Snappy Video presents 'Missile to the Moon'

This could have been a 5 star collectable but was produced as a BDR disc. The cost and ease of having a "pressed" disc would have added very little to the cost of manufacturing this item. Small batch production is easy to acommodate these days for limited run items without resorting to inferior lifespan and durability BDR. It also bugs me that they included Spanish subtitles but no English subs. English subtiles are appreciated for folks that have hearing difficulties. They are not just for language needs. I expect the BDR format of this disc might result in many bootlegs of this showing up from other online sources and being hard to identify an official release. Be sure to buy from Thunderbean to support their restoration efforts.

This review if for the Blu-Ray edition of 'Missile to the Moon' released by Snappy Video.First off, thanks to Snappy Video for taking the tame to release this 50's science fiction oddity with such a nice picture.Secondly, if you are a millennial looking at this for the first time. Go look somewhere else for a movie. That is, of course, unless you like terrible old movies.BLU-RAY & EXTRA'S: The Blu-ray picture is excellent. It's not perfect but who cares. It is scanned from an original 35mm theatrical print. I love seeing super low budget movies like these that have been released by a lot of small companies get a nice release such as this one. At first the picture stuttered a bit but then it cleaned up real nice. You will see some imperfections but the clarity is excellent. The movie is shown in it's original 1.85:1 format. You get a few extra's. Nothing special but at least it's something. You get original trailers for U.S. and German releases. There are Spanish subtitles and there is a Still and Poster gallery.$$$PRODUCTION$$$: This movie was released in 1958 by Astor Pictures.-This movie was released as part of a double feature along with 'Frankenstein's Daughter' also directed by Richard E. Cunha.-Like most science fiction films that use caverns, this movies exteriors were shot at and near Bronson Caverns near Los Angeles. IS THIS MOVIE A RE-MAKE?: Yes it is. This is a re-make of 'Cat Women of the Moon' from 1953, also released by Astor Pictures. This is a low budget re-make of an already low budget movie. The Moon spider is the same one used in each movie. ARE THERE ANY OTHER VERSIONS OF THIS MOVIE?: Yes there are, but this is the best one you can get that is in it's original black and white format. There is a colorized version of this movie available in standard DVD format. The color version is available from Legend Films.*****WARNING - LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SYNOPSIS: The movie starts off with the military trying to confiscate a rocket from a private citizen, Dirk. As unbelievable as this may sound (and it seems like it should go in my 'SO BAD, IT'S GOOD' section below), there is actually a plausible explanation for this. What, you might ask? You will have to wait till later. One scientist and his helpers being better than NASA sounds like a tremendous reach...for now. Shortly, a sheriff comes along to tell Dirk that two inmates have escaped prison. He'd like to look around. Amazingly, they notice that the gate surrounding the rocket has been unlocked. Dirk looks up at the rocket door and sure enough the two inmates are standing there staring down at him. They wonder if Dirk can see them! The sheriff wants to check the rocket but Dirk tells him they wouldn't be up there. It's not like there is anyplace else for them to go. So Dirk convinces the sheriff to stay down below while he goes up and checks just in case. Shockingly, he finds the two inmates in there and then shouts to the sheriff to tell him that all is clear. He then locks the two in the rocket.Back inside the house, Dirk, who was angered at the takeover of his rocket, now acts like he doesn't mind. His assistant's Steve and June, a couple engaged to be married, thought it was a good idea since they would all work for the government and have a lot more resources. Dirk has other plans. He heads out to the rocket and asks the two inmates to join them on a trip to the moon. The two inmates, lacking brains, agree since they will become famous and rich. The thought of crashing doesn't even enter their minds. Steve comes to the startling conclusion that somebody must be in the rocket. The lights on the control board are going crazy and there is smoke pouring out of the exhaust of the rocket. Steve and June go out to check the rocket and get stuck in the lower level. Not to worry, they will survive the ordeal. The rocket blasts off and Dirk, Steve and Gary all make facial expressions that look as if they are having a rough time on the can making #2. After they settle in space, Long goes below deck and discovers Steve and June are unconscious. Steve upon regaining consciousness states "Good Lord, we're moving" even though there is no sensation of movement in space nor are the engines running. But hey, it was the 50's, who knew? Well certainly Dirk knew it was the 50's because he says "We may be passing meteorites soon". He had been obviously been watching space movies from the time period because if you were then you would certainly know that you were going to encounter a meteor storm. With Steve on another deck, June gets 'hit on' by Gary. Gary then forces a kiss on June. June does, possibly the worst acting job in history in trying to avoid Gary's advances. She actually looks like she is trying to kiss him. Those who are more skeptical might say she was. Dirk witnesses the encounter and moves in to stop Gary. Gary isn't too pleased and the too tussle. June delivers the line, "Stop it you two, please", with all the enthusiasm of an adult film actress delivering her lines. At that exact moment, a meteorite shower chooses to show up. The crew stands around as Dirk gets himself killed. Dirk says "listen carefully...". June says "Don't talk" because she wants to be stranded in space. The last thing Dirk says is "Lido". A short while later, the gang lands on the moon. Gary hopes their moon suits are in style.As the crew walks on the moon, which looks suspiciously like the desert in Southern California, a rock creature emerges from... the rocks. A few more rock creatures emerge. They move in slow motion. Everyone stands around and waits so they can say "They are surrounding us". They run away, but one of them stumbles. The stand around and wait for one of the rock creatures to catch up. June says "Steve, we've got to stop him". They fire their guns to no avail. Lon says "We're trapped", even though there is nothing but empty desert all around them. To prove Lon correct, they decide to run in a nearby cave so that they can be trapped for real. Don't worry... the rock people refuse to enter the cave. Of course, June wants to rest. Inside the caves, they find torches, including one that is burning. This can only mean one thing. There is oxygen in the cave! Perhaps they should have gotten the hint when they saw some scrubby plants outside. Gary decides he's had enough with everyone and the best course of action is to go off on his own on a hostile and unknown world. Shortly thereafter, they hear Gary scream. Nobody seems to be in a hurry to go help. Suddenly smokey, gaseous chemical appears in the air and everyone passes out.When they wake up, Gary is with them in some sort of domain in the Moon city of Orlanda. They are met by the Lido, who is blind. They are fed a feast by a bunch of beautiful women. Apparently, that is all that is left on the moon. The Lido mistakenly identifies Steve for Dirk. Dirk had been there many years before and had been returned to Earth. The ship bringing him to Earth never returned. Lido lets everyone road free as long as they don't try to escape. Oxygen is disappearing from the Moon. The cave they are in is the last pocket of oxygen on the Moon. Everyone who is not useful is terminated. The Moon people want the rocket ship so the can leave the Moon and go to another planet. Lon is told by one of the girls that oxygen is fatal to the rock creatures. Gary finds out that the caves are filled with giant diamonds. It is now his goal to get as many as possible and return to Earth. The gang decides it's time to get off the planet. They go to retrieve their space suits but find they are missing. While they are in the cave, Alpha turns loose a large spider called 'The Dark One'. Unfortunately, it gets a Moon girl, named Lambda, instead of them. The gang is recaptured. Alpha wants to marry Steve but he refuses. Alpha assassinates the Lido and hypnotizes Steve so that she can arrange a wedding ceremony. June is sentenced to death. One of the moon girls, Zima (not the drink!), releases Gary and Lon. The retrieve the space outfits and rescue June before the Dark One can kill her. Zima goes to retrieve Steve. Gary heads back to the area of the cave where the diamonds are. Zima overpowers Alpha and destroys the oxygen supply. Alpha kills herself rather than die of oxygen deprivation. Gary (in a scene that has to be seen to be believed) gets trapped outside and gets roasted alive by the sun. The remaining trio of June, Lon and Steve get to the rocket and head home. June asks Steve if she is prettier than Alpha. Steve says the only one prettier than her is "Old Mother Earth".COMMENTS: 'MOMMA' ALWAYS SAID "IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY..."': Well I have a few good things to say, so I figure I'd start my comments with something positive...-I thought the first time a rock person came out of the rock that it looked real good. I was impressed. They were not able to duplicate this effect after this one time. Once you see the rock people in action it all goes down hill from there.-Amazingly, this movie had one moment of genuine horror. If it hadn't been in this movie, it might actually be memorable. When the rocket is in space, Lon opens the hatch and looks below. He says, "Hey, there's somebody down here"...(pause)..."They're dead". The way it was filmed was actually effective and was reminiscent of say, a 'Twilight Zone' episode. The viewer isn't expecting him to say they are dead. Of course, they weren't. SO BAD, IT'S GOOD:-Lon and Gary break out of prison and then decide that the best course of action is to break 'in' to a secured facility! Not only do they do this but they then compound their stupidity by breaking into a rocket on site. Yep, that's the first place I'd go hide if I just escaped prison.-Despite the rocket being surrounded by a fence, there is no fence surrounding it when anybody is standing by the rocket.-"I get the feeling he can see us"... Really!?!... You opened the door and he is starting straight up at you. What gave you that idea?-"They wouldn't be up there"... Again, Really!?!... You are in a desert with nothing around but the rocket and the fenced in (supposedly) rocket is the only thing inside the fence. Where else could they have gone?-OK, so you find two possibly dangerous inmates in your rocket and you lock them in and you don't expect them to damage anything or attempt to get out?-Lon breaks out of prison even though he states "just 6 months to go". How stupid can you possibly be. I guess this is feasible. Just go and watch 'World's Dumbest Criminals'.-Dirk says he can fly the rocket by himself but he obviously can't. He needs the other's to work the controls. The 'Force' wasn't invented yet so he couldn't use it.