Rocketship X-M
From MST3K
| 201 - Rocketship X-M | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air Date | September 22, 1990 |
| MST3K Director | Jim Mallon |
| AKA | Expedition Moon |
| Movie Director | Kurt Neumann |
| Year | 1950 |
| Cast | Lloyd Bridges, Noah Beery Jr., Osa Massen |
| Preceded by | 113 - The Black Scorpion |
| Followed by | 202 - The Side Hackers |
Contents |
The Movie
Synopsis
It's 1950 at the White Sands, New Mexico USAF Proving Grounds. A space ship is about to take off for the moon, perhaps the first step in establishing the "unassailable base... from which to control world peace" which the narrator had just told us would be nice to have.
The ship is the fruition of years of struggle by two men, avuncular Walt Disney-ish scientist Dr. John Emery and his visionary business partner Robert. A crew of five middle-aged, none-too-fit scientists and military men has been selected for the crew, led by Dr. Emery, who also designed the rocket, and pilot Colonel Graham (Lloyd Bridges).
After a chalk talk and meet-and-greet for the press ("gyros...will keep us right side up throughout the flight", explains Emery), the crew boards the ship by ascending a fifteen-foot ladder. (The Saturn V that powered the first Apollo moon landing was 363 feet high). This particular space ship looks remarkably like a German V2 except that it is a stage rocket. Wrong-headed navigation instruments aboard include an artificial horizon and an "air-speed indicator". Instead of course corrections, this rocket makes 90-degree "turns" like a '57 Buick rounding a corner at 50 mph.
On leaving orbit, the expedition is nearly destroyed by almost slamming into its own jettisoned first stage. The crew encounters the obligatory asteroid swarm / stock footage (they call them "meteors") confronted by the Lunar Eagle 1 from "12 to the Moon" and the Pegasus 4 from "The Phantom Planet". The swarm lights up the inside of the ship as though an elevated train were passing by just outside and generates the required whooshing noises in the vacuum of space.
No one in this crew ever needs to drink anything or make use of a bathroom. In this film universe, gravity "falls off gradually to nothing as they get farther out into interplanetary space" (actually it disappears once they attain free-fall in orbit and from then on) and then it only affects certain objects, such as harmonicas and bomber jackets. The crew spends a lot of time gazing in awe out picture-window-sized portholes while Colonel Graham rambles on interminably about nothing to frosty, defensive-but-beautiful Danish lady-type scientist Dr. Lisa "Ice Queen" Van Horn (Osa Massen). Provincial jet-jockey and feed-lot comedy relief Major Corrigan (Noah Beery, Jr.) can't shut up about how his native Texas is paradise on Earth.
Since they apparently have an almost infinite fuel supply, they are able to burn the engines, or "motors" continuously for fourteen hours until they shut down unexpectedly. They have conveniently, if implausibly lost radio contact with Earth, so the scientist types alter the fuel mixture to an untried formula (risking everyone's life in the process). On ignition, everyone swoons into a coma from the subsequent unexpected high acceleration, and when they awaken, they are amazed and delighted to find themselves just 50,000 miles from the planet Mars. How did it happen? Supernatural intervention of course, explains the lead scientist.
They elect to land, even though the ship was designed for the Moon and they discarded their first stage back at Earth. As they execute a manual descent the way you would back a truck up to a loading dock, we note that Mars has a thick cloud cover, thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, all of which was known to be inaccurate at the time.
Once on the surface, they all don "breathing equipment" - surplus WW II gas masks that probably would not have been a wise choice for the vacuum of the Moon - and begin a recon. Although several of the crew tote large rock pickaxes, no one bothers to collect any geological samples. They stumble upon the radioactive ruins of a once-advanced Martian civilization and are able to deliver, for perhaps the first time in cinematic history what then went on to become a science fiction staple - the traditional warning about the consequences of nuclear Armageddon. Oddly enough, they were right for the wrong reasons. Mars does have some radioactive hot spots, but that's from a lack of a magnetosphere, not nuclear war.
