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Flight to Mars
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Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Find all by Image Entertainment
Directed By: Lesley Selander
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Theatrical Release: November 11, 1951
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Retail Price: $9.99
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Starring: Marguerite Chapman, Cameron Mitchell, Arthur Franz, Virginia Huston, John Litel
Four men and a girl crash-land on the red planet Mars after suffering severe damage in a meteor storm enroute. Finding an advanced and seemingly benevolent civilization living in underground cities, help is given in the repair of the rocketship--however, a sinister plot is discovered that could mean the annihilation of Earth by an invading Martian army. Tense, terrifying action on a planet of forbidden dangers. Produced by Academy Award-winning producer Walter Mirisch in other-worldly hues of two-color Cinecolor, "Flight to Mars" is '50s nostalgia at its imaginative best and is a must for science fiction and adventure lovers.
User Submitted Flight to Mars Reviews
October 2, 2008
A Focus On The Highlights
Flight To Mars, released in 1951, while clearly a small budget production and now considerably dated, still manages to offer some entertaining moments. At least it did for this reviewer. And for those who have not had an opportunity to visit the film, please allow me to point in the general direction of some of them.
Marguerite Chapman and Cameron Mitchell are cast as the star actors in this film, yet I found Virginia Huston to be the most exciting personality present. She plays the part of the solitary female on the rocket propelled flight to Mars and becomes very attractive to the newspaper writer played by Cameron Mitchell. She, however, is amorously attracted to one of the top scientists on the journey, Dr. Jim Barker, played by Arthur Franz. Cameron Mitchell, though, quickly deciphers the clues dropped along the way and draws his own conclusions. Aboard the rocket in flight and with the close proximity imposed upon all, he begins to lay his cards on the table. He has a penchant for Solitaire, but before resigning himself to the waiting game finds himself alone for a few moments with Virginia Huston in a secluded chamber of the ship. The first stolen kiss, and especially the second, must have fallen upon the eyes of many a 1951 viewer with robust reward and lascivious delight. It is here that Virginia Huston demonstrates to me of what material she is made and I was not disappointed. Trim, very pretty, and decidedly feminine, she looked Cameron Mitchell in the eye and hid little from him. When she closed her eyes at the moment of the second kiss, we were vouchsafed a glimpse of her special nature. Lovely.
The crash landing on Mars, a scene in which the rocket ship hits the side of a mountain at an alarming velocity, should have been the last of our cast of intrepid travelers. Remarkably, the craft did not explode, nor were its occupants splattered all over the inside shell of the control cabin. No, with oxygen masks and suits that looked as though they were ripped from a mothballed B-17 Flying Fortress, they departed the crippled ship no worse for wear and trooped out to explore a group of "chimneys" that suggested the presence of intelligent life. Things move pretty quickly from this point. Possibly the milk money was running out. Amazing what you can do with a few extremely short skirts and a little imagination, however. My eyes found much to maintain their participation as avid spectators even if the dialogue began to dribble and droop droningly.
If this movie were based on a true story, then it might be concluded Martian fashion did make a statement and found its way to Earth during the 1960's, a little over a decade later. Could it be that Ikron, President of the Ruling Council of Mars, made his way here too? It would certainly explain a number of things about the current political climate on our planet and suggest his place of employment and present occupation.
As others have mentioned, the transfer of the film to DVD reveals a few problems. While much of the DVD imagery is good, there are a few places where brief sequences get skipped. There is a stutter. Some small distortions also appear in some sequences. I noticed none of these things watching the version on VHS tape that is also in my possession.
September 21, 2008
If it looks like it was shot in 5 days, it's probably because it was shot in 5 days
Futuristic spaceflight was so much easier back in 1951. No clumsy spacesuits and none of that weightlessness rigmarole. You just pull up in front of the rocket and climb on board in whatever you happen to be wearing at the time, lay down and put your belt on, and before you know it, you're in space. Sure, there's a short period of weightlessness, but that wasn't in the budget, so you don't have to worry about it. Look out for meteor storms, but it's not like they're going to sneak up on you because they make so much darn noise in space. Crash landing? No problem - that's what those leather helmets are for. You don't even have to worry about the atmosphere, temperature, etc., of the planet you crash on - just run out the door and have at it. Best of all, you don't have to leave your pipe and tobacco at home, as it's perfectly safe to smoke onboard the spaceship.
