Rocketship X-M |  | Director: Kurt Neumann
Actors: Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, John Emery, Noah Beery Jr., Hugh O'Brian
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
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Rating:  34 reviews
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 77 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 8693
ISBN: 6305869367
UPC: 014381869323
EAN: 9786305869368
Theatrical Release Date: June 2, 1950
Release Date: June 6, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 10/03/2006 Run time: 78 minutes Rating: Nr
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Before the mid-1950s, science fiction was mostly confined to kid-stuff serials such as Buck Rogers; the things they portrayed were considered pure fantasy, pie in the sky. By 1950, however, things had changed. World War II had brought the German V-2 rocket (the template for many a '50s sci-fi rocket ship), television, and of course, the bomb. Sabrejets and MiGs were doing battle over Korea, and science fiction had become fact. Rocketship X-M (the X-M standing for Expedition: Moon), though primitive and cheap, has a place in film history as being the movie that initiated the '50s science fiction boom. A crew of four men and one woman embark for the moon, but when all are knocked unconscious, the rocket goes into a drift and they wind up on Mars instead. On the pinkish Mars, they encounter a race of extremely ticked-off cavemen who don't want them there and kill off three of their number. Certainly the effects are quaint (the astronauts and ground control communicate via surplus WWII radio equipment), the story a little ridiculous, and the acting stiff--but this was the first serious science fiction movie and was the inspiration for countless films that followed. --Jerry Renshaw
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
 Interesting most of the time. October 14, 2009
Tom Brody (Berkeley, CA)
ROCKETSHIP X-M is black and white and on the short side, only about 75 minutes long. The film stars Lloyd Bridges, later of Sea Hunt fame. Sea Hunt was a television show about a scuba diver (Lloyd Bridges) who was the single parent of a teenaged girl. Lloyd Bridges is also the father of actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges.
The movie starts out with a press conference, where all the astronauts are sitting up front at a table. The press conference occurs some 15 minutes before lift off. We learn that the female astronaut (Ph.D. in chemistry) was chosen because she had designed the rocket fuel. She looks like Katherine Hepburn, and her character acts mature and focused. From the start, she is subjected to gentle preconceptions from the era (the 1950s) as to the role of women. First, when a reporter asks her why she was chosen, one of the other astronauts butts in and provides an answer, not giving the woman a chance to speak. At a later time, during the space flight, Lloyd Bridges suggests that her proper role is to stay at home, doing cooking and swing, and to bear children. Another one of the male astronauts comments on her scientific knowledge, dismissing it as "women's intuition." But the female astronaut is never fazed by this.
At any rate, the press conference features an intriguing blackboard demonstration as to the engineering aspects of the planned flight. Later, when the astronauts stand up and mingle in the crowd, a clever cinematographic technique is used. The camera segues from the conversation of one astronuaut (with a press reporter), to the next astronaut (as he is speaking with another reporter), and then to the next astronaut.
The ship takes off, and we are treated to many scenes where we can see the earth or the moon through portholes. There is also a clever scene where meteors can be seen whizzing dangerously close. These are done very convincingly, and we can clearly see the rocky boulders whizzing by. We are treated to a couple of scenes showing zero gravity. Although the astronauts never float around, we do see the seat belts floating about like snakes being charmed by a snake charmer. And we do see a harmonica slipping from an astronaut's hand and tumbling about before his eyes. The array of dials, flight indicators, switches, pipes, and tanks, on the rocket was done very well.
During the flight, Lloyd Bridges attempts sweet talk with the female astronaut. He talks about his adventures back on earth, in a convertible, and watching the moon. But the female astronaut maintains a cold exterior. But at the very end of the movie, they embrace.
The rocket experiences some sort of technical breakdown, and its course is changed, and it lands on Mars. The Martian scenery is very good (featuring some of the more picturesque spots from Death Valley in California). Now, there are two disappointments. The first disappointment, is that in one scene, the rocket looks like a German V-2 rocket. But in another scene, the rocket looks like a glistening futuristic mushroom -- a slender mushroom. This is an odd contradiction. The contradiction is that two very different representations of the rocket are shown.
The second disappointment, is that Martians are shown, but they are just people dressed in caveman suits. I liked the unique castle/fortresses that are on Mars. They are as good as the buildings shown in the Star Wars movies. But to repeat, the Martians are just people dressed like cavemen, who roam around and toss boulders from cliffs at the astronauts. A strange contradiction, is that the Martians are just cavemen who throw boulders, yet their houses look like the futuristic desert buildings found in the Star Wars movies.
