Destination Moon

Play trailer

Destination Moon

Released Jun 27, 1950

1h 31m

Sci-Fi

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

67%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A team composed of an aerospace scientist (Warner Anderson), an ex-Air Force general (Tom Powers) and an industrialist (John Archer) conceive an ambitious plan to land Americans on the moon. From their base in the Mojave Desert, they construct and successfully launch a spacecraft named "Luna" that contains a cargo of four astronauts. But a critical miscalculation of needed power to escape the moon's gravitational pull may put the astronauts' lives in danger.

Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Destination Moon is good hocus-pocus stuff about interplanetary travel.

Jul 29, 2019

Full Review

Mark R. Leeper

Mark Leeper's Reviews

DESTINATION MOON (1950), the film that probably should have led off the Fifties science fiction cycle, actually is still an enjoyable adventure film even if parts are a little dated.

Rated: 6/10

Sep 14, 2022

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Jules Verne by way of Robert A. Heinlein, the staid harbinger of the Space Race

Oct 3, 2014

Full Review

James O'Ehley

Sci-Fi Movie Page

Heinlein's original novel had Nazis on the moon!

Jan 25, 2008

Full Review

Scott Weinberg

DVDTalk.com

Taken as sort of a pre-pre-pre-historic Apollo 13, I suspect the die-hard sci-fi fans might enjoy this one.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 17, 2006

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 6, 2005

Full Review

Read all reviews

Jeff S

This entertaining film used dialogue effectively to explain certain basics of astrophysics in a simple manner--essential for a film produced before the Space Age and shows like Star Trek. All things considered, it's a remarkable production.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/29/24

Full Review

cato

This film is very hard to sit through without laughing histarically but it is useful to see what just 75 years ago we thought space travel to the moon would look like. Demonstrates not only the massive leaps in space travel technology we have actually taken, but also the massive improvements made in film making.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/24

Full Review

CodyZamboni Z

I like that a lot of the movie is rooted in science, I liked the impressive matte paintings, and the Woody Woodpecker educational film

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/22/24

Full Review

dave s

Considering when it was made, Destination Moon gets a lot of things right. It also gets a lot of things wrong. For example, as per Destination Moon, what is the most effective way to raise money for a non-government funded flight to the moon? If you guessed that it would be to show a Woody Woodpecker cartoon to a group of wealthy industrialists, you'd be correct. On top of this stunning absurdity, the film is also lacking in technical prowess, most notably the poor framing and blocking of shots and some truly horrible lighting over the first half of the film. As well, the four ‘astronauts' are remarkably dull characters. Despite this, the second half of the movie is actually fairly well executed and much of the science involved seems to be fairly accurate with the whole thing being topped off with an interesting moral dilemma. It's not a great movie, but it's not as bad as one might suspect.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I know the story is a bit dull but the visual sophistication carries the film. A realistic adult science fiction adventure film from George Pal. The space suits, rocket, matte painting Won an Acadany Award for best Visyal.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Foundational to the sci-fi genre as we know it today. Heinlein's writing is brought out wonderfully. It's old, but in the context in which it was made, it's a masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Irving Pichel

Director

John Archer

Jim Barnes

Warner Anderson

Dr. Charles Cargraves

Tom Powers

General Thayer

Dick Wesson

Joe Sweeney

Erin O'Brien-Moore

Emily Cargraves

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

When Worlds Collide

81%

64%

When Worlds Collide

Watchlist

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

91%

68%

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

Watchlist

The War of the Worlds

89%

71%

The War of the Worlds

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The War of the Worlds

The Man From Planet X

100%

39%

The Man From Planet X

Watchlist

The Day the Earth Stood Still

95%

87%

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The Moon in the Movies: 10 Giant Leaps From the Silent Era to First Man

View more photos

Synopsis

A team composed of an aerospace scientist (Warner Anderson), an ex-Air Force general (Tom Powers) and an industrialist (John Archer) conceive an ambitious plan to land Americans on the moon. From their base in the Mojave Desert, they construct and successfully launch a spacecraft named "Luna" that contains a cargo of four astronauts. But a critical miscalculation of needed power to escape the moon's gravitational pull may put the astronauts' lives in danger.

Director: Irving Pichel
Producer: George Pal
Screenwriter: Robert A. Heinlein, Robert A. Heinlein, Alford Van Ronkel, James O'Hanlon
Distributor: Something Weird Video, Cinema Classics, Budd Rogers Releasing Corporation [us], Eagle-Lion Films Inc. [us], Mass Production, Nostalgia Merchant, Image Entertainment Inc., Englewood Entertainment [us], Wade Williams Productions Inc.
Production Co: George Pal Productions
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 27, 1950, Wide
Release Date (DVD): Jan 20, 2009
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

Most Popular at Home Now