Actually, the most difficult part of this Flight to Mars is putting up with Carol Stafford (Virginia Huston), the "indispensable" assistant to flight engineer Jim Barker (Arthur Franz), who shows her desperate love for Jim by being the witchiest (or something like that) woman in the Solar System. I wouldn't want to spend a few weeks stuck in a big can with journalist Steve Abbott (Cameron Mitchell), either, especially when he starts wooing the ice woman. Thank goodness for the two old male scientists who round out the crew of five; they are likable enough when they aren't waxing philosophical or talking about how they don't expect any of them to survive the mission. By the way, if you think the interior of the spaceship looks familiar, it's basically the same one used in Rocketship X-M a year earlier.
Well, they do make it to Mars, where they are greeted by friendly Martians (clad, unlike their visitors from Earth, in actual spacesuits, the same ones used in the film Destination Moon) who promise to help them in any way they can to repair their ship and return to Earth. If anything, the Martians are a little bit too supportive. Oddly enough, despite all of their technological advances, they can't generate a signal powerful enough to reach Earth - nor have they gotten anywhere with their own rocket program (maybe their scientists are too distracted by the skimpy dresses the young women walk around in). Will Earth's brave space crewmen (you can't call them astronauts) ever return to Earth? Will they sneak off and leave Carol on Mars (I certainly would)? Will Earthlings and Martians be friends or enemies? These are just some of the questions you might ask as this film works its way to the end. You probably won't care very much, but you might ask the questions, anyway.
I can't comment on the picture quality of the DVD, but I do know that the print I saw was pretty grainy - so much so that I couldn't read a word of an urgent teletype message posted onscreen early in the movie. I was impressed that the film was shot in color, though - this is a 1951 film we're talking about here (they were still making plenty of black and white science fiction films as late as the early 1960s). It's worth noting that the model spaceship shots created for this movie were good enough to be recycled in such later films as Queen of Outer Space, World Without End, and It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Story-wise, though, the film is OK at best. The first half of the film (including the space flight itself) is pretty boring, and the mini-soap opera subplots didn't do much for me, either. Things get more interesting on Mars, but not interesting enough for me to give this film more than three stars. Despite everything I've said, though, I did actually enjoy Flight to Mars - and so will you if you share my love for campy old science fiction classics.
September 6, 2008
Flight to Mars
Fans of B&W SciFi will enjoy watching the film at least once in a while. A bit too talkie and character based for a film of this quality, it could use more action or special effects time.
June 19, 2008
Took all of five days to make
"For centuries science has studied Mars, the only planet were life may exist. Now the screen creates for you the fascinating frightening spectacle of the first flight to mars."
Usually the Sci-Fi genre is just a vehicle to bring social and emotional conflicts out in a palatable format. However in the case of this film it is more fun to look at their technological advances than the conflicts. We see the need for a slide rule to be sure we are on course and they do not need space suits. The spacesuit thing comes full circle until we have the movie "GATTACA" (1997) in which once again we no longer need fancy space suits. There are lots of other great technologies and speculations as we travel to a 1951 Mars.
Five unlikely astronauts actually four astronauts and an astronautess (Virginia Huston, Jane in "Tarzan's Peril") travel to Mars; each has their own reason and agenda. Due to technical difficulties they crash. They are befriended by what looks very very humanoids including Alita (Marguerite Chapman). There they are offered help by the friendly natives. But are the natives really friendly or do the have ulterior motives of which only the Martians and we the audience are aware of?
Rocketship X-M
This Island Earth
May 20, 2007
Better to Keep the Videotape Version
The U.S. Air Force, in its space exploration program, finally puts together a manned (and womaned) mission to Mars. After the space travelers land, some leaders of the Martian people see an opportunity to seize the spaceship as a prototype and build a fleet of ships to invade Earth.
