Excursion to the Moon (1908) User Reviews

Remaking the Classics

[boblipton · 6/10 · 10 December 2007]

Pathe and Gaumont were the big players in motion pictures by this point and this remake of Melies' classic VOYAGE A LA LUNE is an attempt to put the stake through his heart -- his productions were on the decline by the next year and would cease within another five years. So, in looking at this movie, we can compare it directly to the earlier version and see its comparative strengths and failures.

Its strengths are obvious: greater production values, including a nicely done frame-within-a-frame bit. But its weaknesses are less obvious and more on aesthetic lines: the slapstick is cruder, the motions less balletic, despite using the young ladies of the Pathe corps to dance a little dance before the moon king and, in general, there seems to be less of a sense of fun: even the classic shot of the shell hitting the man in the moon in the eye is replaced by one in which it goes into his mouth. This is neither a key piece in cinema's evolution nor a better film in its own right.

Remake or Reinterpretation?

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 11 July 2009]

The DVD (Retour de Flamme vol 5 - if you're interested in early cinema and curios be sure to seek out all the discs under this umbrella title) on which I saw this 1908 short made no mention of this being a rip-off of George Melies' classic from six years before, choosing instead to consider it an alternative adaptation of the Jules Verne novel. Either way, there are a number of similar scenes, including the iconic one of the rocket landing on the moon - although here the rocket drifts into it's mouth instead of sticking in it's eye. The film is hand-coloured, but it's not done very well, resembling at times a child's colouring-in using a crayon. And because it is so similar to Melies' film, it is all too familiar and offers little new to keep the viewers attention - even at just over eight minutes long I found my attention wandering.

Interesting, unauthorised reimagining of 1902's "Le voyage dans la lune"

[jamesrupert2014 · 6/10 · 10 February 2020]

Essentially a remake of Méliès' famous 'A Trip to the Moon' (1903), Segundo de Choman's film opens with some wizardly men cavorting in a moonlit garden who decide to send an expedition to the moon. The film cuts to an observatory where the wizards plan the trip, including an excellent matte shot in which the journey takes place on their blackboard. Next is a very well done scene in a factory where the moon-bound projectile is being built (which includes some slapstick comedy), then to the giant cannon itself, again a very nice forced-perspective background painting. The space-gun is loaded in a scene very similar to Méliès' but involving soldiers rather than women in sailor suits and fired. Unlike Méliès' iconic image of the shell landing in the Man-in-the-Moon's eye, Choman's shell flies into his gaping mouth, apparently causing some indigestion. The explorers disembark, witness a sunrise and then, like the original film, take a nap in the snow. After an adventure with some giant mushrooms, they are captured by acrobatic moon-men (unlike Méliès' film, there are no elaborate 'selenite' costumes) and taken to the hall of the Moon King where they are entertained by dancing moon-maidens. Unfortunately, one of the explorers accosts a dancer, angering the King who orders his men to kick the interlopers out. In a scene right out of Méliès' film: pursued by moon-men, the Earthman return to their space-shell, which is precariously perched on a ledge, tip it over and fall back to Earth (oddly, the return trip seems to include a 'stage separation'). They land in the garden where the adventure began and proudly introduce their colleagues to the lovely moon-maid who has accompanied them home to Earth. The film is an unabashed copy of Méliès' film but some of the images (in the factory and of the space-gun) are better than the original film and there are some beautiful colorisation effects using the Pathé stencil process. A must see for fans of silent fantasy films (there are a number of copies on-line of varying length (the film is about 7 minutes) and image quality).

better Moon-men than Melies in this malaise-melange

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 11 October 2009]

The "trick" films of Georges Melies were extremely popular in their time, and inevitably they spawned imitators. Melies's most famous film, and probably his best, is his 1902 "Voyage to the Moon" ... inspired by Jules Verne's work, yet containing elements from HG Wells's novel "First Men in the Moon", published only the previous year. I've seen Melies's production sketches for that film: his lunar inhabitants (based on Wells's Selenites) were originally much more elaborate creatures, with lobster claws and complicated headpieces that never made it into the actual movie.

