A Trip to Mars (1918) User Reviews (16)

A great early sci-fi

[vvp_14 · 7/10 · 24 January 2016]

I don't know of any other full length science fiction film that was made before The Trip to Mars. So in that sense it's the first. I watched other silent sci-fi films from the beginning of the 20th century but all of them were no longer than 15 minutes, and this one was the first of that era that I took seriously.

It held my attention through the movie and it has some very nice and moving scenes. Despite being silent the makers managed to pack it with an interesting and engaging plot, good actors play, science fiction, drama, adventure and a love story. It has an amazing well-built spaceship and special effects are fairly good for the time. The film has very strong religious and Christianity-rooted undertones with a message of hope for humanity plagued with murder, hatred and deceit. Another surprise was that the film was nothing like many other sci-fi movies, most of which came out of Hollywood - just clichés that were about either aliens being vicious monsters, or some oversexed alien women, or an imbecile earth superhero. This one does offer the viewer a chance to engage his brain and heart which is probably more important that the above mentioned infantile and unintelligent consumer rubbish.

So it was quite an unexpected surprise to see such an old and yet very good film and I very much recommend it to any lover of science fiction who can be interested in the oldies just as much as the modern cinema and likes to get something out of film.

An intelligent (though dated) comment on the world.

[peefyn · 7/10 · 17 January 2016]

The view of the world in this movie is clearly dated, but as the movie is from 1918, it's hard to put it against it. What is more impressive is everything it does right. This is not a movie using science fiction as a gimmick - it uses the genre to explore ideas about the time it was made. In the end of the first world war, here's a movie exploring if mankind can live in peace, how we treat our prisoners, how life in a submarine (here: spacecraft) can affect ones mental health, how pushing science forward is a global affair, and can unite different parts of the world, and so on.

While I am not sure just how much the general public knew about astronomy - this movie presents the mission to mars in a way that seems realistic. It takes time, people doubt it, and it takes a toll on the members. They point out where mars will be as they leave Earth, and where it will be when they arrive. The spacecraft itself is like a submarine with a propeller and wings. Mars itself I am sure was quite a mystery back then, so the fact that they made it Earth-like is very understandable. It also opened up for them using Mars and Martians in a way that let the film makers comment on the people of Earth.

The movie is not subtle in the message it is conveying: people on earth should stop with wars and violence and rather go with love. In the end of the most gruesome war in world history up till that point - that sounds like a good message.

The worst part about this movie is the one evil character in it. He serves little purpose, and undermines the underlying message of the film that humans are capable of being good.

Danish science fiction that established an oft-imitated premise.

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 3 May 2023]

Avanti Planeteros (Gunnar Tolnaes) is a soldier returned home after the war. His astronomer father (Nicolai Neiiendam) convinces him that the future is in the stars, so Avanti teams with Dr. Krafft (Alf Blutecher), who is betrothed to Avanti's sister Corona (Zanny Petersen), to build a spaceship capable of reaching Mars. They construct something that looks like a small, metal blimp with bi-plane wings, and along with a crew of about 8 other guys, they set off for Mars. Once there, they discover an idyllic paradise of robe-wearing, God-loving vegetarians. And of course a Martian woman (Lilly Jacobson) who immediately falls in love with Avanti. Also featuring Frederik Jacobsen as Professor Dubius.

This had to have been silly stuff even in 1918. After the end of WWI I'm sure that most Europeans were looking for a peaceful new way of life as far from war and misery as possible. The Martians aren't aliens as much as idealized humans, looking a bit like Ancient Greeks but with Egyptian ankhs on all of their clothing (Ancient Aliens?!?). The acting is hammy, the effects as primitive as one would imagine, and the story both juvenile and overlong. However, this is an important foundational step in the genre, which is why it's one of the 101 Sci-Fi Movies to See Before You Die.

Interplanetary romance

[robin-414 · 24 February 2006]

I know I've seen a fair portion of this film as part of a series on rare silent movies, which was shown on TV around 25 years ago. It was beautiful and fascinating, and I yearned to see more of it, although most published literature states that it is 'lost'.