-On the moon, you can clearly see vegetation even if it's sparse. Not that anybody was looking of course. Now this might not matter once you realize that there are people living there. The problem with that is that there is no longer any oxygen outside the cavern and the rock people can't survive in oxygen so...-After being attacked by the Rock Men and with them still in pursuit, June says "Can we rest awhile, please?" Always great to have the ladies around to help get you killed! Of course shortly thereafter we find out the Rock Men can't come in the cave but she didn't know it at the time.-Gary takes off in the cave, then they hear him screaming. The kind of just stand there like, "oh well... they got him". Nobody seems too concerned or in any rush to go rescue him. Can't say I blame them.-The Lido tells the crew that they must rest. She says this, after they have just revived after a long rest.-Zima releases the air from the cave. An adequate method of pressurization is never shown. How was the air kept inside the cave with no seals? A RACE TO THE FINISH: Watching the rock people in action, I couldn't help but think of 'Tabanga' from 'From Hell it Came'. Tabanga was probably just as stiff and was also very slow. It made me wonder who would win a race. My money would be on Tabanga. TOXIC MASCULINITY AT IT'S FINEST!:-Gary was a social justice warrior's worst nightmare. How about this comment from Gary..."Well honey, if there wasn't better material around, I'd pinch you." If that isn't masculine enough. Later on, while alone in the cave, Gary gets apprehended by beautiful women and screams like a little girl. Masculinity at it's finest! Gary tells one of the Moon girls..."Don't think honey, just be beautiful". Yes, Gary would is just what the doctor ordered for Hollywood in today's day and age. ERRR... SCRATCH THAT LAST COMMENT...: Steve, pretending to be Dirk, is alone with the Lido. She says to him: "You have not even commented on my blindness" "I was very sorry to see it"... DOH!!! DID THIS MOVIE INFLUENCE DANNY BOYLE'S 'SUNSHINE'?: Gary gets trapped in the sun and is roasted alive. He turns into a skeleton. Was director Danny Boyle influenced by this movie when he made the superb science fiction movie 'Sunshine' in 2007?... NOT!!! YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT: You just have to see the final scene to believe it. Gary, holding two bags of diamonds, actually starts going in reverse, rather than running toward the rocket. He does this just so the rock people can catch up to him. He then continues in reverse until he roasts in the sun! OTHER COMMENTS:-Why would you put locks on a rocket, especially on the inside between levels?-Yes, there is a meteor scene. It wouldn't be a 50's outer space movie without one.-June was the worst actor in the group. The acting wasn't horrendously bad overall. There were some very weak moments but June's performance stood out as the worst. Dirk was decent enough up until his death scene and then he forgot how to act.-Steve would not have noticed the rocket moving since he claims he felt it. This in itself is OK. The problem is the error is later compounded when Steve tells everyone "You won't feel the sensation of slowing down".-Nobody seemed to care who stepped on the moon first!-Gary decides to take off in the cave on his own. Like that's exactly what I would do, if I were alone on an alien planet with creatures walking around that want to kill me!-There are no plants in the caves, nor is there an atmosphere on the moon, so what is the source for the oxygen? I know, I'm getting too deep.-Since oxygen is scarce, what is the purpose of keeping the spider alive?-Just like when the crew hears Gary scream, they do nothing, the same situation arises when a Moon girl gets attacked by a giant spider. She came to warn them about the spider and when she gets attacked by it, they just sort of stand there and watch.-The rock creatures look like 'Gumby'. 'Gumby' was created in 1955.-Footage from 'Rocketship X-M' is used for the rocket's lift off and landing sequences.CONCLUSIONS: I think any fan of old science fiction movies should own this release. I don't see how you could not buy this if you are a fan of bad movies. The only reason to skip it would be if you wanted to own the colorized version. This movie is genuinely entertaining. There are plenty of bad science fiction movies that get made fun of by Mystery Science Theater 3000. I find that many of these movies really aren't very entertaining. Many people think that bad old movies are good, but I find that most of them are not "So bad, it's good". When I am expecting a movie to be bad, I rarely find it to be entertaining. In response to Rusell Crowe, "Are you not entertained!"... I reply with a resounding "YES!!!"This release could have used a commentary track, but that's OK. It's still got a nice picture and the movie is entertaining in a 'B' picture sort of way.RECOMMENDATIONS:-Highly Recommended for fans of movies that are "So bad, it's good!"-Recommended for fans of 50's science fiction movies that have to have them all and are looking for the best available print.-Not recommended for social justice warriors.-Not recommended for fans of the "Me too" movement.RATINGS:Plot: 2/10 or 1 star - It's either awful or "So bad, it's good!".Special Effects: 4/10 or 2 stars- This might be a bit high but I've seen a lot worse.Acting: 3/10 or 1 1/2 stars - The acting ranges from fair to awful.So Bad It's Good: 9/10 - Close to a 10 but didn't quite get there. I've seen better.Picture: 8/10 - Which is like a 10 because I seriously doubt anyone is going to do better in the near future.Extra's: 2/10 - Not much here.Overall: 4 stars - If it had some extra's, I'd have given it 5 stars.