ROCKETSHIP X-M does a good job at hanging together--it is a coherent movie--the plot does not meander into irrelevant or boring details. While the script is not especially clever, the periodic dismissive remarks directed against the female astronaut, and her maintenance of a focused attention to her job and refusal to be fazed, makes for an interesting movie (or anyway, a slightly interesting movie).
The soundtrack for ROCKETSHIP X-M is excellent, as there are many rhythms, textures, and nuances in the soundtrack. The music is by Ferde Grofe, composer of the famed Grand Canyon Suite fame. We frequently hear the theremin.
This movie has some parallels with DESTINATON MOON, a color sci-fi movie from the same era. DESTINATION MOON starts out with a press conference, just like ROCKETSHIP X-M. However, DESTINATION MOON lacks grit, it lacks interesting characters, it lacks tension. DESTINATION MOON is like a grammar school technical movie, for example, a technical movie on how an internal combustion engine works. On the plus side, anyone watching DESTINATION MOON can see that it was used as a template for the 2002 A SPACE ODYSSEY. While reasonable minds might differ, I found DESTINATION MOON to be oppressively boring, and I was only able to watch it once. (But this is not to imply that anybody would ever want to watch ROCKETSHIP X-M more than once!)
 Rocket ship X-M July 30, 2009
Michael W. Stucks (Poulsbo WA USA)
Good story line. Weak science but entertaining. A lost ship ends up going to Mars instead of the moon.
A Bridge From Buck Rogers to Star Wars February 7, 2009
Martin Asiner (Jersey City, NJ)
By the time that ROCKETSHIP X-M was released in 1950, the western world had but recently been introduced to a type of rocket (the German "Buzz Bomb") that had suddenly and most uncomfortably transformed the notion of what a rocket was supposed to be. After having been hit on the head during the Blitz, Londoners could now see that rocketships were far more than the twirly cigar shapes of Buck Rogers. Rockets were "in" and to be taken seriously. Director Kurt Neumann capitalized on this unexpected public interest in matters celestial in his tale of an abortive attempt by the United States to reach the moon. Neumann was astute enough to recognize that his film could not be a celluloid version of a PhD thesis on interplanetary travel, so he loaded it with a variety of tried and true plot devices that today would be seen as lamentably politically incorrect. One of the leaders of the mission is Lloyd Bridges, who takes on the Handsome Leading Macho Man. Bridges spends much screen time jockeying with the lovely Dr. Van Horn (Osa Massen), who is there mostly to be the Token Female. Massen is on the receiving end of a number of anti-feminist jibes that suggest that females are not as mathematically competent as men.
The plot is fairly typical of the Hollywood stereotype on the Voyage to Unknown Lands. As the ship takes off, there is the inevitable mechanical failure such that it misses the moon and hits Mars. At this point, the hard science that had dominated the production becomes soft as cheese. This is no surprise to moderns since, in all fairness to the film's writers, Neumann was trodding on new ground. The crew walk on the surface of Mars wearing only oxygen masks, with no need of a pressurized suit. As Arnold Schwarzenegger showed in TOTAL RECALL, even a momentary exposure to the thin atmosphere of Mars would result in some serious bodily distortions. The film then adds an unexpected dimension to the expected inclusion of the ubiquitously found Lost Race. Mars had been host to a high level of civilization populated by humanoids. How Mars had engendered a parallel human evolution is a point that Neumann adroitly dodges. This human culture had engaged in a ruinous nuclear war with the clear allegorical intent of presenting a warning to earth today. The survivors had de-evolved into brutes much like those of the slightly later WORLD WITHOUT END. These savages had an interesting gender division. The women were all good looking females while the men were deformed mutants. Much of the film's latter half is a mishmash of atomic moralizing mixed with some required bloodletting between the crew and the natives.
The acting was of a high order. Hugh O'Brian of later Wyatt Earp fame, Noah Beery, and Morris Ankrum anchor some competent screen time. The ending, of course, is a morose reminder of the dangers that await travelers to the Far Unknown. ROCKETSHIP X-M is a fine transition piece between the childishness of the pre-WW II era and the far more serious undertones on the then looming Cold War seriousess of nuclear armeggeddon. As such, it is, even now, a highly enjoyable movie. Recommended.
