Riders to the Stars (1954) User Reviews

Not Destination Moon, but Still Good

[XPDay · 6/10 · 10 February 2001]

I recently bought a videotape copy of this on eBay to test my recollection of an old favorite. This film was shown often on the old "Chiller Theater" in the NYC viewing area during the 1960's (I think that they owned a stock of about six films). I was at a much more impressionable age at the time and sometimes these things diminish over the decades. Still, I remembered this as being special. Well, it turns out to be a pretty decent effort by both cast and crew. Significantly, it is directed by Richard Carlson, star of such notable films as "The Magnetic Monster," and who found his apex with "It Came from Outer Space." Both of these are on my "favorites" list. Carlson points this film in a direction well apart from the more typical silly space dramas of the 1950's. The cast, which includes Carlson, is first-rate. Look for William Lundigan, who probably earned his starring role on "Men Into Space" (yes, look it up!) with this film. OK, it's not "Destination Moon," but to me it easily surpasses "Rocketship X-M," a real stinker from the same period (starring Loyd Bridges!) over which some aficionados go ga-ga. IF ONLY CARLSON COULD HAVE HAD GEORGE PAL'S SPECIAL EFFECTS. Carlson unfortunately had to rely on really cheap models-on-strings and grainy stock footage of V-2 rocket tests. Usually, I can overlook low-cost effects, but these are SO cheap that the film suffers somewhat as a result. But note the dialog, the human interactions, and most of all, the sense of mission and wonder on the part of the team that needs to pave our way to the stars... Then think about the fact that this made years before Sputnik.

***01/01/2007 UPDATE*** TCM just broadcast a BEAUTIFUL color print of this gem with no commercial interruptions. I hope you had your video recorders running. I certainly did!

A Few Good Men To Capture A Meteor

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 24 July 2008]

This low budget science fiction film from the Middle Fifties is illustrative of just how far we've come in space travel. Now folks like United States Senators like Jake Garn and pop stars like Lance Bass vie for the privilege of space travel. It's proved to be quite a money maker for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

But back in 1954 there was no NASA. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all had rival space programs if you can believe that. It took Sputnik for the Eisenhower administration and Congress to create NASA in 1958.

A group of competent B players bring us Riders to the Stars and the object here is just a quick trip up in space to capture a meteor before it burns up in our atmosphere. One thing is certain, they somehow survive the Van Allen radiation belt that surrounds the Earth, a recent discovery that Riders to the Stars was capitalizing on.

Herbert Marshall heads the scientific team who are looking for a few good men and among those gathered are William Lundigan and Richard Carlson. Martha Hyer is around to be decorative as Marshall's girl Friday and to provide a little romance.

The best part of Riders to the Stars was the intensive physical training that is shown for these astronauts to be. Not unlike what was done in NASA for the original Mercury astronauts. You had to be one peak physical specimen to qualify back in the day. Not that you can have health issues now, but a 60 something US Senator Jake Garn has gone in space and pop star Lance Bass aspires to.

Riders to the Stars is educational, but a bit on the dull side. It really peaks in the last 25 minutes or so with the actual flight. Still it's an earnest film and worth a look.

Going Meteor Hunting

[BaronBl00d · 6/10 · 20 January 2007]

