Woman In the Moon
by Fritz Lang
List Price:
Our Price: $15.93
You Save: $13.98 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $14.00 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Gerda Maurus, Gustav von Wangenheim, Gustl Gstettenbaur, Klaus Pohl, Willy FritschDirector: Fritz Lang
Brand: Kino International
Cinematographer: Curt Courant
Cinematographer: Konstantin Irmen-Tschet
Cinematographer: Oskar Fischinger
Producer: Fritz Lang
Writer: Fritz Lang
Writer: Hermann Oberth
Writer: Thea von Harbou
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); German (Published); German (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 169 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-09
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 3842
Studio: Kino Video
Movie Reviews of Woman In the Moon
Movie Review: An underrated treat
Summary: 5 Stars
(4.5 stars, actually)
Fritz Lang is one of my favoritest directors, and this lesser-known film, his final silent, was nothing less than the riveting high-quality product I've come to expect from him. Like a couple of his other films, it does take awhile for the story and characters to be fully set up and for the viewer to be drawn in, but once things do finally start happening, it just gets better and better. Lang loved long films, and just like with a book that runs over the "normal" length, such a film too naturally will take a bit longer in setting up the plot and characters. And since it runs to almost three hours, it doesn't need to get everything and everyone established lickety-split and to have everything wrapped up nicely and neatly in an unrealistic amount of time.
Wolf Helius is a prominent scientist who works in the rocket business and who is deeply interested in space exploration. Professor Georg Manfeldt is an eccentric older friend of his who has been reduced to poverty and disgrace because of his obsessive research into the existence of gold on the Moon. Prof. Manfeldt talks Helius into financing his dream expedition to finally prove his 30-year-old theory right. Helius's best friend and chief engineer Hans Windegger is persuaded to come along too, and Windegger's fiancée Friede, whom Helius also loves, insists she join all of them. The expedition and the preparations for it turn out to be anything but routine, since some rival elements know all about their plans and the belief that there is gold on the Moon. One of these criminals, Turner, also joins the flight. During the flight and after the rocket has successfully landed (despite having a number of potentially serious technical problems), human nature gets the better of everyone, and jealous rivalries, pettiness, and greedy self-interest start erupting right and left. It all builds up to a great ending, made even better by how it's not one of those endings the average viewer could have predicted coming a mile away.
Though it naturally will appear a bit dated today, in an era where space travel is a reality and not a sci-fi fantasy, the space technology actually seems pretty advanced and accurate for 1929. I'd personally consider a lot of the sci-fi films of the Fifties and early Sixties to be a lot more dated. As has been mentioned, the scientific staff consulting for this film did know about some of the things that ended up depicted in a rather unrealistic matter (esp. the fact that people had air to breathe on the Moon!), but it possibly was left that way because the average moviegoer might not have liked the alternate. There are also a number of plotholes that are never resolved or explained, such as just how Helius was knocked out in the taxi when Manfeldt's papers were stolen from him, why anyone is supposed to believe there's gold on the Moon, what purpose some of the people on the flight are supposed to serve apart from dramatic tension between the characters, and what exactly happens to Manfeldt after he finds his gold. Still, relatively minor problems aside, this is one compelling film, one which deserves to be ranked higher among Lang's phenomenal work.
Summary of Woman In the Moon
WOMAN IN THE MOON - DVD MovieSimilar DVD Movies
![The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray] Image](/images/The-Complete-Metropolis-Blu-ray-B0040QYROK-X.jpg)
The Complete Metropolis [Blu-ray]KNV; Release date: 2010-11-23; Blu-ray
Best price: $22.56
Price in other shops:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Restored Authorized Edition)Kino International; Release date: 2002-09-24; DVD
Best price: $10.58
Price in other shops:
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2004-05-18; DVD
Best price: $21.99
Price in other shops:
Island of Lost Souls (Criterion Collection)IMG; Release date: 2011-10-25; DVD
Best price: $16.09
Price in other shops:
The Complete MetropolisKNV; Release date: 2010-11-16; DVD
Best price: $16.64
Price in other shops:
DestinyImage Entertainment; Release date: 2000-11-07; DVD
Best price: $15.02
Price in other shops:
Dr. Mabuse, The GamblerKino International; Release date: 2006-07-18; DVD
Best price: $22.74
Price in other shops:
The Golem (Restored Authorized Edition)Kino International; Release date: 2002-09-24; DVD
Best price: $10.48
Price in other shops:
Die NibelungenKino International; Release date: 2002-11-19; DVD
Best price: $22.98
Price in other shops:
SpiesKino International; Release date: 2004-11-09; DVD
Best price: $16.18
Price in other shops: