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Crash of Moons
A three-part episode from the TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger edited together and released as a feature for 16mm rental only. Season 1 episodes 21, 22, 23. Episode 21: Rocky saves a space station and his friends when they are trapped between gypsy moons. Episode 22: Cleolanthe tries to destroy one of the gypsy moons with a barrage of missiles. Episode 23: Rocky evacuates the gypsy moon Posetta and stops Cleolanthe's missile barrage.
Release : | 1954 |
Rating : | 3.2 |
Studio : | Official Films, Roland Reed Productions, Space Ranger Enterprises, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Director of Photography, |
Cast : | Richard Crane Scotty Beckett Maurice Cass Charles Meredith Patsy Parsons |
Genre : | Adventure Action Science Fiction TV Movie |
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Reviews
Nice effects though.
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
The acting in this movie is really good.
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Being familiar with Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, I was confused as to what this was exactly. It seems like back in the early 1950's, there were several films released that were just compilations of TV episodes. Was this the first ever TV movie? I can't find any earlier ones! Anyway, I'm glad I didn't need to be familiar with the show to understand this. Then again, I mostly didn't care. I honestly didn't think Bobby was that annoying. It's still a bad movie, mostly because of how boring it is.The basic plot is that two moons are about to collide and the people on them must be evacuated. Like most cheesy B-movies of this time, its main fault is that it's just too boring. The action scenes look as fake as ever. I guess I like the idea of an ongoing story, but it amounts to very little in the end. This was certainly an old shame for the first days of TV. Even back then, we had our fair share of bad shows. *1/2
A couple of inhabited planets are on a collision course. The space federation called the United Worlds warns the rulers of both planets of the deadly situation. The problem is that the ruler of one of the planets, Ophesius, is an evil queen who wants nothing to do with the United Worlds. When she finally accepts the situation, rather than organise a mass evacuation she decides to simply blow the other planet up.This was made up into a feature film by merging a few episodes of the Rocky Jones Space Ranger TV series together. Like a lot of sci-fi films of the 50's it has cold war undertones. The planet Ophesius represent communist thinking in the way that they refuse to join up with everybody else and are only interested in themselves. Well, more accurately, this is how Americans in the 50's mostly thought of communists, as opposed to any particular accuracy of depiction. Whatever the case, you don't need to know this and the film works as a space adventure. Personally I found it interminable but others with a keen interest in 50's sci-fi may well completely disagree. But I think this one is even going to try their patience somewhat.
Crash Of Moons bests illustrates the mind of the Fifties Science fiction creator, the hack creator, not the Robert Heinleins or Isaac Asimovs. In this film which was cobbled together from the old Rocky Jones Space Ranger TV show, rocketry was the limit, the ultimate in our technology. Lasers and computers were not conceived.Again some knowledge of the show which I had and which at the age of 7 I devotedly watched is required. Two planetary bodies that are inhabited are going to crash. One of these is a 'gypsy moon' that roams space without a star it revolves around Posita which is ruled by John Banner before he was Sergeant Schultz. The other is Ophesius which is ruled by perennial villain Queen Cleolanta, Patsy Parsons. She was one evil woman, but she's heading for the last roundup.After the usual Cleolanta intrigues Rocky Jones tries to bombard Posita with something called a 'tortanic' missile. Several of them which make some big bangs after the gypsy moon is evacuated, but don't budge it an inch off course. As I said rocketry was the limit of TV writers imagination. How does it end? If you're an old Rocky Jones fan like me you know.
Oh boy! I really trashed Manhunt in Space. I think this flopper deservedly rates worse than Manhunt. It goes nowhere and fungi growth was more exciting than this tripe.Poor Cleolanta. She's so misunderstood. Smug Rocky struts around and thankfully, there's no mention from Winky about his "gay nightlife". There's a lot more talking, a really awful (to watch) space marriage on the rocks, and crappy space effects cut-outs. Then, there's Bobby. You decide who's more annoying: Bobby or the Winkster? Personally, I'd jettison them out of an airlock into a black hole not before first subjecting them to killer flesh eating alien mutants.At least there's Vena. She's just a cosmic girl!