Review: A Trip to the Moon (1902)

This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

A Trip to the Moon

Rating

Director

Georges Méliès

Screenplay

Georges Méliès (Novel: Jules Verne)

Length

14m

Starring

None

MPAA Rating

Pre-Ratings Board

Review

Most modern movie audiences don’t know much about the history of film, nor do they realize that movies are still in their infancy. Film historians look back on film and see its very beginnings from the first projection in the world by the Lumière brothers in Paris to the first US projection at Koster and Bials Music House just a little over 100 years ago.

Georges Méliès was one of the early pioneers. His most notable foray into the genre was what most consider the first science fiction film, 1902’s “A Trip to the Moon.” The camera remains entirely stationary for the length of the film and almost every shot is faded into the other using what now seem like ancient techniques.

A scientist has figured out how to build a ship capable of space travel. A group of rich white men decide they want to be the first and the scientist builds the ship. They launch from the rooftops of the city with a large crowd and dancing girls as an audience. In a now famous shot, they land in the eye of the moon (modern audiences will probably link this with a Smashing Pumpkins video, which actually took its idea from the film).

Once there they marvel in the expanse and beauty of the moon and of the earth from a distance. They spend the night and in the morning come across a group of aliens. They are captured and taken to the court where they are supposed to be executed. They escape and make their way back to their craft, pushing it off the edge of the moon to land in the oceans of earth.

“Trip” contains some of the first experiments in fading and visual effects. While it’s not the best of pictures by today’s standards, it is indeed an achievement for such a young (less than 10 years at that point) medium.

“A Trip to the Moon” is a fantastic short that easily steps out of the plethora of artistically starved films from the early part of this century. It is a must-see for all film enthusiasts.