Pretty decent, low-budget sci-fi film about a group of men first being selected for a dangerous space mission to lasso a meteor in space and return it to Earth so its outer hull can be analyzed. The men are taken through various tests such as patience, constitution, and the ability to not pass out under 12 g's of gravity. Finally, four men are selected and then we have out "Riders to the Stars." This film, directed by one of its stars Richard Carlson (of The Creature from the Black Lagoon fame), is rather well-done despite some obvious budgetary problems such as the rockets that move and go in space look more shaky and technologically inept than most clunkers on the road. There is in some instances a heavy use of stock footage - fortunately not over-played in true developmental scenes. I loved the opening credits with its operatic song "Riders to the Stars" and the beautifully painted backdrops, but I do wonder what they really have to do with THIS film. There are no aliens here. The actual time in space in the film is minimal. All that being said, this film has a nice, taut, tense pace and is filled with actors and actresses that know a bit about acting. The head scientist of the whole operation is played by smooth and urbane Herbert Marshall with his voice of command. Marshall looks relaxed in the role but is good nevertheless. The two primary male leads are the aforementioned Carlson and beefcake William Lundigan(as a physicist no less). Both actors are good as is the rest of the cast. The female love interest for Lundigan, a scientist in her own right, is the ever vivacious Martha Hyer. Riders to the Stars isn't a great sci-fi film in the tradition of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invaders from Mars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing from Another World,This Island Earth, or The War of the Worlds. Again, it is more science than fiction in terms of what its story is about. I think it is more in line with something like the very excellent Destination Moon - a discovery picture as to the human effort to travel to far horizons. It is more interested in the how of space travel, the getting there thinking, and character development than it is in gruesome or bizarre life forms. I tend to like both kinds of sci-fi films from that era, but the viewer that is looking for alien encounters may need to pass. A good, quality effort from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

A 1950s version of "the Right Stuff"

[as10984 · 20 March 2002]

This is a great sci-fi film from the pre-space age era. This remains on my short list of Sci-fi films I'd like to see again but can't find. It uses stock footage of V-2 rockets and others from the early atom bomb tests. It is very good to excellent and a darned shame that it is not available on vhs. Younger sci-fi buffs who haven't seen it are missing out on a good example of this 1950s genre.

The Scientist As Hero

[thestarkfist · 3/10 · 30 March 2016]

A curious thing happened to Hollywood way back on October 4, 1957. Those wily Soviets launched the very first orbiting satellite; Sputnik. This touched off a fresh panic in America! The Russians were ahead of us in the conquest of space! The government assured us that the Russians were out to control all of space and then we would all surely die. The Space Race was born and Hollywood had a special role to play in that race. Y'see, up until that time science and math were kind of secondary studies, behind English and history in the American schools. Suddenly Washington needed top science talent and pronto! English was given the back seat and math and science came to to forefront for the first time ever! It wasn't enough just to emphasize the rational studies in the schools or to instill the fear of imminent peril in the minds of the American populace. No. We needed to make America's youth actually want to become scientists. Scientists needed to be cool! Enter Hollywood.

Before the Sputnik scare the studios tended to portray scientists as either cold unemotional nerds or madmen with thick foreign accents bent on some crazy scheme that unleashes an unholy terror upon innocent people. Glamorous they weren't. But now, with Washington imploring them to help brainwash the kids into science careers, Hollywood unleashed a torrent of Grade B flicks that featured rugged, good lookin', two-fisted, square jawed scientists as the dashing hero. Movies like "This Island Earth" and "Riders To the Stars" are just two of the many films that featured this new kind of celluloid hero; The Brainy Stud.

Having established the historical context for this movie I have to admit that "Riders To The Stars" is a pretty lame piece of work. Yes, the modern scientist of the 50's was smart and handsome, but I doubt that when you're working at Carnegie-Mellon you get a lot of chances to meet, much less date, a fashion model. This movie assures us that this is just what's happening to Dr. Lockwood. In fact, he desperately wants to marry her. She, on the other hand, isn't so sure she wants to marry him. Then there's Dr. Stanton, the toughest and studliest scientist of them all! He falls for sexy Dr. Flynn at Space Travel Boot Camp. Basically this movie is a thin attempt to build some suspense around a manned mission to capture a meteor, because they stay crunchy in milk or something. In order to pad the film you get the soap opera schmaltz I described earlier. There are 3 macho brainiacs who are put thru rigorous training for their outer space adventure and the bulk of the film's run time is spent showing the preparations, either live action or endless stock footage of rocket assembly. Finally the big day comes and it is announced by Dr. Daddy Flynn that the meteor shower is just minutes away! The 3 valiant eggheads strap in for God and country and blast off into the unknown!! Will they be successful? Will they all survive?? Will we ever really care??? This movie is way overrated on this site. Goofy enough to be some fun if you're in the mood but there are much better examples of the genre out there.

