{"id":11102,"date":"2010-05-23T14:44:28","date_gmt":"2010-05-23T21:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11102"},"modified":"2021-01-27T13:23:39","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T20:23:39","slug":"first-men-in-the-moon-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11102","title":{"rendered":"First Men in the Moon (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Do you think we&#8217;ll ever see our world again?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-Moon-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-Moon-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-Moon-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-Moon-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-Moon-Poster-180x270.jpg 180w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-Moon-Poster.jpg 440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn elderly Englishman (Edward Judd) reminisces about a turn-of-the-century trip he took to the moon with his fiancee (Martha Hyer) and a neighbor (Lionel Jeffries).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aliens<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>H.G. Wells Films<\/li>\n<li>Ray Harryhausen Films<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<li>Space Exploration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis adaptation of H.G. Wells&#8217; <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_First_Men_in_the_Moon\">1901 novel<\/a> is primarily notable for featuring the work of special effects guru <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rayharryhausen.com\/dynamation.php\">Ray Harryhausen<\/a>. As <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s444moon.html\">DVD Savant notes in his review<\/a>, &#8220;Although there&#8217;s relatively little of Harryhausen&#8217;s standard animation techniques, the design and creation of the wall-to-wall effects is clearly his&#8221;, and the lunar world encountered by Wells&#8217; Victorian-era space travelers is &#8220;imaginative, colorful and well designed&#8221;. Wells&#8217; original storyline &#8212; about an insolvent playwright and an eccentric scientist encountering an ant-like colony of residents inside the moon &#8212; is padded here with both an irritating romantic subplot between Judd and Hyer (which merely turns our sentiments against the deceitful Judd, who is lying to Hyer):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-1024x433.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"271\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-1024x433.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-768x325.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-1536x650.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer-604x256.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Judd-Hyer.png 1851w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and a reasonably clever exposition, in which Judd&#8217;s elderly protagonist is finally able to tell his story with credibility once a Union Jack is found on the moon by modern-day astronauts. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-1024x444.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"278\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-1024x444.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-768x333.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-1536x666.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man-604x262.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Old-Man.png 1827w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the meat of the story &#8212; i.e., the travelers&#8217; inter-species encounter &#8212; isn&#8217;t given nearly enough screen time, resulting in an underdeveloped sci-fi film which appears to exist simply as a showcase for Harryhausen&#8217;s work. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Impressive sets and special effects by Harryhausen<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-1024x444.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"278\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-1024x444.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-300x130.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-768x333.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-1536x667.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets-604x262.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Sets.png 1809w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-1024x439.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"274\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-66382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-1024x439.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-128x55.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-1536x659.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects-604x259.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/First-Men-in-the-Moon-Special-Effects.png 1831w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s certainly worth a look simply for Harryhausen&#8217;s work. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0058100\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1964\/11\/26\/archives\/the-screen-moondustnew-space-trip-film-opens-at-the-capitol.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=3236&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s444moon.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/first-men-in-the-moon-1964.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/first-men-in-the-moon\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Do you think we&#8217;ll ever see our world again?&#8221; Synopsis: An elderly Englishman (Edward Judd) reminisces about a turn-of-the-century trip he took to the moon with his fiancee (Martha Hyer) and a neighbor (Lionel Jeffries). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Aliens Flashback Films H.G. Wells Films Ray Harryhausen Films Science Fiction Space Exploration Review: This adaptation of H.G. Wells&#8217; 1901 novel is primarily notable for featuring the work of special effects guru Ray Harryhausen. As DVD Savant notes in his&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11102\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11102"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66384,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11102\/revisions\/66384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}