Rating: 
Summary: Not a bad Fifties science fiction film, but rather boring
Review: "Flight to Mars" is not really a bad 1950s science fiction film, it just happens to be a rather boring film with what is probably the most abrupt ending in the genre's history. It is not that the script is so awful (there are philosophical discussions on whether each corpuscle is an entire universe) or that the acting is bad (it is actual decent for this sort of movie). But the film just does not seem to click. Maybe it is because a half-century later we have seen every bit of this plot in a dozen other films. "Flight to Mars" clearly divides into two parts. The first focuses on the flight to Mars and is fairly scientific in its approach to the proceedings (somewhat reminiscent of Herge's classic two-part comic book of Tintin going to the Moon, but not even half as god).. The second, once the crew arrives on Mars, turns into a sort of Flash Gordon-type space opera (with specific effects on about the same level). The first rocket of exploration launched by the United States decides to bypass the moon and head straight for Mars (the reasoning for this curious choice is clearly cinematic; we know there is nothing on the moon in 1951 but who knows what we might find on Mars). The crew for this monumental expedition consists of Dr. Jim Barker (Arthur Franz), who created the rocket, his assistant Carol Stafford (Virginia Huston), a pair of older scientists, Dr. Lane (John Litel) and Professor Jackson (Richard Gaines), and a war reporter, Steve Abbott (Cameron Mitchell). At first I was wondering why these were letting too older guys go on this dangerous mission and I thought it might be because they were old and wise, but it turns out to be because this way only Jim and Steve join Carol in the film's love triangle. Once they arrive on Mars they discover a complex underground civilization. There are delights to be seen and offers of help from the ruling council, but it turns out to be a sham. The Martians want to use the rocket to get off their dying planet and colonize earth. But that is okay. The Martians might want to take over the earth but Jim gets them back: he teaches the natives how to play bridge ("They will never forgive you," warns one of the professors). Meanwhile, Steve is interested in Carol, but Carol has been pining for Jim for three years. Jim has been too busy being a scientist to notice Carol, but he falls for local gal Alita once they get on Mars. When Carol finally adds up the score she dissolves into tears while Steve spends an hour playing solitaire waiting for her to wise up. Amazingly enough when the rocket was sabotaged and they were all going to die in space or on Mars Carol never shed a tear. "Flight to Mars" is directed by Lesley Selander, who primarily made Westerns and directed eight other films in 1951. The film is made in color, which matters little except for the red costumes of the Martian's ruling council, which are kind of neat looking. Made during the Cold War there is an inclination to see an appropriate sub-text to "Flight to Mars," especially with those red outfits, but that seems to be a bit of a reach in this case. Again, this film ultimately reminds me more of a Flash Gordon serial than anything else. Besides, it proves once again that not even an advanced civilization on a distant planet can stand up to a small group of Americans with a plan and a strong right hook.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad Fifties science fiction film, but rather boring
Review: "Flight to Mars" is not really a bad 1950s science fiction film, it just happens to be a rather boring film with what is probably the most abrupt ending in the genre's history. It is not that the script is so awful (there are philosophical discussions on whether each corpuscle is an entire universe) or that the acting is bad (it is actual decent for this sort of movie). But the film just does not seem to click. Maybe it is because a half-century later we have seen every bit of this plot in a dozen other films. "Flight to Mars" clearly divides into two parts. The first focuses on the flight to Mars and is fairly scientific in its approach to the proceedings (somewhat reminiscent of Herge's classic two-part comic book of Tintin going to the Moon, but not even half as god).. The second, once the crew arrives on Mars, turns into a sort of Flash Gordon-type space opera (with specific effects on about the same level). The first rocket of exploration launched by the United States decides to bypass the moon and head straight for Mars (the reasoning for this curious choice is clearly cinematic; we know there is nothing on the moon in 1951 but who knows what we might find on Mars). The crew for this monumental expedition consists of Dr. Jim Barker (Arthur Franz), who created the rocket, his assistant Carol Stafford (Virginia Huston), a pair of older