More science, less fiction than most sci-fi's

[denscul · 7/10 · 1 January 2007]

Unlike most Sci-Fi's of the era, this one had a first class star in Herbert Marshall, and a few popular stars of the day such as William Lundigan and Richard Carlson, Martha Hyer.

Considering when this film was made, it had quite a few historically accurate problems facing science before man went into space. Unlike era sci-fi's that had travel to the stars, and all kinds of monsters from space, this took the short step into the future by tackling getting out of the earth's gravitational pull on a manned mission. The one step at a time type of effort that finally resulted in the moon landings.

Some actual footage of V-2 rocket launches and the type of rocket that sent our first satellite into space was used. Some of the sets however were cheaply made and even for the time seriously dated. As far as the script goes, it was a bit corny, but unlike contemporary films, the characters were believable. Although there was hardly a kiss displayed, Lundigan develops an attachment to the only female scientist in the film. The suspense of the film centers around the secrecy of selecting unmarried candidates to rocket into space and capture a meteor which could provide clues to making future rocket. Three rockets with one pilot each go up, and only one come back with one of the meteors. Of course Lundigan is the sole survivor making for a happy ending for Martha Hyer.

No sentient menaces.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 25 October 2009]

It's rather an interesting story about sending up three manned rocket ships to capture meteors for scientific purposes. The first half I found a little turgid. Out of a dozen men, three are found qualified to pilot the ships and, as in "The Right Stuff", are put through some grueling tests. The astronauts are Robert Karnes, William Lundigan, and Richard Carlson. The ground crew aristos include Herbert Marshall and Martha Hyer.

The plot isn't entirely unpredictable. We hardly get to know anything about Robert Karnes. (Someone calls him a human robot.) So we know pretty much right away that he's going to be dead meat in this enterprise. Then there is Richard Carlson. There's more doubt about him. He was a leading man in many of these science fiction films and was never killed off. On the other hand, during training he receives a "dear John" letter from his flighty girl friend, Dawn Addams, a stunning commercial model. Often, such a letter portends a dramatic end, a one-way ticket to Elysian Fields. William Lundigan, though, we know will pull through. He's not only the son of Director Herbert Marshall but he falls for Martha Hyer and vice versa. He's also cheerful, kind, brave, thrifty, and obedient and probably helps old ladies across the street.

That's all in the first half of the movie. The pace picks up in the last half, when the three men finally find themselves way, way upstairs in pursuit of suitable meteors. The model work is rudimentary, reminiscent of the Buck Rogers serials of the 1930s, so it's avoided as much as possible. The tension of the flights doesn't last very long but it's effectively conveyed.

None of the performances are remarkable in any way. Most of the actors, those whom we recognize, are their usual reliable selves. That includes Martha Hyer. It wouldn't matter that she looked like the Texas Beauty Queen that she was -- her features arranged in a conventionally beautiful and thoroughly uninteresting manner. It's that she can't act either.

Not that the dialog helps her, or anyone else for that matter. People stand a few feet from one another and speak in what linguists call a telegraphic register or style. Hyer turns to a radio man and says crisply, "Increase gravity to ten G's," or, "Shut rockets down," or, "Slow descent!" Pronouns and articles and modifiers and imprecations are dropped for no particular reason, as if the messages were being billed by the word.

Up to a point, it all works okay. It's never boring, and it's never challenging. It even has a 1950s theme song with lyrics. And what lyrics! "Riders to the stars. That's what we are, every time we kiss." A routine entry in the genre.