As it is extremely unlikely that the film will ever see the light of day in its complete form, a spoiler warning is irrelevant, and the following is gleaned from published synopses more than from my personal recollection.

It is an early space opera, concerning a team of explorers who visit the planet Mars, and encounter a race of peace-loving vegetarians (is there any other kind? Oh, sit down, Adolph!). They return to Earth with the high priest's lovely daughter, and the plea for peace is threatened only by one villain who is dealt with by what can only be described as an Act of God.

Apart from George Melies' crazy moon explorer fantasies, this seems to be the first interplanetary adventure film in history, and from a country (Denmark) not noted for science-fiction films of any kind. Maybe they thought that they'd never do one better than this.

We might giggle at the idea that the spaceship had propellers on its wings, but come on...we are still accepting lots of logistically improbable and impossible concepts in films of today. I hope this film does still exist somewhere. The fragments I've seen, and the material I've read, makes me yearn to experience the whole of this 90-year-old space opera.

A TRIP TO MARS (Holger-Madsen, 1918) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 30 March 2007]

The only time I've seen this rare Scandinavian foray into sci-fi territory mentioned anywhere - prior to its DVD availability courtesy of the Danish Film Institute - was in a literate appraisal of the genre by noted critic Philip Strick (who, incidentally, passed away recently). This alone would make it interesting and a film to seek out - but, alas, while undeniably good to look at (a traditionally Danish quality, I might add), dramatically it turned out to be a major disappointment!

Apart from being technically stilted and plagued by the exaggerated gestures of the actors (a well-established liability of most Silent-era product), it also presents a totally different view of Mars and its inhabitants to the one we've grown accustomed to seeing in later American films tinged by paranoia. Not only is there no concentrated effort to show an alternative landscape for the red planet, but the Martians themselves are merely benevolent humans fitted in Roman-era attire (with the addition of some outlandish accoutrements): apparently, they were once as 'barbaric' as us but have gradually attained enlightenment - and, though their language is different from that of their earthly visitors, they're somehow able to transmit their thoughts to them! In essence, it's clear that the film is infused with the last remnants of 19th century Romanticism (some of the title cards are unbelievably hokey) which Weimar Germany and, then, the Wall Street crash helped eradicate - leading to a change in the general attitude of cinema.

The ultimate intent of the picture, obviously, was a general plea for tolerance and understanding (WWI was still raging when the film emerged); however, while certainly watchable (and short enough at 81 minutes not to lapse into boredom), the almost total lack of tension between the inhabitants of the two planets - where, back home, it's represented by the ripe but highly amusing villainy of a Mephistophelean character who, eventually, gets his just desserts by way of a lightning bolt! - makes for an altogether dull narrative. Besides, virtually none of the occupants of the vessel - which itself constitutes nothing more fanciful than an airship - who have been assembled from all over the world (and are contemplating mutiny against their stoic captain when the journey takes longer than expected!) get to do much of anything once they land on Mars!!

"For its time" ...

[Roddenhyzer · 6/10 · 3 March 2011]

"For its time" is the big qualifier I'm applying to almost all the positive things I can say about "Himmelskibet", because, in my honest opinion, this movie's rather clumsily tackled themes and naive, overly saccharine messages have not aged very gracefully at all.

The number one problem here is the portrayal of the alien race and their civilization. Instead of awing the viewer with the strangeness of an alien world, or challenging our earthly views and beliefs by having them clash with otherworldly philosophies, the makers opted for a community of both visually and culturally very mundanely human people whom we are still meant to perceive as vastly superior beings based solely on the fact that they've managed to transcend violent conflict. While this may indeed be a very advanced notion, this warless society is still portrayed as so primitive, so superstitious and so tribally ritualistic, that it simply fails to make the aliens seem truly above us earthlings. They come off like pacifist, primitivist cultists in ancient Greek attire. Not only is this rather boring from a sci-fi perspective, but it also makes it painfully obvious that this alien race serves nothing but a purpose and one purpose only: To be a vehicle for a blunt anti- war/pro-tolerance message.

Moving on. One thing I definitely did like was the complexity of the story. There are many minor character developments and conflicts contributing to the whole (professional jealousy, for example, and a mutiny on the ship), rather than just one thick main plot thread, which is pretty unique for a movie of this vintage. Another thing is the overly expressive, theatrical acting performances that are so typical of the silent era, which I've always enjoyed. In this regard, "Himmelskibet" certainly delivers. The bad guys are characterized by dramatically evil mannerisms, while the good guys strike heroic poses and gaze wistfully at the sky. It conveys the moods and characterizations without any dialogue and is a lot of fun to watch.

In closing, I can only urge everyone with even the slightest bit of interest in movie history to give this one a chance. You might enjoy it for the beautiful black&white photography and the interesting (albeit extremely rare) special effects, and you'll spot many (then novel) themes and ideas, which would later become staples, even clichés of the genre. However, those of you, who want a good, classic science fiction movie that has stood the test of time, are probably best advised to look elsewhere.

A Pacifist Sci-Fi Film

[FerdinandVonGalitzien · 6/10 · 7 May 2010]

The early first days of the last century were times of great human curiosity about new technologies and the marvellous possibilities in the world of science; startling discoveries and new inventions set the world on the path to modernity. Unfortunately, this time of enlightenment also coincided with terrible conflicts and war, mankind at its worst.

That human duality is very well reflected in the Danish film "Himmelskibet" (1918), directed by the great director Herr Holger-Madsen. It is a sci-fi film that includes a clear and sincere pacifist claim.

The film tells of the eagerness and hardships of the sea captain Herr Avanti Planetaros, now reconverted into a space captain, and his project of a trip to Mars. Before embarking on his particular space odyssey, Captain Planetaros will have to bear the incredulity and the scorn of many conservative astronomers, especially Professor Dubius ( ah, what a proper name… ) . In spite of such indifference and after many troubles and years of work, the spaceship "Excelsior" is finally constructed and Captain Planetaro's trip to Mars goes from dream to reality. Once on Mars, Captain Planetaros and his crew finds an advanced society in which peace is a way of life among its citizens.

Filmed during the terrible years of WWI, "Himmelskibet" was obviously influenced by that devastating conflict that destroyed Europe during four miserable years. The message of peace and morality comes from the archaic but advanced Martian society which hopes to influence the Terrestrial civilization and wean it from such bad habits as violence, wine and canned meat.

So, Martians will show Terrestrials the way to achieve a better society on Earth with pacifist messages reminiscent of those of religion and pious morality, and in stark contrast to the bad behaviour on earth which has wrought so much unhappiness through the centuries. The Martians hope their philosophy will be spread on Earth once Planetaros and his crew returns home.

In these modern times in which the movies are full of technological magic, the special effects in "Himmelskibet" are primitive by comparison but are still full of naive charm. In fairness, longhaired and modernen youngsters should remember that Herr Holger-Madsen was also a very modernen youngster in those olden times, a director who was innovative, imaginative and influential.

It must be said too that this Herr Graf thought that instead of journeying through space to Mars, Captain Planetaros may have travelled back in time to ancient Greece since the Martian citizens wear white and classical robes so reminiscent of the Hellene imaginarium ( Martians may look like Greeks but in comparison they are crashing bores… ). However, in spite of its naive ways, the film effectively conveys its important message and one that is no less valid today where mankind still dreams of a world of peace and cooperation. Alas, even after Captain Planetaros' trip to Mars, the world seems not to have grown in wisdom.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must make love to one of his Teutonic heiress and war with the other one.

The First Space Opera and First Sci-Fi Feature Film

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 11 August 2021]

Years before the movie serial Flash Gordon came upon the scene, the first science-fiction space opera was Denmark's February 1918 "A Trip To Mars." Produced during the middle of World War One, the movie paints a utopian vision of peace & love on the planet Mars from its inhabitants. The line "Love is the Force you call God" is repeated several times, illustrating how screenwriter Ole Olsen felt Earthlings needed to be reminded of that lesson while the European carnage was happening next door to Denmark.

