{"id":6181,"date":"2013-03-03T12:39:24","date_gmt":"2013-03-03T17:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6181"},"modified":"2013-03-03T12:39:24","modified_gmt":"2013-03-03T17:39:24","slug":"dvd-project-moon-base-1953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6181","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Project Moon Base (1953)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>P to R<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Good\/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label: Corinth Films \/ Image\u00a0\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: October 1, 2002<\/p>\n

Genre: Science-Fiction \/ Television<\/p>\n

Synopsis: Leftie terrorists threathen a stragetic lunar landing.<\/p>\n

Special Features: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Early into filming, what began as a TV series pilot was reconfigured into a feature film, albeit using the same blah sets, cheap props, and generally uninteresting dialogue that was supposed to set up (presumably) a married military couple living on Man\u2019s first moon base (like the title says).<\/p>\n

Producer Jack Seaman, who also co-wrote the story & script with veteran sci-fi author Robert A. Heinlein, is apparently the man to blame for this fairly dull programmer, of which its only virtues (in order of priority) are Hershel Burke Gilbert\u2019s strikingly atmospheric score, spunky actress Donna Martell, and a 63 minute running time which ensures snappy scene transitions, and moments of editorial stupidity.<\/p>\n

The basic plot is sound, but the execution under a $1.25 budget is laughable: while the U.S. is revving up its plans for a mapping of the moon, a group of \u2018bread-not-spaceships\u2019 activists knock out the mission\u2019s photographer \u2013 the smooth-sounding Doctor Wermher (played by elastic-faced Larry Johns) – and slide in place their mole who\u2019s able to glide through military training, peer vetting, fingerprinting, and any knowledge testing due to having dyed his hair the right shade of grey to match the real egghead.<\/p>\n

Wermher (Get it? He\u2019s \u2018wermhing\u2019 his way into the mission!) is to serve under Colonel Briteis (Martell) and Major Bill Moore (Ross Ford), in spite of the two being not only fiercely competitive, but ex-lovers. Their C.O., General \u201cPappy\u201d Greene (veteran character actor Hayden Roarke) threatens to spank Briteis (pronounced \u2018bright eyes,\u2019 presumably due to her innate hotness) unless she agrees to fly one of two ships with Moore. Thank goodness she agrees, because it\u2019s their unbreakable bond which will ensure they\u2019ll survive the emergency crash landing on the moon, and inevitable double-crossing from werhmy Wermher.<\/p>\n

Fake Wermher deftly learns how to disrupt the craft\u2019s pilot control by simply asking Briteis lots and lots of super-smart questions, but instead of the craft crashing into the orbiting space donut as originally planned by the socialist terrorists, the shift is safely landed on the moon when the guidance controls are re-grabbed by Briteis and Moore.<\/p>\n

However, there are some serious issues. Problem A: there\u2019s not enough fuel to blast off and return to the central donut. Problem B: unless they establish a communications link with Pappy & Co., no one will find them until it\u2019s too, too<\/em> late.<\/p>\n

Fake Wermher has a change of heart and offers to help Moore setup the radio relay on a mountain, but we\u2019ll never know if his heart was true because he falls to his death, breaking the plastic helmet the production borrowed from a nearby children\u2019s space ranger show. Briteis\u2019 efforts to maintain contact with Moore soon buoys his determination to make it back to the ship (actually called Spaceship Canada<\/em>!), and when their desperate signal is intercepted by Pappy, they\u2019re ordered to remain in place, and become the first married couple on Moon Base Alpha. End of story.<\/p>\n

Before we can watch the couple finish their kiss, a hasty \u201cThe End\u201d card was spastically hacked into the print, presumably to ensure Lippert Pictures got some credit for releasing this dud to audiences when no one else wanted it. The cast crawl then juts into place, bearing a wholly different font and constellation background that is<\/em> in tune with the main credit sequence.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say exactly to which audience demographic the originally proposed TV pilot was aimed because it\u2019s part sitcom \/ part suspense, a wonky hybrid not unlike Universal The Invisible Woman <\/strong>(1940), which took a perfectly viable sci-fi franchise and turned it into an aborted Blondie<\/strong> rip-off.<\/p>\n