An Overlooked Classic

[JHC3 · 7/10 · 27 March 2003]

As a long time classic sci fi fanatic, I must admit I'd never even heard of this film before. This comes as no surprise as it seems to have had essentially no significant release to VHS or DVD yet. For the fan of classic black and white '50s sci fi, this is essential viewing. Though the model effects are primitive and the "science" is rather dubious, the cast is first rate. Reasonably effective use of stock footage of U.S. military V-2 rocket tests helps overcome some of the budgetary limitations.

Catch a Falling Star

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 2 May 2013]

Experimental rockets are having trouble breaking Earth's atmosphere safely, due to cosmic rays and radiation. The best scientific brains in the United States decide to pick a team of men for manned missions into space. They hope to bring back meteors. Scientists want to find out what helps meteors survive space travel. Of course, we don't have to go out to look for them, since meteorites do arrive on their own. However, the goal, herein, is to study meteors before they are altered by Earth's atmosphere...

"Riders to the Stars" features inaccuracy in details, but the main idea is plausible. The blast offs and ending are highlights, but there is not much action or adventure, overall...

Director/co-star Richard Carlson (as Jerome "Jerry" Lockwood), producer Ivan Tors and writer Curt Siodmak would seem a team capable of more excitement. William Lundigan (as Richard Stanton) performs heroically for fatherly Herbert Marshall (as Donald Stanton). Females are not considered suitable for space travel, but it's nice to see well-positioned blonde Martha Hyer (as Jane Flynn) and beautifully-proportioned brunette Dawn Addams (as Susan Manners) decorate many dull stretches.

**** Riders to the Stars (1/14/54) Richard Carlson ~ William Lundigan, Richard Carlson, Martha Hyer, Herbert Marshall

A moderately interesting space program film with only adequate special effects

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 25 July 2008]

Considering that the film was made in 1954, I will cut it some slack when it comes to the special effects--though the outer space shots late in the film were pretty lame (I loved how the ships wobbled). However, even with crude special effects, this is an interesting and important sci-fi film because it has to do with the 1950s views of what the first space flights would be like as well as how they would recruit people to this program. Not knowing about the later formation of NASA and how they recruited pilots from the various branches of the military, the film takes a very different view of how people were brought into this ultra-top secret program--and I found this and the selection methods for the program to be very interesting--wrong, but interesting. Also, fortunately, the space travel was not nearly as rough or dangerous as the film portrayed it--otherwise practically none of our manned space flights would have succeeded! Still, it's a nice sci-fi--and nice to see that, for once, there are no bug-eyed aliens! Well worth seeing for sci-fi fans and lovers of history--though some kids will no doubt laugh at much of the film.

A Rocket 88

[iefbr14-1 · 3/10 · 25 October 2009]

Put aside a Dr. House repeat that I had missed, and a Desperate Housewives (new) to watch this one. I don't know exactly what plagued this movie. I never thought I'd say this, but I want my 15 minutes of fame back.

Script, Direction, I can't say. I recognized the stable of actors (the usual suspects), but thought Herbert Marshall was a class addition and sat myself down for a good cheesy flick. Boy, was I wrong. Dullsville.

My favorite parts: where the "office girl" makes with the 029 keypunch and puts the cards into a 087 sorter. LOL @ "the computer". I'd like someone identify the next device - a 477 ? It's before even this dinosaur's time.

And we dinosaurs don't have that much time to waste.

Dated, but well done 50s Sci-fi

[bux · 10/10 · 4 June 2000]

The story concerns the selection and training of three men who are to pilot spacecraft in pursuit of meteorites. Of course there is all the drama and love interest one would expect along the way, but this picture gives us a chance to see the "cutting edge" technology of the 50s space programs. The story moves along swiftly and the cast is first rate. There is also a great title song. Watch this one if you can find it!

Science as Entertainment

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 4 May 2013]

With sincerity and good intentions there was a smattering of Non-Alien-Flying Saucer-Soul Snatching Movies in the Fifties. This one is "Scientific" to a fault but somewhat succeeds at being an Adult friendly story, that Kids flocked to, about the yet to be, but soon to be, Adventure of Manned Space Travel.

