Rocketship X-M

The Five-Man Band "Recycled IN SPACE!"

Four men and one woman hold a hasty press conference before blasting off into space in the RXM (Rocketship Expedition Moon). But a miscalculation in the fuel mixture sends the RXM hurtling off at tremendous velocity, knocking the crew unconscious. Upon waking they discover they're near the planet Mars. Deciding they might as well explore that planet instead, the crew land to discover the remnants of an alien culture literally "bombed back to the Stone Age" after a nuclear war.

In 1949 Hollywood was abuzz with the news of George Pal's upcoming Destination Moon. Taking advantage of the movie's long production time (due to its extensive special effects), exploitation studio Lippert Productions decided to beat them to the cinemas. The result was Rocketship X-M (AKA Expedition Moon and Rocketship XM-1) filmed in only eighteen days. It shows. While competently written and directed by Kurt Neumann, the movie contains moments of Fridge Logic, Hollywood Science and Special Effects Failure.

For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, please go to the episode recap page.

Nevertheless Rocketship X-M was a great success at the box office and has garnered some staunch fans over the years. One of them -- producer Wade Williams -- spent six years tracking down a fine grain print of the film which he then restored, even reshooting some of the scenes with special effects models and doubles of the original actors.


Tropes used in Rocketship X-M include:

Eckstrom: "Unbelievable...it couldn't be mere chance! I don't quite know how to tell you it's so...if I could have even dreamed that an incredible set of circumstances, each precisely and exactly timed...would carry us unerringly though space to our most congenial planetary neighbour, Mars..."

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