> > So I'm right. I'm the only one who has seen Destination Moon and Roseanna McCoy. A couple of real trendsetters, those two. Both were in color. RMcC was about feuding hillbillies and DM was about a trip to the moon. Considering that it was filmed 52 years ago, DM had good special effects and did a fair job of predicting what space travel would be like. They used a rocket, they landed by using the rocket engine to slow them down, there were three space travels, they had problems but solved them on the spot. Even their pictures of the moon's surface were pretty good for movie makers who had only seen telescope views. They found no LGM and no space monsters.
> >
> > Neither of these two movies was considered for an Oscar, as far as I know. But they have both stuck with me for a long time.
> > Howard
>
> I might have seen "Destination: Moon". It sort of rings a bell, but I've seen a lot of 40's/50's science fiction B-movies, and they all seem to blend into each other.
>
> But what's a 50's B movie without giant radioactive spider-rats?
>
> winter"All time favourite is 'Earth Vs the Flying Saucers', 1954"mute

I think Destination Moon was a serious attempt to predict the future. The rocket they used was modeled after the German V2 of WWII fame. They did a spacewalk, using magnetic shoes to keep from drifting away. The rocket had "atomic" engines using plain old water as a reaction mass. The space suits were color coded "for easy identification." They demonstrated zero gravity in space and reduced gravity on the moon. In 1949, it all looked pretty realistic. Flying saucers and space critters wouldn't have fit in with all of that.
Howard