5/5 An Imperial Film!
  by James "Scotman" April (Bakersfield, CA)
Shepperton Studios in England put together an H.G. Wells adaptation of the First Men in the Moon, a childhood favorite of mine. Even today I don't mind rewatching it over and over. Ray Harryhausen's insect creatures and giant man-eating caterpillars are quite cool.

The movie starts off like a Disney film, first with present day astronauts discovering a British flag on the moon! How did that happen?

Flashback: The bumbling professor [Lionel Jeffreys] with attendant explosions and an underlying genius flies off to the moon with Arnold {Edward Judd] and his girlfriend Kate [Martha Hyer]. To make a long story short, Professor Cavil invents a substance that can block gravity. Our heroes hop in a sphere and up they go.

The science of course is totally off and requires a suspension of disbelief, since they don't wear gloves and didn't once implode.

A clear commentary on the warlike nature of Man. First thing Arnold does is brain a few insects and throw them into a boiling river of blue lava. Nice guy. The chat the professor has with the head insect king in a cool crystal is telling.

The special effects are not badly done, though other Harryhausen vehicles such as Jason and the Argonauts and 20 Million Miles to Earth (the Venus creature, cool) are better.

Excellent example of what an entertaining sci-fi film can accomplish.

Recommended sets:

Ray Harryhausen Collection (+ BD Live) (20 Million Miles to Earth, Earth vs. Flying Saucers, It Came from Beneath the Sea, 7th Voyage of Sinbad) [Blu-ray]
The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen - Legendary Monster Series (Jason and the Argonauts / The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad / The Golden Voyage of Sinbad / Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger / The 3 Worlds of Gulliver)




5/5 Classic science fiction FUN!!!!
  by Joseph V. Certeza (USA)
As a child growing up, I would play all sorts of imaginary games and people with my neighborhood friends. I remember one friend whose father had stored on the backyard patio table a old style radio set, complete with huge black knobs, switches and needle meters. I and my friend would then spend many an afternoon pretending to be astronauts headed to the moon. This particular movie brings back those childhood memories and also brings back a time when science fiction movies relied on plot, characters, and story. Today's sci-fi films are slick and quick to do "bullet-time" to express the lead characters supernormal abilities and forgive me (I was also a punk rocker) but way too much of street language is used to express excitement or surprise or sudden hope of an all-powerful, all-knowing being!
I hope that the younger science-fiction enthusiasts can view this film and understand a bit of the nostalgia it holds for us old timers who dream of their childhoods.

Big-Green-Pointy-Eared-One!


5/5 First Men in the Moon
  by Randall D. Posey
Great price for this HTF DVD - exactly as described, arrived very quickly. Grea seller.

5/5 A great Sci Fi classic
  by TDAN (Mesa, AZ)
They do a great job telling the H.G. Wells story. This is better done than the original Journey to the Center of the Earth and definantly worth watching.

5/5 SUCH A COOL MOVIE
  by MEE MEE (I AM HERE)
It's special effects are so cool for the time that it was filmed. They don't compare to todays effects but they are so cool. Watch it, it'll bring back memories.