fullygoldy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fullygoldy) wrote2006-09-05 07:42 am
fullygoldy) wrote2006-09-05 07:42 am
Getting off the Planet
Week before last, it was Starship Troopers, and last week (Saturday) it was Destination Moon. Both are based on Robert A. Heinlein stories, but Destination Moon's screenplay was also written by RAH, and the film itself was obviously made in the 50's.
Where to start? Everyone in the film smoked. Cigarettes. Even the spaceship crew, while on the ship. I'm surprised they didn't figure out a way to smoke inside their pressure suits! Also, everyone was male, except the rocketship's inventor's wife. She had one line: "Come back to me, darling. Come back." Then they embrace before he runs over to the rocketship and blasts off. That's not really typical for RAH's women. Usually they're brainy barbie dolls and just as likely to be in command or combat as the men (yeah, he had his issues). But this was set in a contemporary time period, so I guess he was going for the realism.
The science was fairly sound, but there were some glaring things. Using the oxygen tank as a jet pack to do a rescue was a brilliant bit of problem-solving. but wouldn't that mean they'd run out of oxygen early? I mean, if they didn't bring enough fuel to handle a couple of course corrections, why would they have excess oxygen? What about that radio operator? He was a n00b if I ever saw one. And man, did he whipsaw me to death with his attitude toward the whole adventure. First it's "this can't happen, it'll never work," then it's "this is the most wonderful thing ever," then it's "why do I have to die this way, when I could have gone over Niagra Falls in a barrel," (and WTF?! to that) and finally, "Leave me here, I want to do this for you." Jeez, I would have left him just to get relief from the whining.
All the analog technology really cracked me up. I loved seeing the computer crunching away on problems. And how they had to wait 15 minutes to get the answers from the computer. But even though they mentioned a time delay in communication, they didn't actually portray it. They were chatting on the radio as if they were calling on the phone.
The one thing that really bugged me though was the way they dropped the discovery of the radioactive rocks. When the astronauts discover them, they act like this is manna from heaven, and then as soon as they realize they might not have enough fuel to go home, they completely drop the subject. WTF? I kept expecting the rocks to play a role in getting them home.
And finally, while it may have been quite exciting in it's day, I have a feeling it was actually just as boring when first made as I found it. I actually nodded off in the middle for a bit. Not the part with Woody Woodpecker of course, he's much too obnoxious to sleep through, but yeah. And while it was filmed in technicolor, no one has "digitally remastered" it yet, so it's pretty washed out. Most of the scenes reminded me of the ashcan era. Wait, that's kind of appropriate given the smoking. Maybe it was all grayed out because of the layer of smoke over everything.
I thought it was pretty funny that on Sunday night, we watched the episode of West Wing called "Mars or Bust." The pretty astronomer explained to Josh how a manned mission to Mars would work, and let him look through her telescope (that's what they're calling it these days ::smirk::). But it got Josh fired up for something esoteric and altruistic, which is a good thing. Without Sam around, they kind of forget the bigger picture stuff.
Next up, Hidalgo.
Where to start? Everyone in the film smoked. Cigarettes. Even the spaceship crew, while on the ship. I'm surprised they didn't figure out a way to smoke inside their pressure suits! Also, everyone was male, except the rocketship's inventor's wife. She had one line: "Come back to me, darling. Come back." Then they embrace before he runs over to the rocketship and blasts off. That's not really typical for RAH's women. Usually they're brainy barbie dolls and just as likely to be in command or combat as the men (yeah, he had his issues). But this was set in a contemporary time period, so I guess he was going for the realism.
The science was fairly sound, but there were some glaring things. Using the oxygen tank as a jet pack to do a rescue was a brilliant bit of problem-solving. but wouldn't that mean they'd run out of oxygen early? I mean, if they didn't bring enough fuel to handle a couple of course corrections, why would they have excess oxygen? What about that radio operator? He was a n00b if I ever saw one. And man, did he whipsaw me to death with his attitude toward the whole adventure. First it's "this can't happen, it'll never work," then it's "this is the most wonderful thing ever," then it's "why do I have to die this way, when I could have gone over Niagra Falls in a barrel," (and WTF?! to that) and finally, "Leave me here, I want to do this for you." Jeez, I would have left him just to get relief from the whining.
All the analog technology really cracked me up. I loved seeing the computer crunching away on problems. And how they had to wait 15 minutes to get the answers from the computer. But even though they mentioned a time delay in communication, they didn't actually portray it. They were chatting on the radio as if they were calling on the phone.
The one thing that really bugged me though was the way they dropped the discovery of the radioactive rocks. When the astronauts discover them, they act like this is manna from heaven, and then as soon as they realize they might not have enough fuel to go home, they completely drop the subject. WTF? I kept expecting the rocks to play a role in getting them home.
And finally, while it may have been quite exciting in it's day, I have a feeling it was actually just as boring when first made as I found it. I actually nodded off in the middle for a bit. Not the part with Woody Woodpecker of course, he's much too obnoxious to sleep through, but yeah. And while it was filmed in technicolor, no one has "digitally remastered" it yet, so it's pretty washed out. Most of the scenes reminded me of the ashcan era. Wait, that's kind of appropriate given the smoking. Maybe it was all grayed out because of the layer of smoke over everything.
I thought it was pretty funny that on Sunday night, we watched the episode of West Wing called "Mars or Bust." The pretty astronomer explained to Josh how a manned mission to Mars would work, and let him look through her telescope (that's what they're calling it these days ::smirk::). But it got Josh fired up for something esoteric and altruistic, which is a good thing. Without Sam around, they kind of forget the bigger picture stuff.
Next up, Hidalgo.