It was all so long ago. It was all so beautiful then. And far too many of us here at AmitvyilleNow International HQ actually remember this movie from Saturday Morning TV c. 1960 or so.
Look at it: Lloyd Bridges from his Sea Hunt days. Hugh O’Brian from Wyatt Earp. And Noah Beery, Jr. — my God, Noah Beery, Jr. — Rockford’s Dad and Joey the Clown from Circus Boy, all going to the moon in a ship whose design they stole from Robert Heinlein and Rocket Ship Galileo.
At least that’s way we remember it. And having watched it recelty, BlackFlagTV, it was all true.
Of course it’s ridiculous. Walking around on the moon in leather jackets with gas masks. Firing guns under a blue sky at random moon monsters. God, it was… beautiful.
And did you know, the writer/director of R X-M, Kurt Neumann, went on to direct the classic Vincent Price The Fly, just before he died in 1958, at the age of 50? God, people, gold.
And here’s the actual important difference between this cheesy old movie from 1950 and almost any sf or action adventure a retirement-age later. R X-M ends in tragedy and triumph. Nobody gets rescued at the last minute; there’s no miraculous “but wait!” so that Lloyd Bridges and his pretty Swedish honey (we voted; we think she’s Swedish) can crawl dirty but undamanged from the wreckage. They die. But the thing is: they die for a good reason. They sacrifice, and they accept their sacrifice. And the men and women behind them honor them…and move on. It’s not a tragedy at all; it’s a triumph. They died for a good rason.
When was the last time you saw a movie, in any genre, where that happened? Not death by accident or misadventure, not being murdered by the bad guy or even saving the one you love — but for a reason greater than yourself?
You can still watch it. $2.99 on Amazon instant video. Yeah, it’s old and silly. And it’s great.
