Scientists have been studying the moon for centuries. Still what we know has been limited to what we can see from the Earth. There are various theories on what we don’t know. How does the lack of atmosphere affect the planet? What is the temperature of the moon and various other properties concerning the moon’s makeup? There are conflicting theories concerning what the moon’s surface consists of and the creation and composition of the craters.
There are two theories of how the bottoms of the moon’s cirques bays and seas were formed. One is the meteorite hypothesis and the other is the volcanic hypothesis. Scientists will have to go to the moon to find out for sure. When they get there they need to know if the surface of the moon will support them. Is it solid, some kind of marsh, loose bottomless dust or a thin shell that breaks? How hard is the surface of the moon?
How to get to the moon is the next problem. There have been several attempts and successes at sending satellites to photograph the moon by both the U.S. and the USSR. Once the scientists have solved all the problems with sending manned rockets, where to land is the next question. Eventually space travel will become a regular event. Colonization of the moon and usage of its natural resources will eventually be done. Lunar cities will spring up and man will conquer space.
“Moon” AKA “Luna” was released in 1965 and was directed by Pavel Klushantsev. It is a Russian film and a combination documentary and science fiction movie.
For the most part the special effects in the film are actually good. Klushantsev is well known for his visuals in his science fiction films and he takes that expertise and makes good use of it in his quasi-documentaries as well. I loved what he did with “Mars” 1968 and “Road to the Stars” 1957. The fact that the information is dated is of little concern when you realize that the film was up to date when it was made. What seems silly now was valid then.
When Klushantsev did “Planeta Bur” 1962 he wanted the film to show cooperation between nations. This didn’t sit too well with the communist machine. In “Moon” he was basically forced to only show Russia as being powerful enough to reach the moon. To that end everything in the film talks about Russia’s achievements and only Russia reaching the moon and what Russia will accomplish in the future regarding colonizing it. It assumes that Russia will be the first to reach the moon and will own it. Any contributions by America are mentioned in passing. This adds a propaganda element to film. Then the film talks about the various flights sent to photograph the moon and the imaginary ones to get a human on the surface of the moon. At this point the film portrays the various flights as an assault. The moon is depicted as a foreign country that needs to be conquered and made to capitulate. By now the movie is basically total propaganda.
Unfortunately, I found most of “Moon” to be boring. The onslaught of Russian propaganda made the film very dry and mind numbing. Especially the first part of the film. As for the second part, the only thing that saved it was director Klushantsev’s special effects.