It has been noted "A Trip To Mars" is the first science fiction feature-length movie ever produced. There have been earlier alien-encounter films on Mars and the Moon released, but they were "shorts." The Mars journey the Danes created here was made at a time when lines thought to be canals existing on the planet could be seen from our best telescopes, hinting there was a sophisticated alien life there. When the movie's Earthlings land on the very hospitable planet, its residents welcome their visitors with open arms--that is until a gun is produce by one of the "barbaric" guests to shoot down a bird, setting off a contrast between the two civilizations.

Once things are set right, the viewer appreciates the love and kindness of the Martians, one of the very few times the Red Planet is shown to have benevolent aliens (See list of top Mars movies ranked in below links). Just as the real life Pocahontas was brought to England to showcase the Native Americans, Mars' knockout female Corona was transported to Earth to convey a heavenly message of peace, love and understanding.

A portion of "A Trip To Mars" is devoted to the technology of transporting men to another planet. Many inventions and scientific research have gone towards present-day's outer space achievements, but the fact the film devotes its time towards space travel qualifies it as a "space opera," a phrase coined in 1941. Like soap operas, space operas have dramatic impact on not only the method of travel, but the dramatics of human encounters with alien life. In "A Trip To Mars," the movie's aim is to impact its audience with a message that was hoped to change the direction of Western civilization, just as Thomas More had intended in his book "Utopia" and James Hilton in his "Shangri-La." With "The War To End All Wars" becoming just one in a string of long bloody conflicts following it, the Martian example hasn't quite sunk in yet.

Himmelskibet is available again

[susssus · 9/10 · 5 January 2007]

I saw this film from 1918 recently at our local Helsinkian film archive. It seems that the Danish Film Institute has reconstructed it in 2006 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nordisk filmcompany, which was one of the largest in the world in the early 20th century. I believe there are several copies with English translations circulating around Europe at the moment.

I found the film fascinating and the trip to Mars well thought out. The plot line is certainly original, but I really don't want to reveal any more of it at the moment, as now the danger of spoiling things for you really exists ;-).

The film is also available on DVD, query the Danish Film Institute (Det Danske Filminstitut) web pages at dfi.dk with 'Himmelskibet' to get more info.

An early science fiction relic: slow-moving and preachy with limited visual appeal

[jamesrupert2014 · 6/10 · 10 May 2019]

