Rating: 
Summary: Go to the moon!
Review: This is a wonderfully fun movie, a mixture of humor and semi-seriousness about three people who go to the moon in a machine invented by a strange, very strange, scientist at the turn of the century. Lots of fun, and very enjoyable. You'll like the antics of the eccentric scientist (Lionel Jeffries).
Rating:
Summary: First Men in the Moon from 1964 now a great DVD !
Review: This turn of the century work by H. G. Wells became film reality in 1964 as Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen combined to bring it to the screen in a marvelous effort that will impress you with it's effects. The DVD sharpens them to crystal clarity and restores the awe that I first felt when I saw this film in the movies in "Lunacolor" in 1964. The introduction to this film of a modern day moon UN team landing culminating in a fantastic discovery that man had been there already in 1899 with the finding of a British Flag and claim for England under Queen Victoria was a great idea by the screenplay writer, which leaves you with a sense of anticipation of what is ahead. A search is conducted and a surviving member of the expedition is found who then begins to recount the famous Wells story from this point. This part of the movie starts off slowly. It spends some time charming you with the English countryside in springtime during the victorian era with all the flowers, tea and quiet that we would all love to have. You begin to think that this can't possibly be a movie about a trip to the moon as you see the antics of Lionel Jefferies as our "inventor chap" and Edward Judd as a young man trying to find his fortune. Then, suddenly, you are whisked away in the sphere like a bullet racing to the moon in a film that continually builds in tension and fantastic vision to fill the eye with color and your mind with the wonder of it all! When the Harryhausen moon creatures are seen, you will never forget them. The moon colors in the underground labs and tunnels are incredible, and this DVD brings them back to the way they were. A great job! There is also a vital CLUE in this DVD that was a part of the original book and film but was CUT on the VHS copy. Do you know what it is? Simply, when Mr. Cavor is about to leave for the moon he is warned while leaving the hothouse that he could "catch a cold". He does, which leads to the destruction of the moon civilization! What was cut out was all of the coughing that he displays in the film's crescendo of meeting with the Grand Lunar and this essential part of the work is back in the DVD! This makes the ending more understandable, and connects the images of a destroyed underground civilization when the film returns to the "present" moon expedition. This is a great legal point in the "danger" of making an assumption when a film is being re-issued. That VHS format was probably processed by a person who never read the book or saw the original film and perhaps thought is was an unintentional error on behalf of the original recording! It is our luck that someone recognized this omission and fixed it in this great DVD. Well recommended for children and it will boost their imagination.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely one of Ray Harryhausen's lesser pictures.
Review: To be quite honest, this film really has nothing very great to offer. What you get is a standard, run-of-the-mill 60's sci-fi adventure flick. It simply takes far too long to actually get to the moon, and nothing much happens when we do. The aliens are never even menacing in the least. But, do not think by these statements that it is a necessarily BAD movie, because that would simply be unfair. A much more accurate description would be an hour-and-a-half piece of harmless fluff! Throughout the film there is a continuous sense of good-natured humor, as if it intentionally didn't take itself seriously. Therein lies the fun. Worth seeing, though, mainly for the cool-looking (or for back then, fantastic) lunar sets and Harryhausen's cool effects, as always. Unfortuanately, they are at an all-time minimal, with mainly giant catepillar-like aliens and some brief shots of the aliens. During the other 99% of the movie, they are simply children in bug costumes, which by the way are some of the cheapest I have ever seen! Still, this in ways adds to the fun, allowing a few chuckles here and there.The DVD is a part of Columbia's "Ray Harryhauses Signature Collection" series, and like most of the others, has been remastered to feature near-perfect picture & sound quality. It also includes the fascinating documentary "The Ray Harryhausen Chronicles", which covers the entire career of Harryhausen, to this day the greatest and most influential special effects pioneer of all time. Now, get this, EVERY SINGLE DVD IN THIS SERIES includes this hour-long doc., and hence it has become nothing to get excited about if you see it in the "Special Features" selection on the case. Lowdown: Really only worth getting if you're a Harryhausen fan/collector (like myself).
Rating:
Summary: Ray's Biggest Effort at Science Fiction.
Review: Up to the time, this was one movie where Ray had a very big budget to work with and thus we are treated to extented effects scenes of the moon people and the technology that they have created. The scene of the main characters being chased by a giant catterpiller were very effective. However as creative as this movie is, it did not quite take off with audiences in 1964, thus afterward, Ray Harryhausen went back more toward the Greek Classic myths as story material for his movies as seen in the later Sinbad movies and "Clash of the Titans".
Rating:
Summary: Moon Bugs Attack!
Review: Well made SciFi with Ray Harryhausen effects make an enchanting classic movie. No modern F/X here but still fun to watch as a Professor and a young man and lady explore the moon during the late 1800s. The story starts out with one of them as a very old person recalling the events to a group of people as they watch the first documented landing on the moon. The DVD color and sound are great. This DVD includes a Documentary on Ray Harryhausen that is very well done. Great entertainment for the whole family.
Rating:
Summary: A classic of it's kind - they don't make 'em like this now.
Review: Where oh where to begin? The screenplay by "Quatermass" genius Nigel Kneale? The music by "Avengers" Laurie Johnson? Story by H.G. Wells, and special effects by Ray Harryhausen? With Lionel Jeffries as Cavor? This was one of very very few big-budget science fiction films before "2001" made the genre "respectable". The adaptation turns Wells's political allegory into a standard action-adventure piece, with Martha Hyer thrown in as a putative romantic interest , but none of that detracts from the absolute charm of this film. Eminently watchable, with nothing unsuitable for all but the smallest children (there *is* a scene with the mooncow, a sort of gigantic caterpillar, chasing our heros and then being shocked by the Selenites). The movies weaves such a spell-binding atmosphere, from the documentary-style "real" moon-landing (four years ahead of its time but looking darned good) to the fabulous sun-shaft of the Selenites, the effect of the eclipse on them, to the truly wistful tone at the end, that all disbelief is suspended and I can guarantee an enjoyable time for all. If you were brought up on this, it's a very pleasant reminder of the best-quality matinees of long ago. I, for one, can't think of a better way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon than with this and a couple of companion pieces. Check my other reviews for suggestions.
Rating:
Summary: A classic of it's kind - they don't make 'em like this now.
Review: Where oh where to begin? The screenplay by "Quatermass" genius Nigel Kneale? The music by "Avengers" Laurie Johnson? Story by H.G. Wells, and special effects by Ray Harryhausen? With Lionel Jeffries as Cavor? This was one of very very few big-budget science fiction films before "2001" made the genre "respectable". The adaptation turns Wells's political allegory into a standard action-adventure piece, with Martha Hyer thrown in as a putative romantic interest , but none of that detracts from the absolute charm of this film. Eminently watchable, with nothing unsuitable for all but the smallest children (there *is* a scene with the mooncow, a sort of gigantic caterpillar, chasing our heros and then being shocked by the Selenites). The movies weaves such a spell-binding atmosphere, from the documentary-style "real" moon-landing (four years ahead of its time but looking darned good) to the fabulous sun-shaft of the Selenites, the effect of the eclipse on them, to the truly wistful tone at the end, that all disbelief is suspended and I can guarantee an enjoyable time for all. If you were brought up on this, it's a very pleasant reminder of the best-quality matinees of long ago. I, for one, can't think of a better way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon than with this and a couple of companion pieces. Check my other reviews for suggestions.
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