Flight to Mars
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Movie Reviews of Flight to Mars
Movie Review: LOL
Summary: 5 Stars
This is such a 50's version of space travel. It is hard to believe anyone thought space travel and living on Mars would / could be so simple. LOLMovie Review: Flawed print cant dampen fun of 1950s SF camp classic
Summary: 4 Stars
Fans of cheesy 1950s space operas will no doubt be pleased that this is out on DVD, although unfortunately the quality of the source print leaves a bit to be desired. Flight to Mars was rushed out by Monogram to capitalize on the success of Destination Moon, and really has no grounding in serious science fiction. Not yet famous and powerful, producer Walter Mirisch (Magnificent Seven, In the Heat of the Night) was still making Bomba the Jungle Boy movies, scripter Arthur Strawn had penned Karloff's The Black Room and a handful of potboilers, while director Lesley Selander (Vampire's Ghost, Catman of Paris) and associate producer/editor Richard Heermance cranked out mostly lotsa cheap westerns before and after Flight to Mars, everyone's sole SF credit. Genre fans will appreciate the presence of Cameron Mitchell (Gorilla at Large, Nightmare in Wax) as glib "newspaperman" Steve Abbott, Arthur Franz (Invaders from Mars, Monster on the Campus, Atomic Submarine) as bland, pipe-smoking Dr. Barker, and John Litel (perhaps most recognizable as Henry Aldrich's perpetually exasperated father) as Dr. Lane. Ubiquitous genre icon Morris Ankrum gets probably his meatiest SF role as Martian leader Ikron (he looks quite ludicrous in his `Captain Marvel' costume and cape), while Virginia Huston and Marguerite Chapman fill out the parts of brainy lady scientist (pining for the oblivious Dr. Barker) and brainy Martian babe Alita, respectively. Apparently they could only afford one set of space suits (for the Martians) so everyone just wears bomber jackets and aviator's caps on the takeoff and spaceflight. All the requisite elements of cheap 50s space epics are here: the threatening (animated) meteor shower; patronizing, sexist dialogue; technical inaccuracies (e.g. the Martian surface is covered with snow; no zero-G effect in-flight); quaintly obvious miniatures and model work; pseudophilosophical discussions that go nowhere; and of course the whirlwind love quadrangle of Mitchell, Huston, Franz, and Chapman. Somehow they survive a point-blank crash into a Martian mountain without injury (!), and of course [spoiler alert] the "friendly" Martians are really plotting against Earth and plan to use the repaired ship to attack us. Mitchell makes his play for Huston as Franz and Chapman get hot and heavy, the Earth people forge a secret plan (with Alita) to escape, and all is saved in a rather hasty and abrupt conclusion. While Flight to Mars gets a little talky at times (it's really not a hysterical knee-slapper on the order of Queen of Outer Space or Missile to the Moon) it will nonetheless appeal to any fan of campy low-budget space flicks such as Cat-Women of the Moon, Rocketship X-M, Project Moon Base (highly, highly recommended!!), Fire Maidens of Outer Space, etc. Serious SF aficionados beware.This is another in Image's Wade Williams Collection and while probably the best print to be had suffers in comparison to most of its peers. There is light to medium speckling, spotting, and sporadic lining throughout (noticeably heavier around a couple of reel changes), although some stretches of the film are reasonably clean. There is also a very small but noticeable flickering emulsion `ding' at the lower center of the frame that comes and goes through nearly the entire movie. More annoying are a half-dozen or so jump-cuts scattered throughout the film; a couple show up at reel changes, and several are clustered in a climactic dialogue scene. Ouch! Purists who whined about the quality of Image's Destination Moon DVD will be similarly distressed by this release. That said, the brightness, contrast, and detail are fine; resolution is not razor-sharp but quite acceptable; and the bargain-basement Cinecolor looks as good as it probably ever did: heavy on the blue-greens and oranges in the palette, but well saturated, with reasonably accurate fleshtones. Not a stellar print, but a crisp, clean transfer; no doubt an improvement over any VHS version, and probably the best we'll see for the forseeable future. (Apparently Warner Bros. owns the old Monogram and Allied Artists catalogs and is sitting tight on them. And who knows if they even have a better print at this point?) The disc also includes two approximately 25-minute episodes of an early-80s Santa Monica, CA cable TV show, hosted by Scarlet Street contributor David Del Valle, with guest Cameron Mitchell. The interview is light in tone but informative and wide-ranging, covering Flight to Mars, Gorilla at Large, Death of a Salesman, Nightmare in Wax, the six (!) films Mitchell made for Mario Bava, and numerous other topics. The only downside is that the video quality on these segments is poor, like a mid-grade videotape (apparently the hi-def masters were lost). Still a nice extra, especially for Cameron Mitchell fans. A very-good-to-excellent-quality, lightly speckled trailer (with the same fluttering emulsion ding!) for Flight to Mars and five `bonus' trailers for other Wade Williams titles are included. The photo gallery promised on the box was nowhere to be found on my copy. With the flaws in the feature source print, the unfortunately mediocre picture quality of the interview segments, and missing photo gallery, objectively would I have to give the disc three stars, but this is still an essential (four-star) buy for fans of low-budget 1950s SF or Cameron Mitchell.