Despite some initial science fiction trappings, 'Himmelskibet' is a really romantic fantasy with strong religious overtones. Adventurer Avanti Planetaros (whose name sort of means 'let's go to the planets', played by Gunnar Tolnæs) decides that he is going to make a trip to Mars. His plans are derided by an aptly named sceptic 'Professor Dubius' (Frederik Jacobsen), who is in fact jealous and vindictive. After two years the spaceship "Excelsior" is complete and an international crew travels to the red planet, where they find a tranquil, Earth-like world populated by peaceful vegetarians who have long since put war behind them. The film was made as WWI bloodily plodded on and the 'give peace a chance' message is none too subtle. The Martians live in an idyllic society, waging no war, having no weapons and seemingly to live on fruit alone (how their society is maintained is unclear and they come off a bit like 'lilies of the field'). The men look very pontifical in long white robes decorated with ankhs, carrying staffs, and wearing hats that look like Papal mitres while the women wear neo-classical white dresses and are garlanded with flowers. A Martian elder finds Earth's food and wine distasteful and asks where we get the 'dead meat'. Avanti answers by shooting a Martian bird out of the air (an outstanding shot for a revolver), which drops dead at the elder's shocked and disapproving feet. The explorers come to recognise Earth for what it is: corrupt, sinful and violent, and Aventi falls in love with Marya (Lilly Jacobson), daughter of the Martian leader (Philip Bech). In the end, Marya elects to join Avanti when he returns to Earth, bringing with her hope for our benighted civilisation. The film is overtly religious: Marya has a very Marian look, the spaceship crew frequently prays, and the Martian faith includes an afterlife (that you actually see as a dying elder approaches the "Island of the Dead"). As a 'science fiction' film, 'Himmelskibet' is an odd mix of 'fanciful' and 'hard'. The "Excelsior", the space ship that is to travel to Mars, is a torpedo-shaped contraption with biplane wings and a propeller, and Mars has an oxygen atmosphere and an Earth-like environment, yet the timing of the flight is cleverly explained to match Mars' orbital approach to Earth (i.e. they will arrive when the planet is closest, thereby flying towards Mars as Mars moves towards Earth). The trip will take six months and the psychological effects of long isolation in a cramped spaceship become an issue (currently a significant concern as manned trips to Mars are being planned). As a plea for peace, 'Himmelskibet' is not particularly compelling or interesting. While a 'life list' entry for fans of the genre, the film more of interest as a relic of the late silent era in Europe or as one of few Danish science fiction films (the next would be the silly 'Reptilicus' in 1961) than as an early space exploration film. There are some fine examples of black and white cinematography (especially on Mars) but the acting is typical over-the-top silent histrionics, the story is preachy and dull, and the special effects are limited to the absurd "Excelsior", a propeller-driven interplanetary bi-plane that is not nearly as cool looking as some of the versions displayed on the film's posters.

A Trip to Mars review

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 20 April 2020]

Scientists travel to Mars where they find a peace-loving human-like race of vegetarians. A lovingly restored early SF feature with some impressive production design, but it's mind-numbingly dull. The few moments of danger to be found are resolved almost immediately, and the hero spends most of the picture gazing sappily into the eyes of his Martian love, who floats about in a perpetually euphoric trance.

Filmed on location!

[MartSander · 9/10 · 16 February 2007]

Sci-fi is a rapidly changing genre. It loses impact even more rapidly than horror. Therefore it's virtually impossible to see a sci-fi movie from the past (from the pre-space period, i.e. late 50s) that isn't laughable in some sense. First serious sci-fi epics appeared in the very early 50s, and bearing in mind the first space yarn was filmed by Melies in 1902, we get about 50 years of sci-fi without the very basic concepts of space travel. Where The Trip To The Moon can be dismissed as a funny experiment, The Trip To Mars cannot. This is a serious film. The makers didn't know about weightlessness or the absence of atmosphere in space, plus about a hundred more things we know today. That was the period, when everybody was raving about the channels on Mars, so they naturally assumed there was intelligent life on that planet. Melies shows frogmen and other strange creatures on the Moon; in 1924 there appears the still popular tinfoil dress for Martians in Russian film Aelita. So, in between, we get the Egypto-Greek fairy-tale world of this film: wise old priests being wise; and virgins prancing around, praising virtue in the world, where virtue obviously is as normal and unnoticeable as metabolism. Enter the Earthlings, introducing death and sin. Well, nothing spectacular follows: they soon are "cured" and learn the ways of the righteous. This film is a total orgy of enjoyment. The double feature released by the Danish Film Institute (together with a disaster film from 1916, The End Of The World) boosts their usual superior quality. The Danes began storing and archiving their films very early, so you get a very clean second generation copy from a period when most of US films withdrawn from circulation went to the glue or comb factory. It's a pity this film with so many different locations isn't color tinted. The rather uninspired piano accompaniment, another trade mark of the series from the DFI, tends to grow a bit tedious too. But nevertheless, a remarkable film and something you can show to your friends without being afraid that they'll think you're a weirdo.

Quite a Nice Piece of Film, but......