The not-so-savvy crew then opts to spend the night on Mars - in the open - with no natural shelter, food, water, tents, bedrolls, blankets, fire, or spare oxygen on hand.
On awakening, they spot primitively-dressed humans/Martians observing them from afar. They race up a mountain en masse to confront them and are promptly and deservedly attacked. They Earth dinks then flee, but not before Major Corrigan and Dr. Eckstrom are slain and the navigator injured.
The survivors immediately return to Earth. Although their earlier accidental arrival at Mars was achieved only by virtue of the most improbable of coincidences and/or the hand of God, somehow they get back to the vicinity of Earth just as fast.
Alas, as they approach Earth they discover the fuel supply has been exhausted. The ship crashes, killing everyone, although for accuracy's sake they should have burned on re-entry instead. Before they meet their doom, however, Colonel Graham and Dr. Van Horn bond romantically and share an imaginary lifetime together, reminiscing about all the good times they never had. Maybe they even joined the Mile High Club, who knows? Eckstrom's business partner, Robert, appears emotionally crushed by the loss.
Hugh O’Brian rounds out the cast.
Information
While producer George Pal was diligently working on his production of “Destination Moon,” spending well over half a million dollars, working with scientists and space travel experts and generating tons of advance promotion, Robert L. Lippert figured he could quickly produce a similar film, taking advantage of Pal's expensive publicity. Ironically, "Rocketship X-M” is widely considered to be a much better movie than “Destination Moon.”
The Episode
Host Segments
Prologue: The SOL's newly designed bridge is revealed as Joel is working on his robot buddies – Crow has a toothache and Tom's voice is undergoing renovation.
Invention Exchange (Segment One): Tom Servo's new voice is revealed (with tribute/riffs to Lost in Space and 2001)! In Deep 13, Dr. F's new assistant TV's Frank is introduced (because Dr.Erhardt is missing). Joel's invention is the BGC-19, a mobile drum kit. In Deep 13, Frank is responsible for the Mads' invention which is also the BGC-19. Dr. F proceeds to punish Frank. The BGC-19 bears a striking resemblance to Ellen Ripley's cargo loader in Aliens
Segment Two: Joel and the Bots salute the unsung heroes: the Reporters of Rocketship X-M, and yes, each reporter is furnished with a silly name.
Segment Three: Joel is lecturing the ‘Bots on the topic of Selective Gravity and quizzes them on which objects are funny or not funny under the influence of Selective Gravity.
Segment Four: Joel and the Bots are feeling a little lost in thought, quoting many songs and famous authors, when they are visited by Valeria from the season one episode Robot Holocaust (played by Michael J. Nelson) on the Hexfield Viewscreen.
Segment Five: Joel and the Bots scold the Mads on the inappropriateness of the movies subject. Dr. F shows Frank how to “Push the Button”.
Obscure References
- Joel asks Cambot for Rocket Number 9 for the first time.
"Rocket Number Nine" is the title of a song by experimental jazz musician Sun Ra from his 1972 album Space Is the Place.
- "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down, that's not my department."
From a 1965 comedy record by Tom Lehrer, "Wernher von Braun", That Was the Year That Was.
| preceded by: Season 1 | MST3K Season 2 | followed by: Season 3 | ||||||
| 1990 - 1991 | ||||||||
| 201 | Rocketship X-M | 1990-09-22 | 206 | Ring of Terror | 1990-11-03 | 211 | First Spaceship on Venus | 1990-12-29 |
| 202 | The Side Hackers | 1990-09-29 | 207 | Wild Rebels | 1990-11-17 | 212 | Godzilla vs. Megalon | 1991-01-19 |
| 203 | Jungle Goddess | 1990-10-06 | 208 | Lost Continent | 1990-11-24 | 213 | Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster | 1991-02-02 |
| 204 | Catalina Caper | 1990-10-13 | 209 | The Hellcats | 1990-12-08 | |||
| 205 | Rocket Attack U.S.A. | 1990-10-27 | 210 | King Dinosaur | 1990-12-22 | |||
