14 films about flights to the moon: from the dawn of cinema to the present day

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

For the release of the film "Man on the Moon", Lifehacker recalls the most interesting and unusual stories about visiting a satellite of the Earth.

Science fiction writers, followed by film directors, dreamed of the moon long before the real manned spacewalk.

1. Travel to the Moon

• France, 1902.
• Science fiction, comedy.
• Duration: 14 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The first sci-fi film in cinematic history was only about 14 minutes long. It tells how the expedition goes to the moon in a special capsule that was fired from a cannon. Arriving on a satellite of the Earth, scientists find there aggressive Selenite inhabitants and miraculously escape from them.

The shot where the rocket hits the moon's eye has become a real legend. For the beginning of the 20th century, this film has incredible special effects. The author of the film, Georges Méliès, invented most of them himself. However, he rented everything in his personal studio with his own money.

2. Woman on the Moon

• Germany, 1929.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 169 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

A motley company is sent on an expedition to the moon: a professor, his assistant, an engineer with his fiancée, a greedy businessman and a boy hiding on a ship. First, they encounter problems with landing, and then disagreements arise among the members of the expedition itself. And someone will have to sacrifice themselves to save the rest.

In contrast to the first film, this German film lasts almost three hours. During this time, the authors manage to show a real fantastic plot, and even a sincere love story.

3. Space flight

• USSR, 1935.
• Fantastic.
• Duration: 70 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Events take place in 1946 (that is, in the future at the time of the release of the picture). The first experiments in space conquest end in failure: the rabbit dies, and the cat disappears. But the academician and his young companions follow them on the Joseph Stalin rocket. They successfully get to the moon and even rescue a cat that has disappeared there.

When making the film, the authors were advised by the founder of theoretical cosmonautics Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. And despite the fact that real flights were at that time in the distant future, the filmmakers managed to believably show the launch of the rocket, overload and weightlessness.

4. Destination - Moon

• USA, 1950.
• Drama, fantasy.
• Duration: 180 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 4.

The film is based on the novel Rocket Ship Galileo by Robert Heinlein. Only general features remain from the original. Almost the entire plot is devoted to the preparation of the first expedition to the moon and the flight itself. One of the first astronauts even has to go into outer space due to engine failure.

It is curious that in 1969, Robert Heinlein, along with another famous writer Arthur Clarke, commented on live television on the real landing on the moon.

5. Cat women from the moon

• USA, 1953.
• Science fiction, adventure,.
• Duration: 64 minutes.
• IMDb: 3, 7.

On the dark side of the moon, astronauts find a cave with breathable air. They find a city there, inhabited by beautiful and friendly girls. But in fact, Aboriginal women do not have the most pleasant plans for aliens.

Every year the number of films about visiting the moon grew, and such vulgar creations were inevitable even then. All the girls in the film wear tight leotards (apparently because of this they are called cats), and the astronauts behave with them like visitors to a bar.

In 1958, a remake of this film "Rocket to the Moon" appeared. And in 1961, the picture "Naked on the Moon" was released, where, as the name implies, they also abandoned tights.

6. From Earth to Moon

• USA, 1958.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 1.

It is a rare case when the action in such a film takes place not in the future, but in the past. In the film adaptation of Jules Verne's novel, three men and one girl are sent to the moon, who, of course, sneaked onto the ship.

7. First people on the moon

• Great Britain, 1964.
• Adventure, fantasy.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Another adaptation of the classic work. This time the film was based on the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells. An international UN expedition arrives on the moon and discovers that the British have been there much earlier. The pioneer is in a nursing home and talks about the first flight and contacts with lunar inhabitants.

Interestingly, the unexpected ending of this film is taken from another Wells book - "War of the Worlds." In 2010, another adaptation of the same work was released. The script for it was written by one of the authors of "Sherlock" Mark Gattis.

8. For the sake of all mankind

• USA, 1989.
• Documentary.
• Duration: 80 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

This is a documentary film edited from video recordings of various expeditions of the Apollo space program. The plot consistently tells about all the stages of preparation and the flight into space itself, as well as a visit to the moon and return to Earth.

9. Apollo 13

• USA, 1995.
• Adventure, history, drama.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The film is based on the true story of the Apollo 13 spacecraft. According to the plan, he was supposed to deliver the third earthly expedition to the moon. But during the flight, a serious accident occurred that not only prevented the mission from reaching its goal, but also jeopardized the possibility of returning home.

A few months before the actual flight of Apollo 13, the movie Lost was released in the United States, in which the ship suffered a very similar accident and was stuck in orbit. Some astronauts saw this picture, and, according to them, it helped them make the right decisions. And the film "Apollo 13" presented the audience with the legendary phrase: "Houston, we have problems."

10. First on the Moon

• Russia, 2005.
• Pseudo-documentary.
• Duration: 75 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

A group of enthusiasts is trying to understand the events of the distant past. It turns out that back in the 1930s, an expedition to the moon was sent to the USSR, but communication with the ship was lost, and then a strange meteorite fell to Earth. And all this was filmed by hidden cameras of intelligence agents.

Despite the obviously ironic content, the authors managed to convey very truthfully many moments of preparation for the flight. The fact is that part of this film was filmed using real technology from the old Star City.

11. Travel to the Moon 3D

• USA, 2005.
• Documentary, short.
• Duration: 40 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The incredibly beautiful film includes both documentary footage from NASA and computer graphics. Behind the scenes, Tom Hanks (who once played in Apollo 13) talks about the conquest of space and the majestic silence of the moon.

12. Moon 2112

• UK, 2009.
• Science fiction, drama, dystopia.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Sam has been working on the moon at a rare gas station for three years. He can only communicate with a talking robot, and there is not a soul around. His contract is already coming to an end. But then Sam meets his replacement - himself.

The first film by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) was made with minimal investment. Even the model of the lunar rover was simply dragged on a rope.

13. Apollo 18

• USA, Canada, 2011.
• Pseudo-documentary, science fiction, horror.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 2.

According to official information, the lunar program ended on Apollo 17. However, conspiracy theorists believe that there were other flights, but all the data about them are classified. The mock documentary follows the next visit to the moon, where the team encountered a strange infection.

14. Lunar scam

• France, 2015.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 1.

And another plot based on a conspiracy theory. In the late 1960s, an FBI agent travels to London to get Stanley Kubrick to help him film the moon landing. However, instead of Kubrick, he comes across a petty crook and a weed lover who is filming documentary footage in a porn studio.