 Better than you think January 26, 2009
Paul W. Crumrine (Winter Park, FL United States)
With a film score by Ferde Grofe the music is worth it, alone. Be prepared to suspend all reality if you have any sort of scientific knowledge. If you are sensitive to heroes being misogynists (common in this era) stay away. But all this being said this is a pretty well acted guilty pleasure. Without giving away the plot....it is far more "adult" than most sci-fi pot-boilers of this era.
Early 50s science fiction gem September 23, 2008
M. Smith (Washington, NC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Released in 1950, Rocketship X-M (eXpedition Moon) portrays the first manned attempt to reach the moon. Well-made on a small budget, this excellent film is not to be confused with the many low budget flying saucer creature-features to follow throughout the 50s.
The story begins with a press conference -- only minutes before launch, where members of the press are first told of the secret plans to go to the moon, and introduced to the crew of four men and one woman. When a reporter asks about having a woman on the crew, expedition leader Dr. Karl Eckstrom (John Emery) explains that Dr. Lisa Van Horn (Osa Massen) is the best qualified person for the job as she is the chemist who developed the rocket fuel, which must be monitored closely during flight. The rest of the crew includes astronomer Harry Chamberlain (Hugh O'Brian), pilot Col. Floyd Graham (Lloyd Bridges), and engineer Maj. William Corrigan (Noah Beery Jr.).
The ship is launched, and after several maneuvers, each requiring a change in the fuel mixture, the ship successfully leaves Earth orbit and heads for the Moon. Once under way, however, the engines stop unexpectedly. A fuel problem is suspected, and Drs. Eckstrom and Van Horn begin a tedious pencil and paper recalculation of the fuel mixture. This is where trouble starts. When Dr. Van Horn finds a mistake in Dr. Eckstrom's calculations, he simply overrules her objections, chiding her for being an emotional female -- even though she is a chemist and the fuel expert.
When the engines are restarted with the new fuel mixture the thrust is so great the crew blacks out from acceleration. They regain consciousness days later to find they are now near Mars, having overshot the Moon by several million miles! Naturally, they decide to explore Mars while they are there. What they find is the ruins of an advanced civilization, evidently destroyed by nuclear war, and a few mutant savages. "From the atomic age to the stone age", Dr. Eckstrom observes sadly. After exploring the ruins they agree they must warn Earth of the dangers of atomic war, but are attacked by rock-throwing savages on their way back to the ship. I don't want to give away the ending, which will come as a surprise to many viewers, but not everyone makes it back.
To put this 1950 release into historical perspective: the first atom bomb was dropped in 1945, Sputnik was launched in 1957, John Glenn orbited the Earth in 1962, and the first manned Moon mission was not until 1969 -- almost 20 years after the film was made.
Rocketship X-M was made in the early days of the cold war and does not yet have the pro-military attitude so often seen in later films, where scientists were depicted as idealistic dreamers who must be kept in check by practical military men. In fact, it it quite clear that this is a civilian expedition, with Dr. Eckstrom in charge from beginning to end -- setting this film apart from run of the mill 50s space movies.
Many viewers have complained that the film portrays a typical 50s attitude toward women. I disagree. Dr. Lisa Van Horn is not a weak bimbo, nor does she wear dark rimmed glasses. She does not scream, even once, nor does she need to be rescued from anything. She is a competent scientist and crew member who fulfills her duties with ease. Rather, it is some of the male crew members, mainly Lloyd Bridges' pilot, who insist on treating her as "a woman". When the pilot talks about getting her under the moonlight, Lisa informs him that she already has moonlight experiences of her own. And remember, she was right about the fuel calculations!
Despite a low budget, the film's writing, acting, direction and photography are all at a high level of professionalism. Live action shot in a desert is combined effectively with studio matte shots to portray the Martian landscape. The use of sepia toning (reddish brown) is a clever way of differentiating Martian scenes from the rest of the black and white film. The science is way off -- there seems to have been little effort to get it right, but that does not detract from the otherwise high level of story telling. The characters are believable, if somewhat stereotyped -- the folksy Texan, for example.
This well made, thought provoking film belongs in the collection of everyone interested in 1950s science fiction films. The print used to master the DVD (Image Entertainment) is clear and sharp, and the sound is fine.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
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