Destination Space (1959 TV Movie) User Reviews

As good as might be expected, but no better

[keith-moyes · 4/10 · 17 February 2006]

As a pilot for an unmade TV series this decent, if dull, little effort shouldn't be judged too harshly. I am glad it has survived.

The special effects are slightly above average for the period - as they should be, since they all seem to come from The Conquest of Space. The action scenes at the beginning and end are quite well staged and reasonably tense, but the middle section is just establishing characters and situations that would have been developed later in the series, so it is inevitable that it does not have the momentum of a stand-alone movie. The acting is 'so so'.

This is just an oddity of mild historical interest only, but I feel it is worth acknowledging its existence, because it is actually the most convincing depiction of the dawning of the space age to appear at any time in the Fifties. It is certainly more convincing than the Pal movie it pillaged for its special effects.

It is the first time that space travel was shown in a plausible political context. The first time it was ever suggested that space travel was not just a technological triumph and a great adventure: that cost and financial justification was part of the equation as well.

These are small merits in what is, in truth, a fairly tedious fifty minutes, but I am glad to have seen it and have a slight regret that there was not at least one season of the show.

Check it out if, like me, you have a particular fondness for Fifties' SF and a stamp collector's desire to see everything that was made in this era.

Just don't expect an undiscovered minor classic.

Slower than it should have been, but it would have been an interesting series....

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 18 October 2015]

"Destination Space" was a pilot for a series that networks declined to accept. I can understand why--this show was a bit talky and slow (which to some degree is necessary for a first show). I think more action and less talk might have resulted in the show being given the green light.

When the show begin, there's an accident aboard the space station orbiting the Earth in this sci-fi show set in the near future. A bombastic congressman takes advantage of this and the leader of the project (Harry Townes) has to go to Washington to defend his program and the high costs. Later, the action finally goes to the station and a space launch from this station is about to occur--presumably to be followed up in subsequent episodes. But there's nuclear explosion to contend with first...

When you see this today, the special effects look crappy. But for 1959, they're actually pretty good. I also appreciate that this is not a distant sci-fi show with bug-eyed monsters but a look at where folks back in '59 thought we might be in the next decades Not a great pilot but one that makes you wonder how the show might have progressed.

Benedict's Billions

[richardchatten · 5/10 · 6 January 2024]

Although John Agar is the nominal star of this unsold TV pilot the bulk of the exposition goes to Harry Townes - who like most of the cast is more familiar for his work in television than in films - although the real stars are easily the special effects crew who created the wheel in space for 'Conquest of Space' which Paramount are here trying to squeeze a bit more money out of under the direction of future 'Star Trek' director Joseph Pevney.

The virtue of 'Destination Space' is that it's much sorter, it's vice being that it's in black & white rather than colour. Most of the plot actually takes place on Earth where the endless haggling with politicians over costs is probably the most accurate prediction that it makes.

Ahead Of Its Time

[bob_langer · 5 November 2011]

This is a brilliant pilot that foreshadowed much of the actual historic progress in the United States in their effort to get to the Moon. The science. Unlike most science fiction series of the late '50's, the science is sound. The visual effects reflect the contemporary designs for spacecraft and space stations. The characterization and acting are top notch. The plot itself also has a realism that is rarely seen in science fiction.

It is a great shame that this series never made it off the ground.

The are quite a few elements of this pilot that were reflected by historic events.

<< SPOILERS AHEAD >>

* Extensive checklists prior to launch. This is very similar to the process that NASA used. * 3 person lunar orbit craft. The Apollo space craft were crewed by 3 people. * Accident before the launch of the lunar orbit craft causes delays. This is similar to the Apollo 1 tragedy in that the actual accident caused a significant delay in the program. * Senate hearings to investigate the viability of the space program. After the Apollo 1 accident, there was a similar witch hunt. * Space station for staging. NASA did consider the use of a space station for staging lunar exploration. However, in favor of short term cost savings and shorter development time, the three stage Saturn V was used. * Nuclear powered space craft. Many of the unmanned space craft do rely on nuclear fission as a power source.

