Wikipedia plot:
At a meeting of astronomers, their president proposes a trip to the Moon. After addressing some dissent, six brave astronomers agree to the plan. They build a space capsule in the shape of a bullet, and a huge cannon to shoot it into space.
The astronomers embark and their capsule is fired from the cannon with the help of "marines", most of whom are portrayed as a bevy of beautiful women in sailors' outfits, while the rest are men. The Man in the Moon watches the capsule as it approaches, and it hits him in the eye. Landing safely on the Moon, the astronomers get out of the capsule and watch the Earth rise in the distance. Exhausted by their journey, the astronomers unroll their blankets and sleep. As they sleep, a comet passes, the Big Dipper appears with human faces peering out of each star, old Saturn leans out of a window in his ringed planet, and Phoebe, goddess of the Moon, appears seated in a crescent-moon swing.
Phoebe calls down a snowfall that awakens the astronomers. They seek shelter in a cavern and discover giant mushrooms. One astronomer opens his umbrella; it promptly takes root and turns into a giant mushroom itself. At this point, a Selenite (an insectoid alien inhabitant of the Moon, named after Selene) appears, but it is killed easily by an astronomer, as the creatures explode if they are hit with a hard force. More Selenites appear and it becomes increasingly difficult for the astronomers to destroy them as they are surrounded. The Selenites arrest the astronomers and bring them to their commander at the Selenite palace. An astronomer lifts the Chief Selenite off his throne and dashes him to the ground, exploding him. The astronomers run back to their capsule while continuing to hit the pursuing Selenites, and five get inside. The sixth uses a rope to tip the capsule over a ledge on the Moon and into space. A Selenite tries to seize the capsule at the last minute.
Astronomer, capsule, and Selenite fall through space and land in an ocean on Earth. The Selenite falls off and the capsule floats back to the surface, where they are rescued by a ship and towed ashore. The final sequence depicts a celebratory parade in honor of the travelers' return, including the unveiling of a commemorative statue.
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My two cents on this is that it is a great piece of cinematic history. Acting as the first science fiction movie ever made, writer and director Georges Méliès drew inspiration from the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells to create not only a visual masterpiece but also play on the silliness of French science at the time. What really got me was how dreamy Méliès was able to make this film, and considering it was completed in 1902, it is truly amazing to see how movie makers were able to still wow audiences even in the infant stages of movies. The depth of the shots also needs to be appreciated, for there are scenes where it appears that there is a backdrop that consists of thousands of miles into the far distance. One of the early scenes for example when the astronauts peer out atop their building the backdrop is of a lush industrial city, piping with smoke and fog. Along with the moon and underworld scenes the bulk of the movie visually kept me glued to the screen the entire time. As for the special effects, this movie was given much credit for the effects the film makers were able to utilize, and while they are rudimentary at best, they work perfectly with the feeling of the film. Take for example when the astronauts discover they can destroy the Selenites simply by hitting them, the smoke and action shots used are just perfect for the mood of the movie, and anyone who has done film will know that even shots as small as these are difficult to cut together, even in modern day. The only scenes that had me a little on the comical side is when the Bullet falls and drops into the sea, for it looks like someone literally dropped a toy into a fish tank. But then again it's 1902, what can you expect? While looking up this film I noticed that many movie snobs looked down on the transitional scenes within the movie, and while yes there are some that are pretty rigid, the movie itself made perfect sense to me and I don't get all the hate this film gets from critics. Overall I really enjoyed this short film and I honestly went into it expecting a train-wreck, but was greeted with an amazing plate of cinematic gold.
SHIT MOVIE RATING: GOOD
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