Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Missile to the Moon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 11, 2021

A journalist friend of mine who deals in frankly kitschy entertainments from the 1950s and who both knows and has interviewed Laurie Mitchell, one of the co-stars of Missile to the Moon, confided in me that this film was not in his all time Top 10 (which I had jokingly suspected), which may in and of itself indicate as well as anything that the perceived "charm" of this film may be tenuous at times. This decidedly lo-fi effort posits a bunch of misfits who take a rocket to the moon, where they end up encountering a race of buxom beauties. If this sounds a bit like 1953's Cat-Women of the Moon, it's because Missile to the Moon is a more or less remake, down to and including the same hilarious mutant sized spider that was in the earlier film.

Missile to the Moon evidently attempted to capture the interest of younger viewers by inserting two teenaged (?) delinquents (Tommy Cook and Gary Clarke) into the proceedings, as well as offering a bevy of pageant winning beauties who are identified by their "Miss [name of state]" monikers in the credits (among these is Leslie Parrish, here a brunette and appearing under her original name Marjorie Hellen). There's a power struggle among the women, though, with Lido (K.T. Stevens) facing an uprising led by the appropriately named Alpha (Nina Bara). It's all hilariously over the top, and includes, in addition to the giant semi-marauding spider, huge living rock formations which unfortunately resemble slightly fossilized Gumbies.

Missile to the Moon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Missile to the Moon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Snappy Video and Thunderbean Animation with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. I'm not sure if this exclusive to Amazon (where I got my copy), but my disc is a BD-R, which suggests Thunderbean has perhaps released this in a "manufacture on demand" format. Thunderbean tends to do generally fine work in its restorations, but there are some kind of odd anomalies on display here, chief of which is a kind of frankly weird semi-warping situation where the perspective of the frame kind of switches slightly, as if you're suddenly seeing things refracted through a prism which slightly bends the image. It's very noticeable during the credits and continues on for at least the opening section of the film. There are also a number of signs of age related wear and tear that have made it through the restoration gauntlet (see screenshot 9 and the rather long scratch toward the left center part of the frame for one example). Otherwise, though, things are at least decent looking, with good detail levels in close-ups. There are some noticeable fluctuations in brightness (ironically, once the characters get into the supposed underground lair after going through a cave, things are much brighter than in the opening sequences of the film).

Missile to the Moon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Missile to the Moon features an LPCM Mono track that capably supports the film's pretty basic sound design. A few sound effects do intrude now and again, and are admittedly not particularly forceful, but don't succumb to any outright signs of damage or distortion. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation. Optional Spanish subtitles are available.

Missile to the Moon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:30)


• German Trailer (1080p; 2:27)


• The Stars of Missile to the Moon (1080p) provides a gallery of biographical pages.


• Original Press Book (1080p)


• Posters / Lobby Cards / Stills (1080p)

Missile to the Moon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kind of hilariously, Missile to the Moon was just one of four lo-fi science fiction-ish entertainments helmed by Richard E. Cunha in 1958 (you can read about another one that just recently appeared on Blu-ray in my Giant from the Unknown Blu-ray review). Cunha may have quantity on his side, at least for this particular year, but even some diehard fans of low grade fare might argue with how much quality is on display. This is another cult item which may provide a few laughs for some viewers, and while not optimal due at least in part to what I'm assuming were insurmountable problems with the source element(s) utilized, video has some issues, but audio is largely fine.