Rating: **
Review Date: 6/18/23
Producer: George Pal
"There will be no unnecessary floating on this ship!"
Humans attempt their first manned flight to Mars, but space madness and religious hokum threaten the mission. While George Pal's visual effects are interesting, the outdated attitudes and ideas are as alien as Mars itself, and the plot is complete nonsense and propaganda. The pacing is sluggish and it's often awkward and uncomfortable to watch, and then it goes completely off the rails into crazy town in the last half hour. I actually dropped my remote in stunned disbelief. While it may be a spiritual successor to "Destination Moon" (1950), I can't recommend it as anything other than a cultural and historical misfire.