Segundo de Chomon's "Excursion to the Moon" is virtually a shot-for-shot copy of Melies's opus: a strange decision, since Melies (notoriously a bad businessman) sold the prints of his films outright, so any exhibitor who wanted a piece of Melies's audience could merely buy one of the films rather than counterfeiting it. Many of the scenes in this "Excursion" are copied exactly from Melies's earlier film, notably a sequence in the lunar mushroom forest: one of the Earthmen plants his open umbrella in the lunar soil, and it instantly transforms into an enormous mushroom.

The most famous image in all of Melies's films -- one of the most famous images in all of cinema -- is the two-shot sequence of his bullet-shaped spaceship hurtling towards the moon, then a crude cut to show the projectile striking the Man in the Moon in his right eye. For this remake (or rip-off), de Chomon seemed unwilling to copy that famous sequence precisely, so we see the Man in the Moon rather stupidly gawping with his mouth open for a protracted shot (much longer than in Melies's original), while it's obvious that the rocket is hurtling directly towards his gob-hole ... and of course it goes in. Melies's quick slapstick gag was more effective.

Despite being a rip-off, this "Excursion" is in some ways actually an improvement over Melies's original "Voyage" ... notably in the opening sequence, employing a clever double-exposure to enable cartoon animation of drawings on a blackboard. Rather implausibly, we then see the spaceship being assembled by blacksmiths using anvils!

Verne's original Moon novel (actually two linked novels) featured three astronauts (and some animals!) orbiting the moon without actually landing. Melies, for some reason, had six astronauts in his much shorter cinematic version, yet never defined them as individual characters. In this remake, de Chomon uses only five actors for the visitors from Earth, and the painted flats representing their spaceship take up a much smaller portion of the screen: definite improvements over Melies's version. Melies famously cast the Folies-Bergere girls as female cadets in tights, rather improbably using their dainty brawn to launch the projectile. Here, de Chomon casts a contingent of male soldiers for the same purpose: very slightly more plausibly, yet rather less pleasantly to the eye. He reserves his female performers for the moon itself, where they dance prettily as lunar ballerinas without ever actually doing any en-pointe work. Of course, the moon's atmosphere and gravity are identical to Earth's.

Where "Excursion" clearly surpasses Melies's earlier "Voyage" is in the performances of the Selenites. Here, de Chomon casts some skilled acrobats who do some genuinely impressive gymnastics, including forward and backward handsprings (with poor amplitude) and mule kicks. In Melies's version, the unga-bunga moon-men merely waved spears and performed a few pathetic forward rolls. Here in "Excursion", unlike in Melies's film, the five Earthmen are captured by the Selenites and taken to their leader: the "Grand Lunar" in Wells's novel, described but never actually seen by that book's narrator.

In both films, ludicrously, the ship makes its return to Earth by being pushed off a lunar cliff and falling all the way down ... an idea made even more preposterous because it's also a continuity error: in both films, the ship is seen to land on a lunar plain, yet somehow it's on a cliff for the trip homeward. The ship is also in left profile for the original moon-shot, yet in right profile for the return.

Both films also feature a brief live-action sequence with the (miniature) spaceship dunked into an aquarium, while actual fish (out of scale, but with scales ... and clearly fresh-water species) swim obliviously past it, to depict the ship's splash landing in an ocean on Earth.

Because considerable effort, money and talent went into the making of "Excursion to the Moon", I'm surprised that so many resources were expended on what's basically a copy of a previous film, especially since (as I've noted) the original was available for outright purchase. De Chomon shows clear talent and imagination here, so why did he expend them on copying another artist's work? On its own considerable merits, I'll rate "Excursion to the Moon" 8 out of 10, though Melies's original "Voyage to the Moon" rates at least a 9. Many of Melies's films are now lost: if his "Voyage to the Moon" had been one of those, this "Excursion" might now seem more impressive than it is.

