Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Phil Hubbs Or in this case the first men, and one woman, in the moon. Bit of a glaring mistake with this adaptation. Why did they alter the source material? I guess director Nathan H. Juran thought his film needed a beautiful damsel in distress angle for the wider audience.The second H.G. Wells story to feature encounters with alien lifeforms after his most famous sci-fi story The War of the Worlds. Obviously a more fantastical story from Wells and this British made film certainly has that outlandish angle that's for sure. Although it seems this film isn't as surreal or fantastical as the original story surprisingly.The whole story is narrated by the main character as an old man. It tells the story of how his eccentric inventor neighbour creates a substance that defies or eliminates gravity thus allowing them to fly to the moon in a homemade space sphere (hexagon). There on the moon they encounter insect-like aliens hungry for knowledge.Interesting to note that this film was of course made before man actually reached the lunar surface (1969). This of course doesn't mean people in 64 thought there were aliens running around up there, but back when the original story was published in 1901 I'm guessing people could of thought it possible. The whole idea that the two main characters in this film use deep sea diving gear on the lunar surface is cute.Whether or not this was an actual belief of the era or just Well's fantasy, I don't know (I'm not even sure if this is accurate with the original source material). I think its fair to say back in the early 1900's the knowledge on resources/materials required for space travel/space crafts in general was probably very limited and underestimated, so what we see in this adaptation could well have been real concepts of the time (maybe not the moon bugs though).Putting aside the real science plot holes (of which there are absolutely tonnes), the film itself is highly enjoyable. This is my first ever viewing of the film and straight away you can see many little sequences which have been homaged by other sci-fi films, mainly 'Mars Attacks'. It seems Mr Burton liked this particular sci-fi film. The big bug idea could also have spawned the likes of 'Starship Troopers', mainly the huge centipede-like insects (space cows) that roam the lunar surface.The alien creatures known as Selenites are bug-like in appearance, bipedal and live underground like ants. These guys are mainly men in rather cheap basic looking rubber suits but some of the main aliens are animated by Ray Harryhausen including the wonderful lunar centipedes.Visually the whole film is very striking offering some lovely matte paintings, sets, models, and that typically dapper Victorian attire that you see in many Wells and Verne adaptations. Even the inside of the space sphere is lined with that diamond shaped patterned leather upholstery effect. I think that concept was started by the 1960 film 'The Time Machine'. The small space flight sequences at the start of the film are a joy to behold, very dated but very effective (not too far from reality either with the flight suits); surely everyone will appreciate them.The only downside to the film for me was the bland characters. Bedford (Edward Judd) has that stereotypical male chauvinistic streak about him coming across as rather unfriendly and rude. He's always shouting at his fiance Kate who does pretty much nothing accept look pretty and shout back. Then you have the main character of Cavor played quite oddly by Lionel Jeffries. His performance was a strange one as it comes across as though he's improvising, it doesn't feel like he's in character or simply he can't act too well. His constant yelling and rather frantic red-faced performance does become tiresome.At the time this film was made, space travel and reaching the moon (the space race) was at its peak with public interest. So to go backwards and make a film so 'medieval' must have been a hard sell, despite being an adaptation. But this film is pure and utter silly fantasy (no further explanations required for that); its not a film for actors and its not really about the characters either. Its a visual spectacle, an effects film, an early 60's blockbuster if you will. Take all the gigantic scientific plot holes and complete lack of realism as part of the fun (as was intended), and you can't fail not to enjoy.