Movie Review: Flight To Mars
Summary: 4 Stars
FLIGHT TO MARS 1951
In 1951 a number of science fiction films debuted in theatres across the postwar nation-
The Man from Planet X, Thing From Another World, When Worlds Collide, Day the Earth Stood Still and Superman and the Mole Men. When Worlds Collide would take the Oscar for best photographic effects. Superman and the Mole Men would lead to TV's Adventures of Superman.
FLIGHT TO MARS premièred November 11. It was in color which was rare treat for aficionados of this genre.
The US Air Force secretly builds a rocket ship without the knowledge of Congress or the American people. The name of the rocket ship is MARS. Its intended destination is the mysterious and alluring planet Mars. For you see, it is under the surface of Mars that its alluring nature will be revealed.
Consisting of a scientific crew of three men and one woman, Steve Abbott, a newspaper reporter, a former war correspondent, is added to the mix. He falls for Carol, the beautiful assistant to Jim Barker. Unfortunately, Carol is madly in love with her boss and mentor, Jim. Jim does not have any romantic interest in Carol, but Steve and Carol hatch a plot to make Jim jealous. Kissing below decks on a speeding rocket is as romantic as it gets in space. Of course, Steve does not mind this new assignment in helping Carol.
As fate would have it in the human cosmological history of things, their rocket crashes on Mars. Unfortunately, their atomic power heads are destroyed which makes a return to earth impossible. Fortunately, for them there is an entrance to a subterranean city within walking distance. With their B52 bomber gear and oxygen masks-sorry no space suits for these humans- they head for the entrance and are greeted by space suited Martians-funny, the Martians look like your typical humans next door except the women dress in skimpy miniskirts. The men dressed in old European fashion with the cape ever flowing.
The Council Members led by President Ikron welcomes the visitors and offer them logging, food and new clothes. When on Mars, do as the Martians do.
Unfortunately, even with the skimpy dress, Carol cannot divert the attention of Jim. He is too absorbed in his work of repairing the rocket for the return to earth. One begins to wonder if the man had any interest in the opposite sex. Of course, this is 1951 and true to form walks in Alita, a lovely Martian scientist who is there to help Jim anyway that she can. Jim is smitten, true love at first glance-the first interplanetary romance. Poor Carol, she is heartbroken and cries for one hour and seventeen minutes on her cot as Steve plays solitaire at the desk and attempts to offer her words of consolation.
President Ikron isn't as saccharine as he appears. He is malevolent in an altruistic sort of way. He wants to steal the secret of rocket making, build a fleet and attack earth. For you see Mars is dying. They need a new home-that's right, they want Earth.
Of course, Tillamar, a member of the Council and Alita's father are opposed to Ikron's genocidal plan for earth. They decide to help the earth people.
A good old fashioned fist fight ensues. No ray guns are ever seen. Guess they could not find the ones from the old Flash Gordon films. Of course, all is well in the end.