An Excursion to the Moon is not a good ripoff of A Trip to the Moon

[tavm · 5/10 · 17 July 2009]

This was another short silent film by Segundo de Choman that I found on the "Saved from the Flames" DVD collection. In this one, he attempts to remake Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon. Except this one has the rocket landing in the Moon's mouth instead of eye. And there seems to be no villains to defeat. And there isn't much that's all that humorous or very exciting happening. Well, there's plenty of women dancing but that seems to be it. There's also a nice scene-within-a-scene when a blackboard shows a picture in motion of the rocket going to the moon to the future passengers. Okay, there's one real funny scene when, after the moon's mouth "swallows" the rocket, color-tinted flames come out of that mouth! Other than that, An Excursion to the Moon is only halfway as entertaining as A Trip to the Moon.

It's impossible to score this one....read more to find out why.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 July 2011]

This film, "Excursion to the Moon", by Segundo de Chomón, was included in the three DVD set "Saved From the Flames"--a collection of mostly ephemeral movies that have managed to avoid turning to powder, catching fire or melting--something that usually happened with the nitrate film stock used up through the 1950s.

While today this might shock you, back in the early days of cinema, film makers stole each other's work with abandon. So, if a studio came out with a film, a competitor would often re-film the entire movie once again and slap their name on it! It got so bad, that American Biograph (where D.W. Griffith worked) slapped an 'A-B' symbol right onto the sets to prove it was an original! And, in the case of the French genius Georges Méliès, MANY of his films were blatantly ripped off--so many that it makes it hard for film historians to know what is his and what is phony. In the case of "An Excursion to the Moon", Segundo de Chomón steals Méliès "A Trip to the Moon" and gives it a very similar title--hoping folks would mistake it for the original! What a jerk! Sometimes imitation is NOT the most sincere sort of flattery!

I've seen the original movie about a dozen times and was amazed at just how close a copy this was and no attempt was made to create a new product! There were a few MINOR changes--but that is all (such as the ship landing in the Moon's mouth and not its eye). As I said, these folks were real jerks and I consider this film an outright theft--as any rational person would! So, technically it's very nice--but why not just watch the original?!

By the way, this film was hand-colored using the Pathé-Frères colored stenciling technique. This made it a bit easier than hand-coloring the cells and produced a color that is pretty impressive for the era. However, it was so time-consuming and difficult that portions of films were colored--not the entire product.

Early Competition in the French Film Industry

[PCC0921 · 6/10 · 22 November 2022]

It is interesting watching filmmakers copying and taking influence from others, this early in film history. It reminds me of today when YouTube artists do the same thing. We all get inspiration from one another. But, some, just flat-out copy. Case in point; go back to the early 20th century. We all know that French filmmaker and illusionist, Georges Melies, was inspired by the work of Jules Verne, especially for his legendary film, A Trip to the Moon (1902). Two years after this, Gaston Velle (another French film director of the time), was making Melies inspired films, like Drama in the Air (1904). Three years later, Melies copied off of himself and made the first film adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1907). That film was a carbon-copy of his, A Trip to the Moon (1902), only this time, switch out the bullet-ship with a submarine.

In this film, Excursion to the Moon (1908), another French filmmaker, Segundo de Chomón, was inspirationally making, scene-by-scene, an almost copy of Melies, A Trip to the Moon (1902). Melies was a good sport and never sued over this, but looking back at it 115 years later, it might have been a good thing. Melies' film is much better than this film. He is much more famous than the other filmmakers 115 years later. He had been working on movies for, a good, eight years before these other guys got started, but you do notice a slight uptick in quality effects, after six years of a growing film industry, between 1902 and 1908. This is most evident in the bullet loading scene. The effects look a little bit more sharp than what Melies had in his film, but I'm sure Melies had grown too with his films, since his early days of 1902.