"Flight to Mars" is a superior sci fi movie about an advanced civilization on resource-depleted Mars trying to save its dying race, but poorly prepared on DVD. Several strange dropouts of dialog. Color quality of the DVD provides deeper and better colors over the videotape version, but many scratches. The videotape version contains copy protection and won't allow transfer to DVD on home equipment. I was disappointed with the purchase.
June 27, 2006
the print is flawed but the movie is great silly fun
first off the print looks kind of bad(maybe because of the age and the lack of care)so don't expect a great print.
now if 50's space cheese is your thing this silly but fun trip to mars is just what you want. set in the year 2000(but still very 50's)this flight finds life and air on mars. the life forms are human and of corse they want to invade earth. you don't find cheese much better than this. sit back and enjoy!!!
August 20, 2005
Not a classic, but still interesting for 50's sci-fi fans
Flight to Mars gets off to a decent start, by 50's sci-fi movie standards, as a group of guys and the token gal set off for an ambitious exploration of the Red Planet. But once they arrive, they are greeted by very human Martians (wearing space helmets...can they not breathe their OWN air??). While the Martians offer to help the earthlings repair their rocketship, they are actually plotting to use the ship to launch an attack on Earth.
If you're looking for low-budget but still effective interstellar thrills, you probably won't find much here (see Invaders From Mars, Forbidden Planet, etc.). Admittedly, not much was known about real space travel in 1951, but much of the dialogue hopelessly dates Flight to Mars (Favorite bit: The Earth gal, upon seeing how the Martians live, asks a Martian female to take her to the kitchen). Yes, there is a certain appeal to the Martian women's costumes, some of which are so short I'm surprised they got past the censors. And there are a couple of mildly impressive sets. But really, the overall story moves at a snail's pace and the acting is mostly just tolerable.
As someone has already stated, the print quality here leaves a bit to be desired. Some scratches and color changes are to be expected from a film that's over 50 years old, but there are also numerous missing frames that usually result a in jarring break in the dialogue. Most annoying is a red spot just off-center of the picture which appears to be a spot burned into the print itself.
If you're fan of these type of films, you'll probably want this in your collection, despite its many flaws.
August 6, 2005
Marguerite Chapman!!!!
Some astronauts in WWII outfits crash-land on Mars after being knocked off course by a meteor shower. They find a race of beings who seem nice, but are actually bent on our extinction. Then, .... Ah, who am I kidding?? The only reason I like this movie is Marguerite Chapman (The Amazing Transparent Man) and her ten-foot long legs! My goodness gracious! She gets to strut about Mars in her blue mini-dress, causing me to stare transfixed at her every move! Praise the Lord! Ms. Chapman is a true wonder of nature! Had I been one of the earthlings, I'd have fallen at her martian high-heels and...., well, you get the picture. Is it hot in here??...
December 11, 2003
Bad Original Print
I collect 1950s era Sci-Fi and I have been replacing my VHS versions with DVDs. Unfortunately, I need to keep my VHS version for this movie because the print that Image Entertainment made this from was in such poor shape. The VHS version by UAV Entertainment (The Wade Williams Collection) is MUCH better. Hopefully, UAV will come out with a DVD version soon.
August 3, 2003
Great movie -- bad transfer.
This is yet another great SciFi classic that I first saw as a kid way back in the mid 20th century. I've seen it since on TV and VHS and I was very excited when I heard it was to be realeased on DVD. That excitement was soon dampened when I viewed this DVD. The original image used for transfer is absolutely horrible. There is fading, graining, and many splices that make the film jump and in some spots causes choppy dialog - and those are the minor faults. Almost immediatly after the film begins there appears a very distracting brown smuge directly in the middle of the screen. A very anoying blemish that changes shape and contorts for nearly a third of the movie.
Unfortunately, this is the only DVD copy of this film available so I whole-heartedly recommend it as a buy for collectors. Most of the movie looks pretty good, but the defaults really make it a dissapointment. Too bad they couldn't find a better print to copy from. Guess I'll have to keep my VHS edition as a back-up.
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