer all fans of science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: When was this flik released? That's when I saw it. Mebbe '50
Review: That woulda made me nine. Even for a nine year old I was unimpressed (that is, not scared) until I got to look into the eyes of the Martian. The eyes were completely yellow! I was horrified.

The sad thing about adulthood is that (except for Shakespeare) we so seldom suspend our disbelief. At nine it's easy. Too easy.

Rating:
Summary: This is what used to be called B grade folks
Review: The rocketship control room had some nice details, didn't have quite the cardboard look that some old movies and TV shows did.There's very little else to recommend this movie for, it's kind of insulting without even much 1950 science and worse scripting. Might have been good for a ten year old to waste a Saturday morning with but definitely not the best of the breed. Destination Moon, even Project Moonbase are better.

Rating:
Summary: If you're an MST fan...
Review: The skewering of this movie made for one of the truly funniest episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (first show of the second season.) It put the whole flick in proper perspective, not least of which is the fact that if X-M is short for "expedition moon," shouldn't it have been called Rocketship E-M?! Can't wait for THAT version to be on DVD!

Rating:
Summary: Guilty Pleasure
Review: There were two movies released in the same year of 1950: Destination Moon, by George Pal, and Rocket Ship X-M, by Kurt Neumann. The truth is, scientifically, Destination Moon is the superior film, but for fifties Sci-Fi fun, I've always preferred Rocketship X-M. Let's first be fair to Destination Moon: it was conceived first, produced first, and is by far a superior achievement in the realm of science-fiction/fact. But Neumann and Lippert Studios hurried through production a similar story line about the first spaceship to the moon, then decided to extrapolate a storyline that threw the ship off course, sending it tragically to Mars.

This is where I prefer the story line. We briefly see a world that is desolated by a past Nucleor Holocaust, the wrecked cities radiated, and the mutated survivors no more than violent cavemen. The story moves quickly, and is put together like a Jules Verne novel, where the science is slightly hokey, but with a little tongue-in-cheek attitude, believable enough to keep us hanging on. Though all the astronauts are politically incorrect, we still like them. Even Lloyd Bridges, who gets a little tiring pointing out the "short comings" of female scientists to Osa Massen, eventually becomes likable enough to care about. You'll recognise some old timers of movies here, including Hugh O-Brien (The Shootist), and Noah Beery Jr. (Jim Rockford's dad in the Rockford Files and cowboy actor in countless films), as well as sci-fi regulars John Emery (Kronos) and Morris Ankrum (Earth VS. the Flying Saucers). This is great Saturday Matinee popcorn fun.

Rating:
Summary: WE'RE OFF COURSE
Review: This film opens with a countdown and just keeps going after lift off. Short on science fact, but long on style and ideas, this is one of the better early "first into space" movies. It has a Jules Verne feel, a German work ethic pace, and keeps the surprises and the clique's coming - two of which were staples in these early type of movies: the sudden metor storm between the Earth and Moon and the "we're off course" stunt where the ship makes a U-Turn and heads for Mars or Venus (in this case it's Mars). But despite this, this is an entertaining film with a good cast and a surprise ending that is almost unheard of these days. ROCKETSHIP X-M is not for everybody, but if you are a collector and a sci-fi fan, than this is an excellent addition to any library.

Rating:
Summary: WE'RE OFF COURSE
Review: This film opens with a countdown and just keeps going after lift off. Short on science fact, but long on style and ideas, this is one of the better early "first into space" movies. It has a Jules Verne feel, a German work ethic pace, and keeps the surprises and the clique's coming - two of which were staples in these early type of movies: the sudden metor storm between the Earth and Moon and the "we're off course" stunt where the ship makes a U-Turn and heads for Mars or Venus (in this case it's Mars). But despite this, this is an entertaining film with a good cast and a surprise ending that is almost unheard of these days. ROCKETSHIP X-M is not for everybody, but if you are a collector and a sci-fi fan, than this is an excellent addition to any library.

Rating:
Summary: WARNING - NOT CLOSED CAPTIONED
Review: This otherwise excellent Kurt Neuman movie, fully restored, and one of the only ones to have real movie footage from a climbing rocket, is useless to anyone with a hearing impairment.

Wade Williams Collections, Corinth Films and Image Entertainment have produced this movie and another like it, (Destination Moon) which I purchased, and neither of them are captioned.

Having recently lost my hearing, I depend on Closed Captioning for nearly everything on TV or video. Therefore, these old classics which I wanted for my own are worthless in their present condition.