a wonderful piece of photography

Starring: Georges Méliès, Bleuette Bernon, François Lallement, Henri Delannoy, Jules-Eugène Legris, Victor André, Delpierre, Farjaux, Kelm, Brunnet

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"The color version, considered as lost during several decades, is then found in 1993 by the Filmoteca de Catalunya, however in desperate condition. As of 1999, highly delicate work began to rescue and digitize the elements. It is only in 2010 that a complete restoration could be launched, in order to enable the audience to rediscover this major cinema work, 109 years after its creation." – Prelude to Le Voyage Dans La Lune in full Color

Why watch this? Méliès was an original pioneer in film, and certainly the science fiction genre. This short work was ground-breaking.

Plot Summary: Spanning about 13 minutes, the story speeds along as a group of the Astronomy Club boards a bullet-shaped rocket and are literally shot at the moon. There, our intrepid explorers take a nap under the stars and venture into the moon's core where they encounter scaly moon creatures called Selenites (named after Selene, the Greek moon goddess).

Dad's Preview: A Trip to the Moon is film history 101. This, along with Metropolis (1927), are Science Fiction's holiest of grails. Though outwardly amateurish, there are many techniques employed that would become modern film mainstays: substitution splicing, early tracking shots, and scene transition dissolves. The rocket piercing the moon face's eye is iconic. This early adventure is certainly enjoyable and a creative work to behold. I recommend watching both the black-and-white and color (each film frame was hand-painted) versions, as both were created as the same time.

Georges Méliès; Star Film Company