scientists, Dr. Lane (John Litel) and Professor Jackson (Richard Gaines), and a war reporter, Steve Abbott (Cameron Mitchell). At first I was wondering why these were letting too older guys go on this dangerous mission and I thought it might be because they were old and wise, but it turns out to be because this way only Jim and Steve join Carol in the film's love triangle. Once they arrive on Mars they discover a complex underground civilization. There are delights to be seen and offers of help from the ruling council, but it turns out to be a sham. The Martians want to use the rocket to get off their dying planet and colonize earth. But that is okay. The Martians might want to take over the earth but Jim gets them back: he teaches the natives how to play bridge ("They will never forgive you," warns one of the professors). Meanwhile, Steve is interested in Carol, but Carol has been pining for Jim for three years. Jim has been too busy being a scientist to notice Carol, but he falls for local gal Alita once they get on Mars. When Carol finally adds up the score she dissolves into tears while Steve spends an hour playing solitaire waiting for her to wise up. Amazingly enough when the rocket was sabotaged and they were all going to die in space or on Mars Carol never shed a tear. "Flight to Mars" is directed by Lesley Selander, who primarily made Westerns and directed eight other films in 1951. The film is made in color, which matters little except for the red costumes of the Martian's ruling council, which are kind of neat looking. Made during the Cold War there is an inclination to see an appropriate sub-text to "Flight to Mars," especially with those red outfits, but that seems to be a bit of a reach in this case. Again, this film ultimately reminds me more of a Flash Gordon serial than anything else. Besides, it proves once again that not even an advanced civilization on a distant planet can stand up to a small group of Americans with a plan and a strong right hook.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed print can¿t dampen fun of 1950s SF camp classic
Review: Fans of cheesy 1950s space operas will no doubt be pleased that this is out on DVD, although unfortunately the quality of the source print leaves a bit to be desired. Flight to Mars was rushed out by Monogram to capitalize on the success of Destination Moon, and really has no grounding in serious science fiction. Not yet famous and powerful, producer Walter Mirisch (Magnificent Seven, In the Heat of the Night) was still making Bomba the Jungle Boy movies, scripter Arthur Strawn had penned Karloff's The Black Room and a handful of potboilers, while director Lesley Selander (Vampire's Ghost, Catman of Paris) and associate producer/editor Richard Heermance cranked out mostly lotsa cheap westerns before and after Flight to Mars, everyone's sole SF credit. Genre fans will appreciate the presence of Cameron Mitchell (Gorilla at Large, Nightmare in Wax) as glib "newspaperman" Steve Abbott, Arthur Franz (Invaders from Mars, Monster on the Campus, Atomic Submarine) as bland, pipe-smoking Dr. Barker, and John Litel (perhaps most recognizable as Henry Aldrich's perpetually exasperated father) as Dr. Lane. Ubiquitous genre icon Morris Ankrum gets probably his meatiest SF role as Martian leader Ikron (he looks quite ludicrous in his 'Captain Marvel' costume and cape), while Virginia Huston and Marguerite Chapman fill out the parts of brainy lady scientist (pining for the oblivious Dr. Barker) and brainy Martian babe Alita, respectively. Apparently they could only afford one set of space suits (for the Martians) so everyone just wears bomber jackets and aviator's caps on the takeoff and spaceflight. All the requisite elements of cheap 50s space epics are here: the threatening (animated) meteor shower; patronizing, sexist dialogue; technical inaccuracies (e.g. the Martian surface is covered with snow; no zero-G effect in-flight); quaintly obvious miniatures and model work; pseudophilosophical discussions that go nowhere; and of course the whirlwind love quadrangle of Mitchell, Huston, Franz, and Chapman. Somehow they survive a point-blank crash into a Martian mountain without injury (!), and of course [spoiler alert] the "friendly" Martians are really plotting against Earth and plan to use the repaired ship to attack us. Mitchell makes his play for Huston as Franz and Chapman get hot and heavy, the Earth people forge a secret plan (with Alita) to escape, and all is saved in a rather hasty and abrupt conclusion. While Flight to Mars gets a little talky at times (it's really not a hysterical knee-slapper on the order of Queen of Outer Space or Missile to the Moon) it will nonetheless appeal to any fan of campy low-budget space flicks such as Cat-Women of the Moon, Rocketship X-M, Project Moon Base (highly, highly recommended!!), Fire Maidens of Outer Space, etc. Serious SF aficionados beware.
