Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Monique One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

guyzradio In the 1950's, space sci-fi (movies, Rocky Jones, Captain Video, etc.) were a must see for me. When Men into Space hit television, I was glued to the screen. Ratchet forward 60 odd years, and episodes don't have quite the dazzle they did in 1959. Each episode seems to have the same mix of the following:Relatively mature themes with a hint of soap opera that stressed science, over fiction. These would have appealed to adults as well as kids back then. An moment of clairvoyance, in which they explore, or at least mention a concern of science or space flight that won't become relevant for at least 50 years, women astronauts being an example. One episode has striking similarities to the Apollo 13 mission.Silly science, including floating stars whizzing by, "tanker" rockets for refueling in space, and walking the moon in space suits about as thick as pajamas. The various rockets appear to be about as big externally a mini van, but a Greyhound bus on the inside. In one story, we see meteors pummeling the surface of the moon, and we hear the thud of each impact. A formulaic, fairy-tale ending where the astronauts face some life-threatening ordeal Through clever MacGyver improvisation and a stroke of ever-present luck, everyone lives happily ever-after.Actors we'll see in the coming years becoming stars of note to varying degrees. In Episode 1, McCauley's wife is played by Angie Dickenson. Saturday morning breakfasts now include a segment called "You won't believe who appeared in this morning's 'Men Into Space'." So do I like it after decades? Definitely. Part of the appeal is purely nostalgic, and the other part is looking for examples of the above and how they were woven together in a half hour show in 1959. The show tells us a lot about ourselves two years before Alan Shepard's first US manned space flight, and a mere 10 years before the moon landing. "2001: A Space Odyssey" with its attention to scientific detail is just nine years off. As a kid, I would have given Men Into Space 11 stars, Today, not so many.

XPDay Like several of us whom have commented, I was about seven years old when this show aired and it made a large and lasting impression on me. I actually negotiated a special Wednesday night bedtime in order to be able to see it. I wanted the Col. McCaulley helmet, but alas, we were of modest means in my household. When the Mercury and Gemini projects were underway, I felt that we were right on track and my friends and I would be pursuing our careers in space. I even majored in aero & astronautical engineering - just when the whole thing succumbed to post-Apollo apathy and Watergate nonsense. Imagine my disappointment. As time went on, I found fewer contemporaries that even remembered 1950's space movie and TV sci-fi, so I largely forgot about it. Then about 4 years ago I came across a source of the entire series of episodes on videotape (for $160). Unbelievable! Some of the episodes are exactly as I remembered them. And unlike a lot of childhood memories, the show turns out to be actually pretty good: It is more technically accurate than anything shown on TV since. You can spot actors like Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Robert Reed (pre-Brady Bunch) and Angie Dickenson (as McCaully's wife in the pilot episode). One of the episodes was written by James Clavell (well before Shogun). For a while in the mid-1960's there was discussion of a sort-of sequel to be called "Beyond the Moon" that would feature 1970's missions envisioned by NASA with technical accuracy. TV Guide carried an article on it. But it never materialized and instead we got mindless stuff like "I Dream of Genie." Anyone interested in this should also look for "Riders to the Stars," "The Conquest of Space," and the recent "October Sky," all of which capture the time of Sputnik and big dreams. This is the way space (and sci-fi) should have been in our lifetime! I invite anyone interested in discussing this further to contact me.

roarshock Can I comment on a show which may or may not be the show that I barely remember? Although I seem to have definitely misremembered it's title for all these many years, this isn't too surprising... I was pre-literate when it originally aired. After all this time I don't really remember the show itself, rather I remember that I remember the show. Judging by the comments here though, it's most probably the one I'm looking for; it has the ring of the show that enthralled me each week. However, not since I first saw it have I EVER heard even a hint that the show ever existed, nor met ANYONE who remembered it... and believe me, I've hunted. If anyone can confirm that this is my show or can tell me if I'm wrong, email me please. Prove to me I didn't imagine it all. Here is all I can remember:I remember quonset huts on the Moon, and one episode where a singing, guitar-playing member of the Moon crew dies (how, I don't remember). This was the same episode where they detect radio signals from deep space which spent (quite properly) years in transit. They briefly debate what their response will be, but one of them decides to transmit a recording of their dead comrade singing a song which, after years in transit, will be mankinds first reply.Now I saw my show in the San Francisco area, and just on the chance that my memory wasn't wrong and that there was some freak name change, I've always thought it was called "Journey to the Moon." Whatever it was called, it was THE television show I HAD to see every week and one of the earliest bits of television memory I have. I've almost haven't forgotten it.

t442163 This was a quite good pre-Mercury attempt to show the future of space travel with emphasis on the team work of the crews involved. I recall shows dealing with landing on the moon and what man would find there. As well as working on building a space station and what would be involved. It did try to be factual but took dramatic license on a number of occasions.I am possibly the only one who still has his official Col. McCauley space helmet (still in the original box).