Flight To Mars 1951

This is a different kind of story of space travel. It includes jealousy, envy, and revenge. This is not a movie for small children, but those of us who enjoy old Sci-Fi will like it. The script is fine, the acting excellent, and the special effects are good for the time it was made. Enjoy!

FLIGHT TO MARS 1951In 1951 a number of science fiction films debuted in theatres across the postwar nation-The Man from Planet X, Thing From Another World, When Worlds Collide, Day the Earth Stood Still and Superman and the Mole Men. When Worlds Collide would take the Oscar for best photographic effects. Superman and the Mole Men would lead to TV's Adventures of Superman.FLIGHT TO MARS premièred November 11. It was in color which was rare treat for aficionados of this genre.The US Air Force secretly builds a rocket ship without the knowledge of Congress or the American people. The name of the rocket ship is MARS. Its intended destination is the mysterious and alluring planet Mars. For you see, it is under the surface of Mars that its alluring nature will be revealed.Consisting of a scientific crew of three men and one woman, Steve Abbott, a newspaper reporter, a former war correspondent, is added to the mix. He falls for Carol, the beautiful assistant to Jim Barker. Unfortunately, Carol is madly in love with her boss and mentor, Jim. Jim does not have any romantic interest in Carol, but Steve and Carol hatch a plot to make Jim jealous. Kissing below decks on a speeding rocket is as romantic as it gets in space. Of course, Steve does not mind this new assignment in helping Carol.As fate would have it in the human cosmological history of things, their rocket crashes on Mars. Unfortunately, their atomic power heads are destroyed which makes a return to earth impossible. Fortunately, for them there is an entrance to a subterranean city within walking distance. With their B52 bomber gear and oxygen masks-sorry no space suits for these humans- they head for the entrance and are greeted by space suited Martians-funny, the Martians look like your typical humans next door except the women dress in skimpy miniskirts. The men dressed in old European fashion with the cape ever flowing.The Council Members led by President Ikron welcomes the visitors and offer them logging, food and new clothes. When on Mars, do as the Martians do.Unfortunately, even with the skimpy dress, Carol cannot divert the attention of Jim. He is too absorbed in his work of repairing the rocket for the return to earth. One begins to wonder if the man had any interest in the opposite sex. Of course, this is 1951 and true to form walks in Alita, a lovely Martian scientist who is there to help Jim anyway that she can. Jim is smitten, true love at first glance-the first interplanetary romance. Poor Carol, she is heartbroken and cries for one hour and seventeen minutes on her cot as Steve plays solitaire at the desk and attempts to offer her words of consolation.President Ikron isn't as saccharine as he appears. He is malevolent in an altruistic sort of way. He wants to steal the secret of rocket making, build a fleet and attack earth. For you see Mars is dying. They need a new home-that's right, they want Earth.Of course, Tillamar, a member of the Council and Alita's father are opposed to Ikron's genocidal plan for earth. They decide to help the earth people.A good old fashioned fist fight ensues. No ray guns are ever seen. Guess they could not find the ones from the old Flash Gordon films. Of course, all is well in the end.The plot is descent. The special effects are ok. The characters are well written. The acting is not so bad.Overall, it is a descent film from 1951. For its age, picture quality is ok. Is it worth 71 minutes of your time? Only if you are a devotee to the genre or just want something to do.Do I regret purchasing this DVD? Not for a moment! It was worth the price. It is a nice addition to my collection.

This is one of those great science fiction films I love to watch over and over. It rarely shows on a horror/sci-fi host show that is usually where you can only see it. I am pleased that I was able to be reunited with this movie through Amazon. I love seeing it again after several years of not seeing it. It was protected well and came in perfect condition.

Not bad early 50's color sci-fi film. A bunch of scientists and a reporter take off on a rocket toward Mars. There they encounter humans exactly like Earthers. Seems Martians are just as duplicitous and double-dealing as we are. They make like they are helping the visitors get back home but, they intend to imprison the Earthers. Then the Martians plan to steal the rocket and take over on Earth. There are some Martians that are sympathetic toward the Earthers and help them. There is a romantic quadrangle I found annoying. I will say that though the Martian girls are beautiful they have nothing special over the Earth girls, except short skirts and weird high heels. The Film Detective Blu-ray is excellent quality, but it doesn't have the trailer.

I bought this as a gift for a bluray collector and he was very happy with it

The artwork and the 3 pictures on the Blu-Ray case cover are all sourced from one of the theatrical posters. The included “full-color booklet” is only 12 pages total. On the front cover and the inside-back page, there are 2 variations of same artwork that is on the Blu-Ray case front. Inside the booklet, there are only 3 small, cropped pictures that are sourced from the old theater lobby cards. The text of the booklet is a white font on an outer-space background. Most of the information provided is context, regarding Mars being the subject of various movies over the past century. I was disappointed that the booklet has relatively few specifics about the movie Flight To Mars.Regarding the restoration for Blu-Ray, I find that the audio and video quality are as decent as I would expect for a 1951 science-fiction film. Cinecolor is better than black & white, but hardly realistic looking. Certain colors are more vivid than others, which is a result of the original Cinecolor process. My overall impression is that the close-ups tend to look more saturated, while distance shots tend to look more pale. I think the odd colors help create an appropriate atmosphere for most of this particular movie, though.The Blu-Ray case cover has the official Blu-Ray logo on the spine and back. A minor goof is that there is also a DVD logo on the back. There is only the appropriate Blu-Ray logo on the disc, though.Fortunately, the movie itself is better than what the pictures on the Blu-Ray case cover and booklet indicate. I found some of the dialogue to be very lengthy, and wondered if maybe breaking some scenes apart would have improved the overall pacing. I really enjoyed the key plot points of the script, though, and most of the special effects are above-average for 1951. The acting talent seems respectable — nothing is treated in a campy manner. Almost as important is what IS NOT in this movie: There is no stock footage, and no ultra-close-ups of insects or reptiles. This movie has a short running time of 72 minutes, but the extensive dialogue scenes make it feel like a full-length movie. Lastly, I found the audio commentary to be a worthwhile extra feature.

Great old color 50's sci-fi movie. Have it on vhs tape. Ordered dvd twice and both had no sound on the movie. Amazon got bad product.

In the VHS era, a company called Nostalgia Merchant offered Flight to Mars on video and it looked really good. Unfortunately, the only version available on DVD until recently was an appalling version from Image Entertainment (who should know better) that appeared to have been sourced from a 35mm projection print. This new restoration from the Film Detective is a revelation. The Cinecolor picture is flawless; there's not a mark on the negative that I could see. The image is bright and sharp with appealing contrast. The story itself is a rather creaky tale of explorers who travel to Mars and discover a civilization there. Acting and dialogue is about what you'd expect for the era, but what makes this 70 year old film still worth watching are the truly impressive special effects. The matte paintings and the set design are works of imagination and fantasy.

Good quality Blu-ray transfer of this film. The US Blu-ray seems to be region free and plays OK on the two UK specification players I have.

the only thing that spoils this film is the subtitles at the bottom you can't switch off other great film for its era

Excellent movie, with great acting and easy to watch. Excellent delivery.

This was one of the movies of thios period after "Destination Moon " and "Rocketship xm" set the pace. The stroy line isd rather old fashioned but its appeal lies in that it is a film of that period of histoy