This film tries to capitalize on an accepted current-day, art form, that seemed to be a staple in France in the early 20th century. It was an art form made more famous by Georges Melies. I would still see this film, because it is an artifact of a time long-ago, plus its interesting seeing artists of the time in a competition to see who makes history the most. It is interesting to see Segundo de Chomón's version just to compare the two. What really kills the film is the short runtime, which totally abbreviates the ending, making you wonder if you missed something. Melies original film was 12 minutes long. Maybe Melies had more money than Segundo de Chomón? Who knows.

6.1 (D+ MyGrade) = 6 IMDB.

despite its status as a rip off of "Trip to the Moon", this is still an enjoyable film regardless

[framptonhollis · 6/10 · 26 July 2017]

Depending on who you are and what your perspective is, "Excursion to the Moon" can be seen as one of two things; either it is among the earliest examples of the movie remake, or it is the 1908 equivalent to many of today's B-movie ripoffs (ex: "Transmorphers", "American Warships", etc.), a film whose sole purpose is to capitalize off of a popular cine-product. My outlook on the matter is that it is a little bit of both of these. It is important to note that the man behind the camera wasn't just some early 20th century hackjob trying to make a quick buck; instead, he was Segundo de Chomón, a respectable filmmaker in his own right, although he often imitated Georges Méliès with his works. So, I am stuck on this issue; but no matter what the truth of the matter is, this was still just a damn fun movie to watch. It's barely seven minutes of your time and offers a wild, colorful journey through a fantastical vision of outer space. It's lighthearted, comic glee that may please or enrage depending upon your perspective whilst watching it.

Even rip-offs can have their charms

[MissSimonetta · 8/10 · 17 July 2020]

I should not like EXCURSION TO THE MOON as much as I do. It is a plan rip-off of A TRIP TO THE MOON, right down to the title, which comes off like it was written by a high school student bad at properly plagiarizing. However, the film sports its own unique charm: I dig the 18th century costuming and the strange chorus line scene on the moon. The part where the moon eats the incoming spaceship is also creepy in a primitive, unknowing way I cannot put into words.

Excursion to the Moon

[Michael_Elliott · 17 December 2010]

Excursion dans la lune (1908)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

French film from de Chomon is a big(ger) budgeted remake of Georges Melies' A TRIP TO THE MOON. Once again a group of men build a spaceship and shoot for the moon where they find that they're unwelcome. The original Melies film has rightfully become a truly legendary film and this remake is certainly watered-down and weaker. For starters, the Melies film was truly an epic for its day but this thing here pretty much cuts out all the story and instead just goes for the better known moments. These include the building of the ship, the rocket launch and of course the scene where they land but instead of going into the moon's eye we're greeted with the ship landing in its mouth. The only minor advantage to any of these sequences is that they're obviously working with a larger budget but in the end this means very little as the imagination simply isn't here. This thing clocks in at just over 7-minutes and I must admit that there were times where I found myself yawning. Towards the end of the film we get a mini-dance sequence that really adds very little to the movie. EXCURSION TO THE MOON isn't a bad film by any stretch of the imagination and I'm sure sci-fi fans will want to watch it but be sure you check out the original version first.

Despite being pretty much a complete rip-off of Melies, this is still a great film

[Tornado_Sam · 13 September 2017]

"Excursion to the Moon" is Segundo de Chomon's version of the better known Melies film from 1902. As many other reviewers have stated, this film is a complete remake of the Melies film and Chomon obviously didn't take as much effort to make this as Melies did. There are a few changes (the rocket goes into the moons' mouth instead of it's eye, instead of the professor falling into a tub he is caught by a hook, one of the professors bring home a moon-girl and there's a dance too in the scene with the king of the moon-men). However, it is pretty much an imitation all the way through (although there are some additional scenes earlier on).

What makes this film so good is the color. Pathe specialized in coloring their films and this one's no exception. A lot of scenes are tinted blue while some are in color. It's also a bit funny too because the scientists here don't make much preparation for the trip; they treat it more like a joyride and there's hardly any build-up. In the end, however, I would agree with framptonhollis. It may be a rip-off, but it's very nice to watch and holds up just as well as the Melies classic.