Deficiencies nonetheless, Project Moon Base <\/strong>is a gem of ridiculousness, and deserves to be cherished for it\u2019s moments of unintentional hysterics. The \u2018wireless\u2019 telephones are fifties phones with glued-on antennae so big, the \u2018real\u2019 Doctor Wermher keeps knocking into the pedestal\u2019s wire receptor with the receiver. The white<\/em> \u2018wireless\u2019 bug with which the socialist swines listen to Werhmer is the size of a brick and is placed under a brown<\/em> desk, and none of the futuristic radio gear looks more advanced than a Heathkit set.<\/p>\n

Spaceship \u201cCanada\u201d and fellow Spaceship \u201cMexico\u201d dock into the main space donut like two phallic members nudging their way into a female hatch, and when on the moon, the spacemen descend to the lunar surface using a winch which the director conveys using a montage comprised of real actor footage and a Revell model spaceman.<\/p>\n

When Pappy invites the \u2018media\u2019 into his office for a pre-flight briefing, the only press member is Polly Prattles (Get it? She doesn\u2019t know when to shut up!<\/em>), who wants to join the mission because the possibility of weighing zero in space will make her more attractive. (The film has a peculiarly condescending tone towards the women. In one scene, Briteis apologies for \u2018going female\u2019 which is code for \u2018getting emotional and losing one\u2019s professional edge.\u2019)<\/p>\n

Pappy\u2019s briefing scene with Prattles is worth discussing because it\u2019s endemic of the spastic editing that runs throughout the film. The hysterically funny launch of ships Canada + Mexico have coverage, but it seems there was an intention to intercut close-ups of some kind between Pappy\u2019s elaborating on the mission details. Actor Roarke keeps pausing between sentences, as though he was told they needed gaps for cutaways \u2013 maybe stills or reaction shots \u2013 to shots were never used or perhaps filmed. In the finished movie, the producer allows most of the take to continue untrimmed, making Roarke look as though he\u2019s having a series of aneurisms.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of the film, Moore\u2019s trek back to Spaceship Canada after Fake Wermher\u2019s death is intercut with still frames of Briteis at the viewscreen\u2019s controls, with her arm frozen in midair. The production keeps cutting back to the same shot, layering it with outtake dialogue that\u2019s completely redundant.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong> did borrow some material from prior space exploration films, including Destination Moon<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1950), the landmark space film written by Heinlein (and coincidentally distributed by Lippert, too). However, perhaps feeling the sense of G-force wasn\u2019t sufficiently realistic in the 1950 film, the actors not only sweat like madmen (and mad women) during the launches, but scream as though each realized their underwear is lined with tacks.<\/p>\n

Because space has no gravity, like Destination Moon<\/strong>, magnetic boots are used to navigate in and around the space donut, and there\u2019s a great split-screen shot where two oncoming groups respectively walk on the floor and ceiling, passing \u201cDo Not Walk on the Walls\u201d signage. The concept sort of backfires when Briteis and Moore meet their superiors in an office room, and the set design has the two parties looking at each other not from a level floor, but from the floor and wall \u2013 craning their necks to make eye contact in spite of a severe\u00a0 90 degree angle.<\/p>\n

Corinth\u2019s DVD is very short on production ephemera, but the transfer comes from a good source print, and its ongoing availability ensure one of the best worst sci-fi films of the era can be relished by genre fans.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album <\/a>— Soundtrack Review<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Amazon Search Links:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" \"\"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0P to R<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ P to R . Film: Good\/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: \u00a0n\/a Label: Corinth Films \/ Image\u00a0\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: October 1, 2002 Genre: Science-Fiction \/ Television Synopsis: Leftie terrorists threathen a stragetic lunar landing. Special Features: \u00a0n\/a . . Review: Early into filming, what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[1882,1883,1881,1886,1879,1885,1880,1884],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1BH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6181"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6220,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6181\/revisions\/6220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}