It was all so new but we were approaching the time that all Sci-Fi Nerds just knew would happen and after we split the Atom, everything now seemed not only possible but probable. Hence we have this Movie and a very few others that tried its low-budget best to put up on the screen as Entertainment, this highly anticipated new era in Human endeavors and exploration.

The problem is that all this Science stuff is pretty boring when viewed as entertainment. Documentaries are informative and interesting but most are hardly effectively entertaining. They are what they are and this is what it is. A Movie marketed as entertainment that in the end is only slightly so. It is more interesting than entertaining and was more informative in 1954 than it was exciting.

It does manage, against all odds, to be engaging enough in a time-capsule kind of way and most likely created a buzz among Movie goers. It also, may have attracted the readers of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics Magazines. But the irony is that there are probably more accurate prognostications in this Movie than in those highly sophisticated, pretentious periodicals. They were almost always wrong.

The freakout scene is worth the watch.

[wadeswaxmuseum · 5/10 · 14 February 2019]

Space accident reveals gruesome outcome....creepy!!!!!!

A tribute to the era

[earl chenoweth · 26 June 2002]

The movie was one of my favorites when I was gowing up. I was lucky enough to read the paperback book when it came out, & I was very excited when I heard there would be a movie. It is a classic in its way, showing the selection process for what is virtually an impossible task( Space travel depends on onbtaining a material found only in meteorites, so we must travel in space to get it so we can then travel in space...) There is the usual love-interest, but the most interesting character in the book/movie is played by Richard Carlson, as a logical detached scientist, who is lost in a kind of "Rapture of the Deep" in reaction to the reality of, and the sheer beauty of the stars. If you can find this movie --get it!!

Directed by Richard Carlson

[kevinolzak · 4/10 · 31 March 2019]

Stalwart 50s science fiction hero Richard Carlson doubles as director on "Riders to the Stars" (going on to helm a total of five features, the same number as Ray Milland, this the lone genre film). Carlson was best remembered for Universal classics "It Came from Outer Space" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon," but also graced "The Magnetic Monster," "The Maze," "The Power," and "The Valley of Gwangi." Miami-based producer Ivan Tors made a handful of serious space epics before confining himself to TV shows like SEA HUNT, DAKTARI, GENTLE BEN, and FLIPPER (William Grefe shot "Stanley" at the Ivan Tors studio in late 1971). This film was the second of a trilogy, preceded by "The Magnetic Monster" and followed by "Gog," centering on the fictional research team OSI (Office of Scientific Investigation), with some of the same actors cast in different roles (in particular Carlson, Herbert Marshall, and King Donovan). "Monster" was a low budget effort built around stock footage from the climax of 1934's German title "Gold," while "Riders" was essentially a sober retread of George Pal's "Destination Moon" (also shot in color), only on a smaller scale as three astronauts endure rigorous physical and emotional training for a mission just outside the earth's atmosphere, to capture a meteor on the move for securing safety measures on future space flights. The color process was below average, and the endless talk drains the picture of any dramatic weight, but the actors are fine and the climax does include a couple of shocks that make up for the lengthy preamble. Top billed William Lundigan ("The Black Doll," "The Missing Guest") later starred in the futuristic teleseries MEN INTO SPACE, while lovely Martha Hyer would go on to generally minor genre efforts: "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars," "Pyro," "First Men in the Moon," "Picture Mommy Dead," "Some May Live" (Peter Cushing), "House of 1000 Dolls" (Vincent Price), and "Once You Kiss a Stranger."

Hurtle to the far reaches of the universe!