This is another in Image's Wade Williams Collection and while probably the best print to be had suffers in comparison to most of its peers. There is light to medium speckling, spotting, and sporadic lining throughout (noticeably heavier around a couple of reel changes), although some stretches of the film are reasonably clean. There is also a very small but noticeable flickering emulsion 'ding' at the lower center of the frame that comes and goes through nearly the entire movie. More annoying are a half-dozen or so jump-cuts scattered throughout the film; a couple show up at reel changes, and several are clustered in a climactic dialogue scene. Ouch! Purists who whined about the quality of Image's Destination Moon DVD will be similarly distressed by this release. That said, the brightness, contrast, and detail are fine; resolution is not razor-sharp but quite acceptable; and the bargain-basement Cinecolor looks as good as it probably ever did: heavy on the blue-greens and oranges in the palette, but well saturated, with reasonably accurate fleshtones. Not a stellar print, but a crisp, clean transfer; no doubt an improvement over any VHS version, and probably the best we'll see for the forseeable future. (Apparently Warner Bros. owns the old Monogram and Allied Artists catalogs and is sitting tight on them. And who knows if they even have a better print at this point?) The disc also includes two approximately 25-minute episodes of an early-80s Santa Monica, CA cable TV show, hosted by Scarlet Street contributor David Del Valle, with guest Cameron Mitchell. The interview is light in tone but informative and wide-ranging, covering Flight to Mars, Gorilla at Large, Death of a Salesman, Nightmare in Wax, the six (!) films Mitchell made for Mario Bava, and numerous other topics. The only downside is that the video quality on these segments is poor, like a mid-grade videotape (apparently the hi-def masters were lost). Still a nice extra, especially for Cameron Mitchell fans. A very-good-to-excellent-quality, lightly speckled trailer (with the same fluttering emulsion ding!) for Flight to Mars and five 'bonus' trailers for other Wade Williams titles are included. The photo gallery promised on the box was nowhere to be found on my copy. With the flaws in the feature source print, the unfortunately mediocre picture quality of the interview segments, and missing photo gallery, objectively would I have to give the disc three stars, but this is still an essential (four-star) buy for fans of low-budget 1950s SF or Cameron Mitchell.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Original Print
Review: I collect 1950s era Sci-Fi and I have been replacing my VHS versions with DVDs. Unfortunately, I need to keep my VHS version for this movie because the print that Image Entertainment made this from was in such poor shape. The VHS version by UAV Entertainment (The Wade Williams Collection) is MUCH better. Hopefully, UAV will come out with a DVD version soon.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Original Print
Review: I collect 1950s era Sci-Fi and I have been replacing my VHS versions with DVDs. Unfortunately, I need to keep my VHS version for this movie because the print that Image Entertainment made this from was in such poor shape. The VHS version by UAV Entertainment (The Wade Williams Collection) is MUCH better. Hopefully, UAV will come out with a DVD version soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Good fantasy Sci-Fi......Old style
Review: I don't know why, but I just like this movie. Most people would probably start snoozing after the first 10 minutes. The thing I like about this flick is it shows us how man in the mid-20th century believed space travel would be like. Their "space suits" are surplus WWII high altitude bomber clothing and oxygen masks. The martian suits appear to be left over from 'Destination Moon'. And this is the first space film that I've seen that the crew doesn't take any kind of weapon to protect themselves from the unknown. The film is kind of bland at times, but it does have its moments, especially the mini-skirts the martian gals wear (va-va-va voom). I've seen worse films, and I wish that MST3K would've done a lampoon.