There are a few elements that we haven't yet developed as well. The biggest example is wheel like space station for generating artificial gravity. Sure, we aren't currently using this type of technology in our own space exploration, but it is based on sound physics principles.

This was a surprisingly intelligent show that I'm thrilled to have seen.

Destination Space not destined to be series

[mike1964 · 2/10 · 2 February 2002]

Destination Space appears to have been a pilot for a CBS TV series. You can tell it was a pilot as the end of the 'movie' leaves things unanswered. John Agar is wasted here and Agar Sci Fi fans will be disappointed. John shows emotion late in the film by breaking a pencil (Whoo Hoo!).

Majority of the film is the main character trying to convince the powers that be to try another rocket launch (zzzz). When he finally convinces them, they try again and have to abort. Can you imagine a series where each week they try and fail to launch the rocket? Neither could CBS.

Nothing Happens!

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 9 July 2015]

A teacher once told me that the first rule of writing was to never be dull. This may be the dullest science fiction film I've seen. A n astronaut spends more time in a Senate hearing than in a space station that is being maligned for nearly biting the bullet during a meteor shower. He has the usually adversarial Senator who is looking out for the taxpayer's pocketbooks. He, of course, is presented as a bit of a buffoon. The return message (one that is certainly valid) is that we must know; we must explore. Danger is part of the equation. So they send an independent observer, a scientist, to take his business suit and tie to the space station and observe them at work. Anyway, they don't simplify things (which is a strength), but the dialogue and interaction are about as vanilla as you can get. There is also a love story going on that doesn't' really get resolved. The predecessor, "Conquest of Space," is even more idiotic and it's fortunate that at some point the space program went on.

Horrible

[office-489 · 3/10 · 2 November 2010]

I'm a hard core 1950s science fiction fan, and this movie baffles me. It uses footage from Conquest of Space, specifically "The Wheel" and the spaceship. It's a black and white film, so it was weird to see that footage which I know to exist in color displayed in black and white. To be honest, I fast-forwarded through 3/4s of the movie, it's THAT bad. Way too much yakking and virtually no action. The climax involves one of the spacemen working to free a valve after crawling down a tube which reminded me a lot of the "Jeffries Tube" on the original Star Trek series. Another small bright spot is Ed Platt's role. He was "Chief" on "Get Smart" in the 1960s. Overall, even if you are a hard core collector, this is just a deadly boring movie.

Just a pilot, but then again...

[buffalonemo · 6/10 · 26 January 2020]

By now you know that this movie, as such, was just a pilot for a CBS TV series that was never picked up. But don't overlook its potential as an interesting film. The plot of the second and third act revolved around the political problems the space program faced and is still facing. There is a romantic subplot that would have been dropped at the first chance if the show went into production. If I saw this as an eight year old in a theater I probably would have thrown my popcorn at the screen. But as a science story it outshines the majority of movies it stole from. It's not as good as the CBS show that did make it for a season, (Men Into Space)but still better than a lot of science fiction television at the time.

A Stifled SyFy Story About Space Pioneers Where Space Politics And Petty Personal Dramas Prevail

[StrictlyConfidential · 3/10 · 22 June 2020]

For one thing - I'd definitely say that (at 50 minutes) the running time of "Destination Space" (from 1959) was way-way-way too long for its own good.

From its super-dry story-telling, to its slow-moving action - This low-budget SyFy production (that featured some very laughable old-school visual effects) was clearly a product of its time.

And, yes - With that in mind - I honestly did try to cut "Destination Space" some serious slack. But, unfortunately, the overall monotony of this b&w presentation just couldn't hold my undivided attention (nor my enthusiasm) for more than but a few brief moments at a time.