The plot is descent. The special effects are ok. The characters are well written. The acting is not so bad.
Overall, it is a descent film from 1951. For its age, picture quality is ok. Is it worth 71 minutes of your time? Only if you are a devotee to the genre or just want something to do.
Do I regret purchasing this DVD? Not for a moment! It was worth the price. It is a nice addition to my collection.
Movie Review: A Focus On The Highlights
Summary: 4 Stars
Flight To Mars, released in 1951, while clearly a small budget production and now considerably dated, still manages to offer some entertaining moments. At least it did for this reviewer. And for those who have not had an opportunity to visit the film, please allow me to point in the general direction of some of them.
Marguerite Chapman and Cameron Mitchell are cast as the star actors in this film, yet I found Virginia Huston to be the most exciting personality present. She plays the part of the solitary female on the rocket propelled flight to Mars and becomes very attractive to the newspaper writer played by Cameron Mitchell. She, however, is amorously attracted to one of the top scientists on the journey, Dr. Jim Barker, played by Arthur Franz. Cameron Mitchell, though, quickly deciphers the clues dropped along the way and draws his own conclusions. Aboard the rocket in flight and with the close proximity imposed upon all, he begins to lay his cards on the table. He has a penchant for Solitaire, but before resigning himself to the waiting game finds himself alone for a few moments with Virginia Huston in a secluded chamber of the ship. The first stolen kiss, and especially the second, must have fallen upon the eyes of many a 1951 viewer with robust reward and lascivious delight. It is here that Virginia Huston demonstrates to me of what material she is made and I was not disappointed. Trim, very pretty, and decidedly feminine, she looked Cameron Mitchell in the eye and hid little from him. When she closed her eyes at the moment of the second kiss, we were vouchsafed a glimpse of her special nature. Lovely.
The crash landing on Mars, a scene in which the rocket ship hits the side of a mountain at an alarming velocity, should have been the last of our cast of intrepid travelers. Remarkably, the craft did not explode, nor were its occupants splattered all over the inside shell of the control cabin. No, with oxygen masks and suits that looked as though they were ripped from a mothballed B-17 Flying Fortress, they departed the crippled ship no worse for wear and trooped out to explore a group of "chimneys" that suggested the presence of intelligent life. Things move pretty quickly from this point. Possibly the milk money was running out. Amazing what you can do with a few extremely short skirts and a little imagination, however. My eyes found much to maintain their participation as avid spectators even if the dialogue began to dribble and droop droningly.
If this movie were based on a true story, then it might be concluded Martian fashion did make a statement and found its way to Earth during the 1960's, a little over a decade later. Could it be that Ikron, President of the Ruling Council of Mars, made his way here too? It would certainly explain a number of things about the current political climate on our planet and suggest his place of employment and present occupation.
As others have mentioned, the transfer of the film to DVD reveals a few problems. While much of the DVD imagery is good, there are a few places where brief sequences get skipped. There is a stutter. Some small distortions also appear in some sequences. I noticed none of these things watching the version on VHS tape that is also in my possession.
Movie Review: Took all of five days to make
Summary: 4 Stars
"For centuries science has studied Mars, the only planet were life may exist. Now the screen creates for you the fascinating frightening spectacle of the first flight to mars."
Usually the Sci-Fi genre is just a vehicle to bring social and emotional conflicts out in a palatable format. However in the case of this film it is more fun to look at their technological advances than the conflicts. We see the need for a slide rule to be sure we are on course and they do not need space suits. The spacesuit thing comes full circle until we have the movie "GATTACA" (1997) in which once again we no longer need fancy space suits. There are lots of other great technologies and speculations as we travel to a 1951 Mars.
Five unlikely astronauts actually four astronauts and an astronautess (Virginia Huston, Jane in "Tarzan's Peril") travel to Mars; each has their own reason and agenda. Due to technical difficulties they crash. They are befriended by what looks very very humanoids including Alita (Marguerite Chapman). There they are offered help by the friendly natives. But are the natives really friendly or do the have ulterior motives of which only the Martians and we the audience are aware of?
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