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 5 May 2017]

An experimental rocket falls back to Earth; but upon examination months of bombardment by cosmic rays, scientists are not satisfied with the lack of info they were wanting. Dr. Don Stanton (Herbert Marshall), Dr. Lockwood (Richard Carlson) and Dr. Richard Stanton (William Lundigan) are seriously wanting to know more about the molecular structure of meteorites and what protects them while entering the Earth's atmosphere. With the encouragement of Dr. Jane Flynn (Martha Hyer), there is a plan to send up special made manned rockets built for short-duration flight to capture some meteors from the upper atmosphere.

Whimsical, but serious minded sci-fi directed by Curt Siodmak filmed at Culver City's Hal Roach Studios for Ivan Tor's Productions. This often over looked film might have been reaching for "harder" science fiction than what what was found in the current bombardment of the atomic bomb generated monster movie genre.

Rounding out the cast: George Eldredge, King Donovan, Dawn Addams, Robert Karnes, Michael Fox and James Best.

Typical space flight drama

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 25 June 2022]

A typical space flight drama of the 1950s, made in a very different era. This one isn't cheesy at all, instead going for all-out realism and incorporating stock footage of V2 rockets and the like to simulate modern technology. It's a little dull as a drama, but as a kind of snapshot of where the world was with space travel in the early '50s, it's worth a look.

Slow at times, but not without interest

[henri sauvage · 6/10 · 25 April 2012]

Second in Ivan Tors Productions' "Office of Scientific Investigation" (O.S.I.) trilogy, "Riders to the Stars" belongs to that sf sub-genre of straightforward space exploration epic -- no ray guns and bug-eyed monsters allowed. Which is no doubt why I found it so boring, when I caught it on the afternoon Big Show back in the 1960s.

Thanks to TCM, I've had a chance to see it again, and while it's undeniably leisurely-paced in parts and suffers from a tragically inadequate effects budget, it's still a far better film than I remembered. However, much of my appreciation comes from the fact that it tickles my nostalgia nerve and has some nifty stock footage from the early days of America's space program, which at the time mostly consisted of shooting off captured V-2s out at White Sands. So viewers who don't have the fond memories of and/or historical interest in this era of the Space Age will probably find this pretty dull stuff.

The writer -- Curt Siodmak -- deserves high marks for doing his research on the subject, thereby making the section of the film depicting the painstaking selection process and rigorous training of our trio of astronauts remarkably prescient at times. The science behind their dangerous mission isn't so well-thought-out, but it provides for some minor thrills as the astronauts attempt to chase down and retrieve a meteor from low Earth orbit.

Worth watching, especially if you consider it as a companion film and precursor to "Gog", the third and final entry in the O.S.I. series.

What a Load of Rubbish

[stephen-68135 · 3/10 · 2 April 2022]

The days when they seemed to think meteor's were the answer to the solution to space flight. How they managed to see from the earth those only 20 inches in diameter I don't know, or how the rockets caught up with them and then matched their speed is anyones' guess. Sending three piloted V2's each with a "scoop" to catch them was completely mad. How one managed to land on earth near to the control centre, is a mystery. When I say land, I mean crash, with the one astronaut looking fine in the crashed rocket. Oh yes and nothing on fire whatsoever. All this to get a small meteor for surface analysis. The whole thing was total baloney. Apart from that it was obviously early days in how to get into space, long time before the Saturn rocket was developed. Oh and no need to study any meteor's as this was irrelevant. Also the comment that the moon was turning to dust due to cosmic radiation was also rubbish.

Dated 'hard science' space adventure

[jamesrupert2014 · 7/10 · 20 August 2019]

