A Trip to the Moon (2011)

Looking through some of the reviews, others have stated the same sentiment, but nevertheless, I cannot think of a better term to describe this, it really is magical.I was aware of the famous still of the moon before I had actually seen this movie, but had no idea where it came from and it ended up being years before I would stumble upon this. It should be more well known than it is.I watched the hand-colored version along with Air's score (marvelous), but it's clear: each scene is so carefully crafted to create dream-like sequences that are just so satisfying to watch play out...sigh...if only one's dreams could be like this each and every night!I digress. In short, this is one of the best adventure films I've seen and answers a question I've had since I got into cinema: Have motion pictures gotten better over time? No, no they have not. If only all of Méliès' films had survived. Thankful that this is one of the ones still around.

I saw this thanks to Hugo(2011), and it is fantastic! Film would not exist without this movie, Meleies was indeed a great filmmaker-a fiend and me looked up some of his movies. One was of a woman preparing for a bath-it was the first "adult" film. This man MADE cinema for what it is today. All classic movies you can name? It's non-existent without this movie! Whether you like it or not, you have to appreciate it for that! It's only about 15 minutes long-why not see it now?

This twelve minute short from famed magician/film-maker George Melies is, quite simply, a spellbinding experience. Due to the lack of dialogue, the film tells its story via a series of pictures. What the film concentrates on most are the special effects, and this film wowed audiences through the apparently magical occurrences appearing on screen. Indeed, these effects are still impressive today, even if its easy to see how they're done. The most memorable image comes when the space ship crashes into the moon's eye - causing it to wince and frown in anger. There are also some excellent moments where our explorers are attacked by jumping goblin creatures which disappear in a puff of smoke when struck.It's all very surreal, especially when we see goddesses sitting on planets and grinning faces appearing in the stars. The plot follows a logical progression from beginning to end, and the sets used are expensively staged and have real depth. Okay, so the film is a bit creaky and jumpy but face it, its nearly a century old and being able to watch it today is simply fantastic. My great-grandparents would have been alive while they were making this. For any fan of the history of cinema, fantastical or not, A TRIP TO THE MOON is a landmark piece not to be missed.

I surely enjoyed the film even though while I was watching it I kind of had to remind myself that the film was made over 100 years ago. I think that nowadays we're used to see special effects in movies all the time and sometimes we focus on that and we don't really pay attention to the story. In this film though the plot was pretty good it is innovative and funny. I really appreciated the special effects and the colored clips. It's impressive thinking that someone painted by hand all the clips. "A trip to the moon" is a timeless film for sure and the fact that we're still watching it and talking about it 110 years later is the proof of that. I think that the reason why the film is still around is that it's balanced: the plot is innovative, funny and creative, and at the same time there's action and special effects and that makes the film more exiting. In 1902 the century just started and I guess people wanted to see and try new things and I think that the film reflects that desire of progress and innovation both in the plot and in the editing.