Rating:
Summary: Good fantasy Sci-Fi......Old style
Review: I don't know why, but I just like this movie. Most people would probably start snoozing after the first 10 minutes. The thing I like about this flick is it shows us how man in the mid-20th century believed space travel would be like. Their "space suits" are surplus WWII high altitude bomber clothing and oxygen masks. The martian suits appear to be left over from 'Destination Moon'. And this is the first space film that I've seen that the crew doesn't take any kind of weapon to protect themselves from the unknown. The film is kind of bland at times, but it does have its moments, especially the mini-skirts the martian gals wear (va-va-va voom). I've seen worse films, and I wish that MST3K would've done a lampoon.
Rating:
Summary: campy piece of B-grade schlock
Review: Marguerite Chapman and Cameron Mitchell star in the 1951 B-movie FLIGHT TO MARS, a laughable little gem that is impossible not to love. When a crew of space travellers from Earth (dressed in lycra/leather jumpsuits, naturally!) crashland on Mars due to a freak meteorite storm, they stumble across and advanced race of humans. At first they are greeted by hospitality and kindness, but soon the real motives reveal themselves; the Mars colony wants to steal their spaceship and destroy the Earth with it (HORROR! SHOCK! HORROR!). But there is still room for romance and the mini-skirted Mars women are to be seen to be believed! Marguerite Chapman and Virginia Huston prove themselves to be great B-movie bombshells in this movie. Will the space travellers escape? Or are they doomed to stay among the swinging chicks of Mars? Find out in FLIGHT TO MARS!
Rating:
Summary: Good movie Bad transfer
Review: This is a fun piece of cheese from the time when not a lot was known about space or space travel. Well acted, just plain enjoyable for those of us who love our 50's sci-fi. Now the down side. The source material for the transfer is pretty poor. Image usually does a great job on their DVD's and perhaps the print used was the best available, after all this movie is over 50 years old. No matter, a movie about a trip to Mars which is inhabited by beautiful women and coniving men cant be all bad. And watch out for those meteors.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining 50's sci-fier.
Review: This is an entertaining picture, but certainly not the best. The poor budget is reflected in almost every aspect. The first few scenes glow with colors only possible through Technicolor, but after that the picture looks pretty standard. The story has a crew of an experimental rocket being sent on a journey to the Red Planet, but meteor damage causes malfunctions that lead to a crash landing on Mars. The crash of the spaceship is pretty poorly done, and the Martain cityscape will be painful to watch unless you're a very young viewer (flat cardboard cut-out travel cars and elevators seen from the wrong angles!). The acting? Well... depends. I liked the two older professors in the crew, and the Martian bad guy. There are some interesting gender issues, most notibly the overwhelming desire of the female crewmember to see the Martian version of a kitchen. For brainy scientists, the two leading female cast members still seem easily sidetracked by such things. I think the best part of the picture is the first half; the flight preparations, getting to know the crew, and the interesting dialogue about Man's place in the universe that is discussed during the flight. The ship tangles with the Moon's gravity, and the obligatory glowing meteor fragments, before crashing on Mars. Once the crew meets the Martains and enters the elevator to the underground Martian city, the picture goes downhill too. The ending seems tacked on, as if money ran out and they had to stop filming where they were. Still, the picture has some very good moments, and is enjoyable 50's sci-fi. It is much better than another picture that uses special effects clips from this movie, the notoriously bad (but fun!)"Queen of Outer Space". "Flight to Mars" is a curious mixture of the best of 50's rocketship sci-fi, and the worst of 50's gender stereotyping. The movie is a wonderful diversion on a Saturday afternoon, and is probably not as well known as other Saturday sci-fiers. As such, it may be an undiscovered gem for those who love old sci-fi. It would also be a good candidate for your own MST3k party!
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