Trying to solve structural failures in rockets, scientists attempt to catch a meteoroid in the hope of learning how the rocks survive in space. This is the second in Iven Tor's "OSI" trilogy (flanked by 'The Magnetic Monster' (1953) and 'Gog' (1954)), 'hard science' yarns, which feature a lot of exposition and technobabble but are interesting contrasts to the 1950's 'monster cycle' that dominated the genre after the success of 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' (1953). Richard Carlson (who also directed) is fine as the standard OSI heroic scientist, even allowing a bit of panicky weakness in the character when re-entering. Martha Hyer provides some gratuitous eye-candy but, for the genre and era, her woman-scientist character is not too stereotyped (the publicity shot of William Lundigan in a space suit and Hyer in a black cat-suit and heels (an outfit that never appears in the film) notwithstanding). The special effects are dated and not up to the attempted realism of the story (mismatches between the rocket that takes off and the rocket seen in space, sound in a vacuum, etc) but the capsule interiors (and scientific gadgetry in general) are far more realistic than most of the film's contemporaries. The film also emphasises the potential dangers of space flight, both physically and psychologically, and contains some interesting early footage from the dawn of the space-age, including shots of mice in microgravity and high-G training centrifuges. The emphasis on 'realism' dates the film, and the slow pace and limited story cuts into its entertainment value, but considering it was made seven years before Yuri Gagarin's historic flight, 'Riders to the Stars' an interesting alternative in a genre best remembered for giant bugs and flying saucers.

slow with the real stuff

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 29 September 2019]

A rocket parachutes back to earth. Scientists design a program to retrieve meteors. Twelve men are recruited. Three are sent up in three spaceships.

This is damn slow. The plot is pretty thin until the last act. It is interesting that it's using some real equipment and real footage. Those parts are almost a documentary time capsule but it is never not slow. It's a lesser sci-fi B-movie.

Captures wonder and awe of the space age. Good movie.

[lespaulstandar · 8/10 · 1 January 2007]

The film manages to capture the wonder and awe of the space age you may have felt as a teenager in the 1950s. It comes through clearly with the superb cast in the movie (Richard Carlson is one of my favorites in this genre). And even though some people don't like the stock footage used, I enjoyed it. With the interaction of characters, and even love interest in the film, the movie takes you to another time and place. About the only the missing from this movie that usually draws me to these films was the usual flying saucer/UFO kind of connection. But even without that, I really enjoyed this movie. I would have loved to have grown up in that era. See it if you get the chance.

Crystallized Carbon

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 2 September 2017]

Despite the title, for most of it's running time 'Riders to the Stars' is less science fiction than a sober Cold War air force drama in colour detailing the recruitment and training of a team of white American males chosen by computer for the virtual suicide mission of going into space in order to capture a meteorite.

There's an absurd romantic title song and a perfunctory romance between Martha Hyer and William Lundigan to sugar the pill, and as Dr. Jane Flynn Hyer delivers a token speech about the wonder of space travel. But the film makes no bones about the military rather than scientific imperative behind all this trouble and expense; and that Uncle Sam has to establish a foothold in space before the usual unspecified Unfriendly Foreign Power gets there first ("a space platform operated by a dictatorship would make slaves of all free people").

First-time director Richard Carlson was left free to concentrate on the talk by placing the visual side of the film in the more than capable hands of veteran Hollywood cameraman Stanley Cortez, who heightens the already baleful mood with plenty of Gothic lighting. When the film finally takes off into space, colour is extremely effectively used in the rather improbably spacious cabins of the three ships that go up; which goes some way towards compensating for the unimpressive model rockets which in no way resemble the V-2s seen in the previous stock footage.

My Recollections of Riders to the Stars

[jspotter1950 · 1 February 2007]

Warning: Spoiler Ahead! I remember this movie quite well. My father worked in early aerospace, and we were all rocket nuts. We were not impressed with the technology or the accuracy. We all knew that the V-2 was not powerful enough to leave the atmosphere. We had seen the tail camera picture from the Airobee Hi rocket as the intro for the "Captain Jet" cartoon series. Last, and this is a plot spoiler, one of the brave astronauts comes back with a captured meteorite ("I've brought you back a star", he murmurs to his love interest) and the scientist inspects it. Ha! Now we knew what external coating protected meteorites on their fall to earth..."Pure, crystalized carbon!" Uh, aren't we talking diamonds here? A bit pricey, even for NASA.