A scientist discovers that there's gold on the moon. He builds a rocket to fly there, but there's too much rivalry among the crew to have a successful expedition.
Similar titles
Reviews
'Woman in the Moon' is considered to be first serious science-fiction movie, and it is first movie that deal space travel such an elaborate way. This film also depicted many things first time on the silver screen - like rocket launching pad, start countdown, a rocket with two stages and zero gravity. If you put it this way - how far the first real space travel was, the film was quite accurate, or one can even say - prophetic. 'Woman in the Moon' is not as big on scale and not as filled with special effects as 'Metropolis' it's nonetheless worthy early sci-fi film that is must see for every genre fan. The first half might be even boring to some, as it just introduces the characters and remind chamber comedy rather than science-fiction, but after the first hour is past, we are finally taken into special effects filled space extravaganza.With 'Metropolis' and 'Woman in the Moon' Fritz Lang was without a doubt the king of science-fiction movies of his era.P.S. I guess Viggo Mortensen knows something about time travel - there are some striking similarities between him and Fritz Rasp, especially when he is with glasses and mustache.
What should have been an entertaining space romp is in fact a witheringly dull melodrama featuring some of the silliest characters and widest plot holes this side of meteor crater Arizona. The professor who we are told masterminds the excursion leaves the safety of the rocket in a fit of hysteria, removing his helmet to gulp the lunar air, whilst clutching a dowsing rod. The astronauts are emotionally overwrought simpletons. The denouement involves a leaked oxygen canister supposedly meaning only two can return to Earth - despite them having breathed oxygenated moon air for the last two days. The titular woman bravely heads into space without fuss, to her credit. And there are a couple of fantastic shots which remind you that this was the man that made Metropolis, but they are lost amidst the plodding romance. Much is made of Lang's so called invention of the space countdown but you're not telling me he invented the concept of counting down from 10? I'm pretty sure we'd have worked it out without this garbage.10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 STAR.
I saw the original premiere presentation director's cut of this movie in January of 2003, with excellent musical accompaniment by Dennis James at the Paramount theater. Perfect, restored print, a movie that I have always wanted to see (since it was mentioned in Carlos Clarens "Horror Movies" first published in 1967). HOWEVER... The tendency toward "original, premiere presntation" director's cut reached new heights of lunacy (pun intended) with this movie. It ran more than three hours and 40 minutes! According to it's IMDB entry the original version that ran in the US was 95 minutes with longer versions (running time up to 2 and a half hours) running in Europe. At times I felt as if I had been placed in hypersleep in prep for a deep space expedition of my own! The film certainly lived up to advance billing, yet certain things, like the 45-minute opening dinner scene, were obviously way longer than they needed to be. One doesn't need to be a genius to know that after the premiere, Fritz Lang probably cut the dinner scene to about three minutes, removed whole sections, and generally tightened up an otherwise improbable story. For example, the moon is portrayed as a rather pleasant (if poorly stocked with resources for survival) beach resort. Everyone runs around in sweaters and jodhpurs, and true love seems destined to survive the wait for a return rescue rocket. Other stuff was great: the launch pad, countdown and the experience of the G forces on blastoff were, well the archetypal events for all the space operas to follow. A good movie, but probably seen to much better effect on video or in the shorter release version (if either ever turns up).
"Frau im mond" is undoubtedly one of the first and most important Sci-Fi movies ever made. Directed by Austrian director Fritz Lang best known for his masterpieces "M" and "Metropolis", it's a story of a half-mad greedy scientist obsessed with the idea of getting gold from the moon and a moon expedition that follows, there is also a love story that goes along. The look of the film is quite impressive, considered that it was made in 1929. Hitler later banned it, because the spaceship featured there was nearly identical to V-2s that were constructed in secrecy by the Third Reich at the time. An early Sci-Fi classic, a must see for any serious Sci-Fi fan. 8/10