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 27 May 2015]

I will start with the positives. The high quality of the film used here is quite remarkable. The sets are sharp and focused; the characters facial expressions are easy to read. The special effects are nicely done. I guess I can forgive some of the bad science, but let's face it, astronomy had reached some pretty spectacular levels, even in 1916. To simply ignore the pull of gravity, the time to travel from planet to planet in such a vehicle, and the oxygen levels and other absurd coincidences, isn't right. What we have here is a silly religious allegory like "A Pilgrim's Progress." The Martians for some reason are quite advanced. Their planet is a gigantic hippie colony where the men wear doilies on their heads and they spout a pacifist view of their world (apparently, they had wars and devastation in the past and have learned from it). This is well and good, but they don't seem to do much of anything but roam around like an ant colony. I guess this is heaven. The invaders some in and kill one of their swans and set off a grenade. They are arrested and tried and then nothing happens. Of course, there's the romance of the leader and the young Martian girl. I could go on, but the thing I praised at the beginning make the fact that the film itself is such a dud kind of sad. One character I haven't mentioned is Professor Dubius (he's dubious--get it?), who jealously taunts the astronauts, making fun of their leader and announcing to the scientific community what idiots they are. He has failed in his lifetime to accomplish what they have accomplished. When all the fact are in, I think he would have been an interesting counter the pack of schmucks that end up on Mars.

green-cheese Danish

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 10/10 · 11 October 2006]

I saw "Heaven-Ship" ("Himmelskibet") at the 2006 Cinema Muto festival in Sacile, Italy. What a great movie! This Danish steampunk saga is the stirring tale of the first trip to Mars, in an era when wireless telegraphy hasn't been perfected. The spaceship hasn't got a radio, and the heroes are brought back from the landing field via horsecart. Even the intertitles are delightful ... some of them written in rhymed couplets in the original Danish.

The actors' performances are laughable, largely hand-to-brow histrionics. But the sets are astonishing, easily surpassing anything done by Georges Melies a decade earlier (or in "Die Frau im Mond" a decade later). Of course, the plot is simplistic. The spaceship's crew consist of seven thin guys and one fat slob. Guess which one cracks. Interestingly, everyone in this movie (except the dubious Professor Dubius) ardently believes in God. Even the Martians.

Impressively, the scenarists have the sense to acknowledge that a trip to Mars is no doddle: the title cards establish that it takes the scientists two years to build their spaceship (which has an airscrew) and six months to reach Mars. During the construction sequence, there's one extremely impressive set-up which must have been choreographed: dozens of workers all hustle through the worksite in different directions, with no hesitations and no collisions. The Danish scientists christen their ship "Excelsior" ("packing materials"?) and set course for Mars, even though the Moon and Venus are closer. When the ship (which flies horizontally, not vertically) lands on Mars, it is greeted by "Marsboerne" -- Martians -- who turn out to be Nordic blondes, all highly-developed pacifists and vegetarians. (As a highly-developed meat-eater, I resented that part.)

Conveniently enough, Mars turns out to have an atmosphere just like Earth's, as well as equal gravity. In an exterior shot of the Martian landscape, the Sun's apparent magnitude when seen from Mars is the same as it is when viewed from Earth. I also couldn't help observing that all the wise elder Martians are male. In fact, female elders are thin on the ground here: both the Earth-born hero and the Martian maiden are motherless. The Martians speak a universal language, wear ankhs on their robes, and greet the Earth visitors with a globe of Earth ... which of course they hold with its North Pole upward.

That Martian maiden is Marya, played by an ethereally beautiful Danish actress. (Waiter, I'll have some of that Danish!) We see a Martian dance of chastity which might have been twee or ludicrous but is actually quite touching and beautiful. Also, the Martian funeral scene features one shot which reminded me of a sequence in "The Seventh Seal". I wonder if Ingmar Bergman saw this film.

"Himmelskibet" has a few flaws, but its production design and its other merits very far outweigh its drawbacks. The Ole Olsen who is named in the credits (and who appears in a brief prologue) is no relation to Chic Johnson's vaudeville partner from "Hellzapoppin". I would give "Himmelskibet" a 12, but the scale tops off at 10 ... so, a full 10 out of 10 for this delightful trip to Mars, the blonde planet!