Jackson Booth-Millard When I first read the title of this film, I was a little confused, as the saying is usually "first men ON the moon", but it was based the book by H.G. Wells, so I tried it, directed Nathan Juran (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad). Basically in 1964 the world is delighted when the first manned mission to the Moon is successful, in fact they are shocked to discover an old British flag and a document declaring that the moon is taken for Queen Victoria, they are not the first men on the moon. Back on Earth, an investigation team, from the evidence gathered on the lunar surface, try to find any surviving members of this undocumented mission to the moon, and they find the last of the Victorian crew, aged Arnold Bedford (Edward Judd), who recalls the story, as seen in flashback. In 1899, younger Arnold with his girlfriend and fiancée Kate Callender (Martha Hyer) meet inventor Joseph Cavor (Lionel Jeffries), who has invented Cavorite, a substance that will let anything it is applied to or made of deflect the force of gravity, he plans to use it to travel to the Moon. Cavor has built a spherical spaceship ready to go, taking Bedford and Kate with him accidentally, the three of them successfully land on the Moon, and with adapted scuba-diving suits to use, they explore. Falling down a vertical shaft, they are amazed to find a population of large bee- like insectoids, the Selenites (Cavor names them after the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene), living beneath the surface, and they find that the air beneath the surface is breathable. The Selenites however seem threatening, Cavor and Bedford escape back to the surface, but find that the creatures have dragged away the spaceship, with Kate still inside, so they follow the trail to an underground city. They an encounter with a giant caterpillar-like "moon bull", the attack is stopped by the Selenites zapping the creature to death, Cavor and Bedford next find the city's power station, powered by sunlight, and they find the ship. The Selenites use their power to quickly learn English and interrogate Cavor, he believes they wish to exchange to exchange scientific knowledge, Cavor eventually speaks to the "Grand Lunar", the lead Selenite. But Bedford realises the creatures have no intention of letting them leave, he manages to find the sphere, with Kate they make their escape, but Cavor voluntarily stays behind, they make it back to Earth, with the ship landing in the sea off Zanzibar, the fate of Cavor is unknown. Back in the present day, Bedford watches the television, with the latest events on the Moon, the astronauts find the Selenite city deserted and decaying, but moments later it starts crumbling, the crew retreat as it is completely destroyed, Bedford realises the Selenites must have been killed by Cavor's common cold, to which they had no immunity. Also starring Erik Chitty as Gibbs, Betty McDowall as Margaret "Maggie" Hoy, Miles Malleson as Dymchurch Registrar, Laurence Herder as Glushkov, Gladys Henson as Nursing Home Matron and Network's Peter Finch as Bailiff's Man. Jeffries is splendid as the eccentric professor, Judd is okay, and Hyer is likable, it should be mentioned that the real moon landing happened five years after this film, the story of an anti-gravity paint that can propel the characters to the moon is bonkers, and the facts of the space vacuum and lack of oxygen are not fully acknowledged, but it is just fun fantasy, with the great stop-motion special-effects of Ray Harryhausen, a pleasant light-hearted science-fiction adventure. Worth watching!

Jimmy L. This is a wonderful science fiction adventure in the same vein as JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959) and THE TIME MACHINE (1960). Imagine the astronauts of the first lunar landing finding evidence of prior human activity on the moon's surface. It's also worth noting that the movie is titled "First Men IN the Moon", not "First Men ON the Moon".The story (based on H.G. Wells) is a lot of fun and the pseudo-science doesn't altogether ignore the laws of physics, giving the Victorian era space expedition an air of fantastical plausibility. The special effects are great, although the moon creature costumes are a bit of a let-down. This isn't one of Ray Harryhausen's signature creature flicks, but it's a gem.

Prichards12345 FMITM can't be compared to Ray Harryhausen's best films like Jason And The Argonauts or Mysterious Island, but this version of H.G. Wells' ingenious novel, while simplifying much of the story, is an engaging little sci-fi fantasy in the main: the sort of fantasy movie they used to make before Star Wars came out! It concerns, of course, Lionel Jeffries' eccentric Professor Cavor and his anti-gravity substance Cavorite. Falling in with Edward Judd's rascally Bedford and his accidentally along for the ride fiancée Kate (Martha Hyer), Cavor undertakes a trip to the moon, discovering an alien race of insects named The Selenites, who seem to behave perfectly reasonably towards the invaders considering numbers of them are pushed into caverns or shot!Indeed, the irony of this is surely unintended: we are meant to look upon the intrepid adventurers as heroes! Most of the time the Selenites are played by child actors in insect costumes, slightly reminiscent of screen-writer Nigel Kneale's Martians from Quatermass; however the leader-insects are superbly rendered by Harryhausen's stop-motion genius.In truth, the performances of the actors are irritating, particularly - and surprisingly given his talent - Jeffries. But the movie looks good, provides Disney-style entertainment, and never outstays it's welcome. It's a good family movie, with enough cheese to cover the surface of the moon!