One Forgotten Sci-Fi Movie Taught Steven Spielberg About Cinematic Suspense [SXSW]
by Witney Seibold · /FilmIrving Pichel's 1950 sci-fi movie "Destination Moon" is perhaps more influential than many sci-fi fans realize. The film follows a team of astronauts as they take an atomic-powered rocket to the moon, and details the dramatic problems they have along the way. "Destination Moon" was made 19 years before humans actually set foot on the moon, but it tried to look as realistic as possible. The crises that arise are purely technical and have nothing to do with aliens, monsters, or other fantastical elements.
There's a famous sequence partway through the movie wherein the astronauts, while still en route to the moon, have to put on magnetic boots and walk along the exterior of their rocket. The sequence has been quoted in dozens of movies since, including flicks like "Star Trek: First Contact," all the way up to the recent "Project Hail Mary." When one of the astronauts accidentally becomes untethered, a colleague uses a valved oxygen tank for propulsion to go save him. This, too, has been quoted in just as many movies. See: "Gravity."
The film climaxes with the astronauts learning that they have burned up too much fuel to return to Earth, and frantically find ways to make the rocket lighter to achieve takeoff. It's a film that deals with gravity, physics, and fuel supplies. It's hardly accurate, but it's more accurate than, say, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," released the following year. It's a great film, and every sci-fi fan would be remiss in neglecting it.
Speaking at this year's SXSW festival, director Steven Spielberg remarked on how important "Destination Moon" was to him personally. He said that "Destination Moon," in fact, taught him exactly what cinematic tension ought to feel like. That's a glowing endorsement indeed.
Steven Spielberg saw Destination Moon as a kid
Steven Spielberg was weaned on classic Hollywood. In his semi-autobiographical movie "The Fabelmans," he recounts his own (very real) childhood experience watching Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 circus epic "The Greatest Show on Earth," and he was so dazzled by the movie that it inspired him to become a filmmaker. For many critics, this piece of Spielberg trivia is a bit baffling, as "The Greatest Show on Earth" is a pretty terrible movie overall. But the young Spielberg loved it and started making movies at home, trying to replicate the feeling DeMille's film gave him.
As for "Destination Moon," Spielberg was asked by an SXSW audience member how he first became interested in science fiction. A reasonable question, as Spielberg has made a leaping handful of sci-fi movies in his career, from "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" to the upcoming "Disclosure Day." About "Destination Moon," Spielberg said:
"One of the first movies I saw ... And it wasn't its original [run]; I think it came out in 1950, and it was re-released on a weekend; we used to have theaters that had Saturday matinees, and they were all older films. Maybe five or six years older. But I remember I saw a movie called 'Destination Moon.' And I think it was the first film [that] George Pal got his career off to a start [with].
For neophytes, George Pal was a famous director and producer of sci-fi and fantasy entertainment, and he served as a producer on "Destination Moon." Pal would go on to produce hit films like "When Worlds Collide" and "Conquest of Space," and direct movies such as "The Time Machine" (one of the best time-travel movies ever), "Atlantis, the Lost Continent," and "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao."
Steven Spielberg feels that Destination Moon was the first time he ever experienced suspense at a movie
About the film itself, Steven Spielberg had nothing but good memories. Not only did "Destination Moon" teach Spielberg about suspense, but he feels it kind of kept his feet on the ground in terms of science fiction. One might note that Spielberg hasn't made any movies that are set on distant worlds; there is always a human element to his movies, no matter how fantastical. "It was a terrestrial film about humankind's first trip to the moon. [...] It was in color! I went to see it in a theater," he said. "And it grounded me because it was as realistic as science ... or at least as Hollywood consulting with scientists knew how to tell that kind of story." He continued:
"It was full of suspense. I'll never forget the scene where the big fear is, they're on the moon and ... how are we going to get back to Earth? You spent too much fuel landing on the moon! What are you going to do? You have to strip everything out of thre spaceship! It was the first time I ever felt something called suspense. I had never felt that before. In a sense, that film was a big influence on me."
It should be noted that Spielberg and George Pal did eventually cross paths, as Spielberg directed and Pal produced two separate, noteworthy adaptations of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" (Pal's in 1953 and Spielberg's in 2005, a film that Tom Cruise nearly derailed). It seems that "Destination Moon" might be deeper under Spielberg's skin than he realizes.