Crash of Moons | |
---|---|
Directed by | Hollingsworth Morse |
Written by | Warren Wilson |
Produced by | Roland D. Reed Guy V. Thayer Jr. Arthur Pierson |
Starring | Richard Crane Scotty Beckett Sally Mansfield |
Cinematography | Guy Roe |
Edited by | Fred Maguire |
Music by | Alexander Laszlo |
Distributed by | United Television Programs Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Crash of Moons [1] is a 75-minute 1954 American science fiction film, consisting of three consecutive episodes of the television series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger , edited into a complete story.
Rocky Jones, a leading member of the Space Ranger force, attempts to save the inhabitants of Ophecius, a planet about to collide with a moon. However, Cleolanta—the empress of the planet—is suspicious. While Rocky and his crew succeed in evacuating the planet in time, Cleolanta's pride and vanity are a major hindrance. As the last of the planet's population leaves, Cleolanta arrogantly declares that she will stay behind. Her assistant refuses to allow this, and picks her up against her will and carries her on board Rocky's own ship, the Orbit Jet. She watches in despair as the moon crashes into her planet, the two bodies destroying one another instantly. As the ship heads for the new home that has been chosen for her people, Cleolanta realizes that she had been wrong, and that, as stated by one of her underlings, "it is the people that make a nation, not the land itself". She reconciles with Rocky and his crew, and sincerely thanks them for their efforts on her behalf and that of her people.
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction found the movie to be unpretentious, with many scientific inaccuracies, and while not the best of the era, but found it to be better than expected.[ citation needed ]
Unlike many of the series of the era, Rocky Jones was filmed rather than being shown live. This allowed the preservation of the series while many other series of the time have been lost. The syndicated series was usually structured in three 30 minute episode arcs. This was done to allow the episodes to be edited into movies for release on TV. The other movies in this series are Beyond the Moon, Duel in Space, Forbidden Moon, Gypsy Moon, The Magnetic Moon, Manhunt in Space, Menace from Outer Space, Renegade Satellite, and Robot of Regalio.
During the series, Beckett's arrest for armed robbery, and Cass's death, led to their characters being replaced by Biffen Cardoza (Lydon) and Professory Mayberry (Sheffield). [2] While Cleolanta had been a frequent villain in the series, this marks the end of the character in the Rocky Jones series. Succeeding episodes contain a new villain.
It was released only on 16mm for home movie rental and television syndication. It was directed by Hollingsworth Morse. This film is now in the public domain in the United States.
The high cost of special effects doomed the series and further movies, [3] although they are considered impressive for the time. [4]
Being in the public domain, this film is available on DVD from various publishers and in multi-film packs, such as the 20 Movie Pack, "Alien Worlds" by Mill Creek publishers. The full episodes were also released as a DVD set. [5]
The film is featured in episode 417 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the episode is available as part of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVIII from Shout! Factory. [6]
As of June 2020, the episodes and movies are also presented on a dedicated Roku channel. [7]
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then moved to nationwide broadcast, first on The Comedy Channel/Comedy Central for seven seasons until its cancellation in 1996. Thereafter, it was picked up by The Sci-Fi Channel and aired for three more seasons until another cancellation in August 1999. A 60-episode syndication package titled The Mystery Science Theater Hour was produced in 1993 and broadcast on Comedy Central and syndicated to TV stations in 1995. In 2015, Hodgson led a crowdfunded revival of the series with 14 episodes in its eleventh season, first released on Netflix on April 14, 2017, with another six-episode season following on November 22, 2018. A second successful crowdfunding effort in 2021 produced 13 additional episodes shown on the Gizmoplex, an online platform that Hodgson developed which launched in March 2022. As of 2023, 230 episodes and a feature film have been produced as well as three live tours.
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