{"id":4560,"date":"2007-10-17T16:27:17","date_gmt":"2007-10-17T23:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4560"},"modified":"2021-01-12T14:35:36","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T21:35:36","slug":"conquest-of-space-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4560","title":{"rendered":"Conquest of Space (1955)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;According to the Bible, Man was created on the Earth. Nothing is ever mentioned of his going to other planets. Not one blessed word.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster-224x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-63012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster-224x300.png 224w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster-765x1024.png 765w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster-96x128.png 96w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster-768x1027.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster-202x270.png 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-of-Space-Poster.png 829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen the deeply religious leader (Walter Brooke) of a groundbreaking expedition to Mars begins to view the journey as blasphemous in the eyes of God, it&#8217;s up to his level-headed son (Eric Fleming) to preserve the lives of the remaining crew members: a Japanese botanist (Benson Fong), a loyal Irish sergeant (Mickey Shaughnessy), a Brooklynite electrician (Phil Foster), and a scientist (Ross Martin).\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>George Pal Films<\/li>\n<li>Mental Breakdown<\/li>\n<li>Religious Faith<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<li>Space Exploration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRiding on the success of his earlier sci-fi hits &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1042\"><em>Destination Moon<\/em> (1950)<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25585\"><em>When Worlds Collide<\/em> (1951)<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5441\"><em>The War of the Worlds<\/em> (1953)<\/a> &#8212; animator George Pal produced this tepidly received space exploration flick, which the <em>New York Times<\/em> referred to as &#8220;nothing more than broad, undemanding entertainment&#8221;. Unlike <em>Destination Moon<\/em>, <em>Conquest<\/em> has a rather far-fetched psychological plot embedded into its narrative, one which allows for a philosophical-cum-religious inquisition into the ethics of space travel: should Earth-born men really be venturing into the unknown, potentially &#8220;godless&#8221; universe? Unfortunately, Brooke&#8217;s sudden religiosity doesn&#8217;t ring true (it smacks soundly of &#8220;plot device&#8221;), and neither do the interactions between the other stereotypical characters on board the ship (Phil Foster&#8217;s &#8220;Noo Yawker&#8221; is particularly egregious). With that said, it&#8217;s refreshing to see a pre-&#8220;Star Trek&#8221; sci-fi film with an Asian cast member; as long as you ignore Fong&#8217;s notoriously wrong-headed speech early in the film, he&#8217;s a welcome presence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some visually nifty &#8212; albeit technically crude &#8212; special effects<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Special-Effects.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Special-Effects.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-63013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Special-Effects.png 750w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Special-Effects-300x230.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Special-Effects-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Special-Effects-352x270.png 352w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Martin&#8217;s corpse drifting surreally into space<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Corpse.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Corpse.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-63014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Corpse.png 750w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Corpse-300x230.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Corpse-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Corpse-352x270.png 352w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The fiery red Martian landscape<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Mars.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Mars.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-63016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Mars.png 750w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Mars-300x230.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Mars-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Mars-352x270.png 352w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The welcome presence of a Japanese man (Benton Fong) who&#8217;s treated as an intelligent equal<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Fong.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Fong.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-63015\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Fong.png 750w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Fong-300x230.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Fong-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Conquest-Of-Space-Fong-352x270.png 352w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but fans of George Pal&#8217;s work will certainly be curious to check it out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0047947\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1955\/05\/28\/archives\/special-effects-show-conquest-of-space.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/conquest-of-space-1955.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1416conq.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/conquest-of-space\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;According to the Bible, Man was created on the Earth. Nothing is ever mentioned of his going to other planets. Not one blessed word.&#8221; Synopsis: When the deeply religious leader (Walter Brooke) of a groundbreaking expedition to Mars begins to view the journey as blasphemous in the eyes of God, it&#8217;s up to his level-headed son (Eric Fleming) to preserve the lives of the remaining crew members: a Japanese botanist (Benson Fong), a loyal Irish sergeant (Mickey Shaughnessy), a Brooklynite&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4560\"> 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-4560","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\/4560","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=4560"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63018,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560\/revisions\/63018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}