The Ancestors of Klaatu

[EdgarST · 10/10 · 21 March 2015]

I do not know how planet Mars turned into a source of horrors and ugly aliens, after receiving the name of the Roman god of war or being represented in a flattering and intelligent way in this magnificent Danish motion picture. It tells the story of a group of men who follow an inspired pilot who has envisioned his life mission in a sidereal trip to Mars, without imagining what he and his crew were going to find. And what they find up there, by 1918 standards, is amazing: a peaceful community that abstains from killing men or animals of any kind, whose main sources of nourishment are fruits, who have the power to regenerate life, induce healing dreams and aspirational thoughts. After causing havoc with guns and bombs, and after their beverages and canned dead meat are rejected, the men go through a process of adjustment and enlightenment. It doesn't take long for the leader to find his soul mate in Mars, and they all decide to go back to Earth to transmit the Martian philosophy of existence, that is summarized in the verses of the chant the planet's population sing as the travelers leave: "Space is the mother of life As it embraces all our globes We are all equal, we are all steps On the same ladder that leads to eternity Love is the force we humans call God And only through Love We shall reach flawlessness".

The Martians even urges us to get rid of lowly speech, which has become a plague in speech and writing, defiling communication and self expression. All this is done, seen and expressed through handsome images and special effects, in less than 80 minutes. The film even has a bit of humor in the depiction of the evil Professor Dubius (who is obviously dubious of the mission and its success), comically played by Frederik Jacobsen, even when being at his meanest; and the filmmakers also made a bit of social critique, representing irrationality and arrogance through an American character (David Dane, played by Svend Kornbeck), a boisterous, drinking fool, who organizes a mutiny in the spaceship. But while the Professor Dubius is punished, Dane is transformed by the Martian experience. In spite of a few unstable sets or the acting style of the day, this is an excellent film. Just as many may consider outdated the technical aspects of the science-fiction plot, or find ridiculous the tendencies of the cast to stretch out arms as if declaiming an epic poem, and to frequently kneel to suggest reverence, piety or humility, possibly in a hundred years from now the Method acting style of today and our notions of technology would be seen as laughable, so there is no reason why to make a fuss about these aspects and oversize the limitations that surge from the thought and knowledge of the time when "A Trip to Mars" was made. Highly recommended.

Heaven Ship is original and better title, memorable early science fiction film

[HEFILM · 8/10 · 14 November 2019]

Heaven Ship is a better title and more literal translation, given the content of the story--not that they find Heaven in a Bible sense but sorta', not to give it all away in any way. Not sure there is a science fiction film in same vein 'til maybe DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. So don't expect any monsters in this one, this film and story come from the truer sense of Science Fiction being about ideas, not fights and such. So shift your mental gears into a character and personality and society conscious story and movie.

It's an interesting movie, There is some parody intended in it as one character is Dr. Dubious and the main "hero" last name is Planetose. Our hero does strike some classis Big silent movie gestures but at other moments he's quite effective, enough so for the grand gestures to perhaps be overdone on purpose given the lessons the story teaches the earthmen.

It's one of the first, or the first, feature science fiction film, I guess based on a novel the film was from 1917-18 so early novel in the genre too. I watched a very good restored version--though it's hampered by a piano score that only rarely seems to pay much attention to what's actually going on, on screen. Though the last scenes work very well with the score.

This movie gets credit as first space opera--certainly has some Opera-ish settings, beautifully photographed too, much of it shot outdoors, with large scale Mars settings which also feature some large crowd scenes as well. There is real money spent here and craft, it even gets some basic ideas about how to travel to Mars right--the major miss being that they just seem to think there will be gravity on a space ship. You could just assume they solved that problem too, though the film is set, not in the future, but in what was the current day of the time 1917. This depicts the first successful space ship and trip to another world.

Drama or melodrama--you decide? About ideas or lacking action--you decide that too. It's not a non stop effects show but does attempt and pull off much of what it strive for--this can/should be said on all levels of the film.