A group of scientists build a rocket and fly to the Moon.
Wonderfully imaginative and innovative. Directed by Georges Melies, a pioneer in the art and technology of film-making. Shot in 1902, when cinema was in its infancy, the movie shows cinema's theatrical roots, as well as the resourcefulness and ingenuity a pioneer like Melies possessed, and needed to possess.
Clever set design, "special effects" and editing. Good plot with a great innocence and imagination to it all.
It also gave us the iconic moon-with-a-rocket-in-its-face image.
Such a landmark film in cinema history that it features heavily in Martin Scorsese's homage to cinema - 'Hugo' (2011).
Plot summary
An association of astronomers has convened to listen to the plan of Professor Barbenfouillis, their president, to fly to the moon. With the one dissenting voice quashed by Barbenfouillis and the other members, the plan is approved with Barbenfouillis choosing five others to accompany him. Most of the preparation for the trip is in building the vessel and launching mechanism, which resemble a large bullet and a large gun respectively. Hitting the moon in the eye, the six land safely at their destination. They find that much about the moon is wonderful and fantastical, but also that much is not what they would have liked to encounter as it is life threatening. They have to find a way to get out of their alien predicament to get back home safely.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 142.73 MB
1280*952
English 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
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Wonderfully imaginative and innovative
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I can now say that I've seen a movie that's over 100 years old
Georges Méliès's 1902 masterpiece is not just a science fiction movie. It's also a satire on nineteenth-century science. It attempts to show the illogicality of logical thinking, as a great voyage gets achieved by incompetent doofuses, with the movie's most famous scene as the ultimate example.
"Le Voyage dans la Lune" ("A Trip to the Moon") is also an indictment of colonialism. The astronauts attack the Moon Men - called Selenites - and then bring one back to Earth, where they parade him around. This clearly reflects France's occupation of large swaths of Africa and Asia. Indeed, the statue at the end is similar to an anti-Boulangist cartoon that Méliès earlier drew.
The movie recently played a role in Martin Scorsese's "Hugo", and the DVD that I watched included Scorsese in the Special Thanks section. It's a fine look at what humans once imagined the rest of the universe to be. This is truly one of the movies that you have to see before you die.
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Definitely cult!
In twenty years, Georges Méliès has designed and made approximately 600 short films, before prematurely disappearing because of a precarious financial situation aggravated by a widowhood in 1913 and the First World War in 1914. His originals were mainly destroyed between 1914 and 1925, either to recover the silver in themselves or to transform them into heels of military shoes for the "poilus", i.e. French World War I infantrymen. Thus, those available today, on YouTube for instance, are mostly hand-colored copies.
A century later, Georges Méliès is unanimously considered as a prolific and awesome pioneer. In France, he built the first film studio. He dedicated his life to silent film and illusions. This film is a masterpiece of illusions and poetry, thanks to many technical innovations, well before Avengers: Endgame (Anthony and Joe Russo, 2019). It is part of the French heritage, as Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost (Walter R. Booth, 1901) in UK, or The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter, 1903) in USA.