This review concerns the Snappy Video release. Image flutters for about ten minutes then settles down, but the image is soft throughout. The full screen Wade Williams release was much better.

I really enjoy 1:85 to 1 ratio films. This one as a little gitter at eh beginning but TAKES OFF once they are going to the moon. What a great release! You mentioned K.T. Stevens and Laurie Mitchell and Leslie Parrish...three of myfavorite babes!!! Worth the purchae. Detailed and filling the screen, what more do you want! A great companion piece to the widescreen, "IT CAME FROM HELL". Also, consider the JD movies of the 50's. I would love a cleaned up copyof "DRAGSTRIP RIOT". No drapstrip and no riot in the film. SPEED CRAZY and RUNNING WILD (1955) also.Thank

It was great to see this cheesy classic in it’s original widescreen format. Overall great looking print with great sound. Only drawback is some slight jittering in the first 20 minutes or so. These are actual screen shots in my home theater on my 105” screen. Great contrast print. Thanks Snappy Video.

This is the best copy I have ever seen! Thank you for doing this. Film wise, it is what it is. I saw it when I was 7 years old and thought it was cool. Now its retro, funny, but still worth having!

The gift of life on Earth is preserved by an unlikely team on an adventure like no other. Solid 50's B. If that's your thing, show no hesitation, and indulge yourself.

I enjoyed it immensely great picture and sound I look forward to more releases from this company that will bring "Lost films" to life again sadly many films although copies still exist are not shown on TV no more 😭😭 I look forward to buying more rare treasures😍😍