FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Isbel
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
sddavis63
There was something about 50's sci-fi. Generally speaking (with a few notable exceptions) the genre in that era was pretty bad, and yet almost always watchable and even enjoyable. "Flight to Mars" is no exception to that rule. It's a decent enough movie, it's got a workable story, it's got a decent (if not well known) cast. In some respects, what more could you ask for?Basically, humanity has managed to build a rocketship that's able to get to Mars. In a stunning display of creativity, the only time the rocketship is ever named, it's called "Rocketship M-A-R-S." OK. Five intrepid explorers climb on - two older scientists, a younger engineer, a beautiful blonde (of course) who's his love interest, and a young reporter who wants to steal the beautiful blonde away from the engineer. They board and travel in street clothes. No need for space suits. Even on the surface of Mars all they need are oxygen masks. Apparently to no one's surprise (because no one seemed too surprised about it) they discover a thriving underground civilization on Mars - and the Martians look identical to humans. This is convenient, because (1) it meant that no expense needed to be incurred on makeup and (2) it allowed the Martian females to be outfitted in micro mini skirts, which is always a handy thing. And, of course, since our explorers eventually need clothing, it also allows our beautiful human blonde to be outfitted in the same micro mini skirt, because, as one of the scientists said when the group was offered either Martian clothing or clothing like their own, "when in Mars, do as the Martians." Especially when it involves micro mini skirts on beautiful women, be they human or Martian! The Martians are anxious to help rebuild the crashed ship, but they have an ulterior motive. They want to learn how to build more so they can invade and conquer earth - and wipe us out in the process.Yup. Typical 50's sci-fi. Evil aliens, beautiful women. It's not a masterpiece, but it's short and it's very easy to watch, and it even includes a somewhat interesting philosophical reflection on the nature of the universe and our place in it. I was a bit intrigued by the fact that the young engineer dumped his blonde, took up with a Martian brunette, and took her home to get married. In an era when inter-racial marriage was still illegal in a lot of places, inter-planetary marriage was going to be accepted? Of course, the Martian female was white - and she had great legs! Micro mini skirts would probably break down a lot of resistance! (4/10)
bayardhiler
When I was a kid, my sister used to work at little video store, and sometimes, there were old copies of videos lying around that the store would just give out. One of those films that my sister got, was "Flight to Mars" (1951), a movie that I had never heard of. Since I was big into sci-fi movies, I gave it a chance and was pleasantly surprised. The movie is about four people, three scientists and one journalist, who journey to Mars, not knowing what they will find or whether they will find their way home again. On their way to Mars, our heroes encounter a meteor storm, and lose all contact with Earth, their only option is to keep going. When they get to Mars, they find that there exists a race of fellow human beings who survive underground. At first, everything seems utopia, but, as we soon learn, the martians are running out of resources on their planet and Earth starts to look pretty good. Luckily, not all the martians are on board with the idea of conquering Earth, including a beautiful, short-skirt, wearing martian woman named Alita, who decide to help the Earth people. This movie was filmed on a very low budget and in only five days. Never the less, the movie looks fantastic in Technicolor, with the well done production design. And being at just 70 Min's, you have yourself a nice, little space adventure. Check it out. 8 out of 10.
StuOz
Destination Moon may have made more sense but Flight To Mars is better, in a fun and colourful pre-Irwin Allen kind of way. The meteors crashing into the ship is a knockout moment.Flight To Mars (1951) and Angry Red Planet (1959) stand as fun Mars movies and regardless of how far visual effects in cinema improve over the years, there MIGHT never be a Mars movie that captures the magic of these two cornball gems. And I might add, I was born 15 years after Flight To Mars was released! You don't have to be old to like it.
BijouBob8mm
Before I start being critical, let me point out that Image has released some excellent transfers of 1950s sci-fi from the Wade Williams/Corinth Films library on DVD. Because of their past track record, I went in with high hopes for this film, only to find that while the color looked pretty good for a Cinecolor film from this time period, the print used for the DVD was full of scratches, dust specks and splices...splices that made sections of conversation inaudible. Adding to the disappointment is that Image is charging about $10 more for this than most of their other Wade Williams titles. Part of the price may stem from the extras, which include two 25 minute interviews with leading man Cameron Mitchell by David Del Valle, which are a welcome addition to the package. But the quality of the overall presentation makes the higher cost seem like a questionable pricing practice.
