Conquest of Space (1955)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

O.K., so in the 63 years since this film came out, no actual earthling has walked on Mars, but the desire for space travel and the expansion of our overcrowded earth has continued. For this beautifully colorful George Pal adventure, the audience is taken into the somewhat restricted world of the astronauts where small cramped quarters, lack of real oxygen and a desire for something as simple as healthy water is a major concern. The first half of this film takes place on both the giant space wheel sent into orbit and the rocket sent up with supplies and other astronauts to prepare for its journey to Mars. Conflicts between father and son over their different ambitions for their lives as astronauts creates an interesting family subplot and interesting dimension past the science fiction themes 10 years prior to actual human space travel. The second half shows them on Mars dealing with the inability to get off the planet and the lack of water to sustain life. Sudden "Mars quakes" opens up the ground beneath them, giving me the hint that giant creatures were about to emerge from them. While that is not the case, what does happen is equally as thrilling, creating some brilliant special effects and some shocking visuals as the astronauts strive to leave this strange world and return home.Not a great movie so much as it is an entertaining one, it does get a bit talky in the first half, but is still never dull. The often boring lives of the astronauts is interrupted by moments of their personal interactions, as well as a brief glimpse of a colorful musical number featuring Rosemary Clooney in "Here Come the Girls", a 1953 Paramount film that seems to parallel the mythical view of outer space with its Arabian Knights costumes. Walter Brooke and Eric Fleming are father and son, much conflicted with their differing views, and give very good performances. Benson Fong, as the wise Japanese astronaut, is most thoughtful in his performance, while Mickey Shaugnessy, Phil Foster (Laverne DeFazio's TV father) and William Redfield are certainly representative of the common no-nonsense American, out to have fun wherever they can, but still very determined with their mission. The final sequence is rather scary, and while I wouldn't call this a truly realistic view of what the conquest of space was really like, it gave film audiences a fun way to imagine it as only special effects master George Pal could do.

This is a very good looking science fiction film about an expedition to Mars.It has great cinema, with an attractive, although fake look, about it. The boredom of Reality is sacrificed for the spectacle of Fantasy, which makes this very easy viewing, particularly during the scene when they're watching dancing girls on a screen.The story is easy to follow, and the characters easy to like. Five men set off for Mars, along with a stowaway, which is probably the hardest part to accept, even for the juvenile viewer.The visuals are very easy to watch. They look like classic age India Ink comic book representations, but the characters are very good. One is a comic relief man, whose presence already makes this a very good film. The action and drama is well balanced, and there is never a lull. In this day of video, you'll likely keep rewinding to the dancing girls, who are more than scenic.It becomes a story of moderation and mediation. The final peril sees four men left, hoping to leave Mars. The two that have died at this point represent opposite extremes, the most honorable, and the least honorable, the most likable and the least likable, the best and the worst.Adventure films tend to either make survivors out of "extreme" personalities, or "moderate" ones. Here, as in most films, we see the trend towards the "moderate" character.This is probably Eric Fleming's "stick out" film, easily his best. Ross Martin (who most people still know as Artemis Gordon) does his best to steal the show, but all of the actors are exceptional at this. It is a delight to watch.

During the 1950s, Hollywood made a ton of films about voyages to the Moon or Mars. Most of these films look very quaint and old fashioned when seen today, but you must allow for the fact that they simply couldn't produce the grand special effects we take for granted in more modern films. Plus, while the way the trips occur seem pretty strange compared to the actual moon landings, you must also allow that back in the 1950s it was still all speculation--they simply didn't know better about many of the important aspects of such a journey.However, despite some very old fashioned ideas about such a voyage, CONQUEST OF SPACE is a very good film for its day. Much of this is because unlike most of the other films of the genre, this one does not use stock clips of old V-2 launches and features all original rocket and space shots. Sure, the models in this production are a bit on the cheesy side, but you can tell they at least tried to get it right. In particular, what I founds interesting is that they used a space shuttle-like craft to go to Mars--not a more traditional rocket.The film was also interesting because instead of the traditional bug-eyed monsters or malevolent external forces like some films employed, the big nemesis of this film is space fatigue and mental illness caused by this exhaustion. The only negative about this was later in the film when the general obviously was insane due to these effects and yet his best friend so doggedly refused to admit it--even when the guy did everything but put on a hat and declare that he was Napoleon!! The only other thing that bothered me about the film is that like some of these types of films, there was a crazy notion that the film needed a comic relief crew member (Siegel). While not an uncommon plot device, you'd sure think that the Earth with its billions of people would have someone better and smarter than him!! Overall, an excellent film for people like me who like this genre, though I can pretty safely assume that many people today would not be particularly interested in the film. It's a shame, as it's an interesting glimpse into the 1950s.

Although the religious stuff seems unnecessary, the rest "Conquest of Space" is pretty neat. Portraying a manned mission to Mars getting jeopardized by the captain's views, it's mostly the same as any sci-fi flick from that era. True, some of the special effects probably look primitive to us in the 21st century, but we have to respect them for what they are. I try to imagine how horny the men in that spaceship would have to be, being kept away from women for so long; no wonder they went kinda wild when they saw the one guy's hubby on the TV hookup.If I ever see it again, I'll have to pay attention to which character is Sanella, who was played by Vito Scotti. Vito Scotti appeared on seemingly every TV show during the 1960s, so he should be identifiable.