Wonderful character development!

Very Cool!!!

Sorry, this movie sucks

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Given what we now know about the moon (and knew in 1964), a 'true' film version of Wells' "First Men in the Moon" would be a complete fantasy and likely seem ridiculous to most viewers, with men in tweeds and waistcoats wandering around on a plant-covered lunar surface. While the film keeps the story in the Victorian age, some changes were made to make the images more 'realistic' to mid-20th century viewers, such as 'space suits" (modified diving suits) and references to lunar oxygen-manufacturing technology (so the actors are not always talking from a helmet). The film opens with a 'modern' moon landing, during which a tattered Union flag and a letter claiming the moon in the name of H.R.H. Queen Victoria is found. The letter leads investigators to an old man (Bedford) who recounts how he, his fiancée and a scatterbrained inventor named Cavor traveled to the moon in 1899, and what they encountered there. The first third of the movie is tedious: slapstick humour in Cavor's lab, the introduction of the obligatory female (Bedford's fiancée, whose primary purpose is to be threatened or to have things explained to), an irrelevant backstory concerning Bedford's finances, etc. , but things improve when the Cavorite coated sphere bursts though the roof and heads to the Moon. The special effects are a mixed bag. The opening moon-landing is visually well done but the 'realism' is ruined (IMO) by the sound effects, which would not be heard in the vacuum of space or on the lunar surface. Ray Harryhausen's stop motion work on the 'moon-calfs' and on the Selenites is very good (unfortunately, the few animated Selenites serve to emphasise the less effective 'man-in-a-costume' nature of the rest of their kin). Some of the moon surface scenes are excellent (resembling Chesley Bonestell's classic 'space art'), but the images of the Selenites' underground city are less convincing. Much of the film is played for laugh's (especially Cavor's eccentricities, which are usually punctuated with goofy trombone riffs) and the humour has not aged well. The ending is very different from the book (although similar to another of Well's seminal works of science fiction) and seems to trivialize what is in fact a serious concern in interplanetary exploration. Watchable but dated in a number of ways and likely a disappointment to most H.G. Well's fans.

Even though I haven't read HG Wells' original story "First Men In The Moon" from 1901 - I did take the time to read Wikipedia's synopsis of it - And just by reading over that, I'm convinced that this 1964, Technicolor film, pretty much, disgraced his story, for the most part.For one thing - The eccentric Cavor character in this picture was clearly portrayed as being nothing but a blathering idiot. I guess that Cavor was supposed to be some sort of comic relief, but, in the long run, he was far from being a funny guy to me.And another serious strike against this SciFi/Adventure story was the unwelcome inclusion of a woman as yet another member of the crew on this very first trip to the moon. She definitely came across to me as just a nag and a nuisance. And her presence only served to bring her fellow crew members into even more peril than I thought was reasonably acceptable.And, finally - When it came to the "Ray Harryhausen" moon-men effects, I thought they were just too cheesy for words. Yes. I know that I'm judging them by today's standards, but, all the same, they really were sub-par (even for 1964) from my perspective.

A 1964 moon landing discovers they were not the first men to arrive there. Turns out there was an 1899 expedition to the moon. Upon investigating, they find the only living member (Edward Judd) of that voyage. He tells the tale of how he and his fiancée (Martha Hyer) accompanied brilliant scientist Professor Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) to the moon through use of a special gravity-defying substance called Cavorite. Once there, they encounter an insectoid race of creatures known as Selenites. It's a fun old-fashioned sci-fi adventure. Beautiful sets, great Ray Harryhausen special effects and a script by venerable Nigel Kneale, adapted from the story by H.G. Wells. Most of Wells' social commentary is absent from the film. Some of it is still present, particularly in one of the film's best scenes -- Cavor's talk with the leader of the Selenites, the Grand Lunar.

Those were the days of innocence and magic in the cinema: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Time Machine, From the Earth to the Moon, First Men on the Moon…. All the films that carry me back to many Saturday afternoons glued to the TV screen when I was a young boy. Films that, when I see them again now that I grew up "educated" by modern special effects and CGI, draw a smile of pleasure on my face and revive the childish excitement and enthusiasm I once felt at the sight of those rubber dinosaurs and other nasty creatures made and operated by the unique genius and talent of that true Renaissance artisan of the art of animated miniatures that was the late Ray Harryhausen. I still remember the first time I saw First Men on the Moon on my grandparents' black and white TV set when I was about ten. It was either on the Easter or the Christmas holiday, I can't tell exactly which... but boy I loved the film! I really believed that the British had been to the moon in Victorian times, and I wondered why it had taken the Yanks, with all of their modern technology, seventy years to follow them. I never forgot this film, and decades later suddenly one day I came across it at a DVD store, and I simply couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that anyone at all had bothered to produce it on DVD in the first place, because... who will want to watch this film nowadays after all of the Star Wars, Alien and Jurassic Park stuff? Well, Columbia Tristar put it out on DVD, and not only that but the film is in its original widescreen format in all its glory and with a pristine image and sound quality, and it comes with a few extras among which there is lengthy documentary that is absolutely priceless to any Ray Harryhausen enthusiast. So, lock the door, disconnect the phone, pour yourself a good large drink and sit down to enjoy once again the charming fun and the humour of this fantastic little gem. There is the lovable Lionel Jeffries as the crackpot inventor, the fantastic lunar landscapes that make you wish you were there, the superb sphere with its furnished and fully upholstered interior as only the Victorians could do to travel in comfort, the creepy Selenites, the giant caterpillar… What else could one ask for?