Interesting example of 1950s 'hard sci-fi' TV

[jamesrupert2014 · 6/10 · 7 March 2022]

A penurious Senator needs to be shown that an orbiting space-station is essential to national security and the future of space exploration. This TV-movie is believed to be a failed CBS pilot for a 'realistic' science fiction series (similar to 'Men into Space'). Most of the special effects are recycled from the 'hard' science-fiction film 'Conquest of Space' (1955) and are great of examples of what 'serious' predictors thought space-travel would look like in the ensuing decades. A bit predicable but not bad and, as one of the stars is the ubiquitous B-movie thesp John Agar, a must see for some people (but if you are only interested in the visuals, dig up the old movie instead).

The cliff notes version of "Conquest of Space".

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 18 July 2018]

The colorful footage of that 1955 George Pal sci-fi classic has been made black and white here for a TV pilot that has some moments of intelligence but can't hold a candle to its source. A cast mixed with veteran actors and obscure newcomers offer a look into man's desire to explore space in spite of the dangers that are present and the debate over what is best for the world as far as space exploration is concerned. The film is actually at its best with a court hearing, where some of the dialog for and against the journey into the unknown, which follows a sequence that mixes new footage of a meteor shower and footage of the giant circular space station from "Conquest of Space". Of the veteran actors, Cecil Kellaway and Edward Platt stand out, with John Agar commanding as one of the military leaders. It's rather short and quickly forgettable, made rather cheaply for pilot season, although the inserted footage looks seamless. Ironically, the best sequences are not the newly filmed outer space scenes, but the hearing itself where what is usually overfilled with scientific assumptions and dull exposition is actually made to be quite amusing. I ironically got a copy of this along with "Conquest of Space" where the two films together show as to why the follow-up didn't quite make it onto TV.

Conquest of Space done as a hopeful weekly series

[roryr-09558 · 9/10 · 2 November 2022]

I was in grade school when Men Into Space ran. It was great. Destination Space was another spin off of the ZIV pioneering series using elements and effects from George Pal's Conquest of Space. After 60 years cut it some slack please.

By the way Jim Schulke was a producer. If your parents listened to beautiful music in the late 60s then it was likely a FM station Jim programed with his Stereo Radio Productions service.

I worked in radio in the early 70s for the competitor Bonneville

SCI Fi and beautiful music, a glorious combination!

I met Jim at a broadcast convention and asked if he was the same and yes!

Early vision of how manned space exploration would work.

[TxMike · 8 September 2022]

The consensus is this "movie" was actually a pilot for a TV series that was not pursued. Although rockets had been used for centuries in various peacetime and war applications, it was not until 1957 when Russia launched a Sputnik into Earth orbit, followed a few months later by a 1958 USA satellite in Earth orbit that actual space exploration began. So this pilot was made right on the heels of those two accomplishments.

A giant wheel-type, rotating space station is already in orbit 500 miles above the Earth. Routine travel between the station and Earth is already in practice, shuttling both astronauts and dignitaries as needed. Instead of putting a ship in orbit and gradually approaching the station, as we now know it works, they have the rocket just climbing directly to the station. They land on a terminal of sorts, just a few dozen yards away from the station, then with space suits on, push themselves off a platform, like you might dive off the edge of a pool, and float towards the space station. If only it were that easy!

Anyway the project at hand is to launch a rocket with crew to land on the Moon, a stated goal is to establish a Moon base. Ironically that is exactly what we are intending to do today, in 2022 and beyond, with the Artemis project. Also the SpaceX goal to travel to and settle of Mars. It is pretty interesting how closely a 60+ year old TV pilot mirrors what is going on now.

For a 1950s show the special effects are not that bad. However being the pilot for a TV series there is lots of dialog, including a congressional hearing to find out about some problems the mission are facing, including being hit by a meteoroid. Also some hint of a romance. Not a great film by any measure, it is great fun to see how they looked at possible space travel long before we actually had any human space travel.

I found it streaming on U-Tube.