Crash of Moons
Crash of Moons
NR | 10 July 1954 (USA)
Crash of Moons Trailers

A three-part episode from the TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger edited together and released as a feature for 16mm rental only. Season 1 episodes 21, 22, 23. Episode 21: Rocky saves a space station and his friends when they are trapped between gypsy moons. Episode 22: Cleolanthe tries to destroy one of the gypsy moons with a barrage of missiles. Episode 23: Rocky evacuates the gypsy moon Posetta and stops Cleolanthe's missile barrage.

Reviews
Alicia

I love this movie so much

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ShangLuda

Admirable film.

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Jakoba

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

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Jenni Devyn

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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Leofwine_draca

I do like watching the classic serials of the 1940s and '50s what with their constant two-fisted action scenes and cliffhangers, although I'd never experienced the delights of ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER previously. CRASH OF MOONS is an example of three episodes of the popular TV series being stitched together to make a single movie.And boy, is it a dog. It's a drawn out sci-fi movie that drags along in the doldrums for the entire running time, featuring a plot so slight that it barely holds the viewer's attention. The tale is about the titular pair of moons that have been sent out of orbit and are on a collision course with an inhabited planet. Rocky and his team (including a woman, a kid, and a bizarre old professor guy who might as well sit around smoking a pipe) go to help them evacuate, but the planet's stupid queen wants nothing to do with it.I associate these kinds of serial and TV shows with plenty of action and excitement, but CRASH OF MOONS is sorely lacking in that department. There are lots and lots of shots of spaceships landing and docking in which the ships look like they've been drawn on the screen or perhaps animated with a piece of cardboard. Even worse, there are only a couple of fight scenes, and attempts to generate any kind of suspense fall flat. The queen and her people are so unlikeable and stupid in behaviour that you wish the moons would crash on to them and kill them all. Add in a stolid hero and cheap production values and you have CRASH OF MOONS, an entirely dated sci-fi outing.

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classicsoncall

Take your best shot at "Crash of Moons", but I found the film to be fairly entertaining, with some unique story elements and special effects that come off as pretty original for the mid 1950's. I've been overdosing on sci-fi films of the era recently, and must say that it's a lot better than some of the space turkeys that came out a decade later, like "Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet" and "Zontar The Thing From Venus". Part of it's appeal for me included the well done orbiting space station OW-9, and the use of creative space jargon to describe futuristic technology like the 'viseograph', the 'astrophone' and 'tortanic' missiles.The hero of the piece is Space Ranger Rocky Jones (Richard Crane), the movie spliced together from episodes of the mid '50's television program. It's not hard to see where some of the imagination for Star Trek's Captain Kirk came from. Confident and take charge, Rocky seemed to be wherever the ladies were present, though without Kirk's overworked libido. His team includes the leggy Vena Ray, adequately portrayed by Sally Mansfield.The story line is also fairly imaginative, with two gypsy moons linked together by an atmosphere chain that initially threatens the space station, and then takes up an orbit that may destroy another planet. Ophecious is ruled by a hawkish space queen named Cleolanta (Patsy Parsons), who views the threat of rogue moon Placida as a United Worlds plot to destroy her planet and her rule.If you're a fan of 'B' Westerns, you'll have no trouble recognizing a couple of faces that made dozens of cowboy flicks each. Harry Lauter is Cleolanta's right hand man Atlasan, while her lieutenant is veteran Lane Bradford. Nan Leslie, who also made her mark in a fair number of Western films, is Atlasan's wife Trinka, the voice of reason on Ophecious who is anxious to accept Rocky Jones' help to save her planet's people. Meeting her prompts Rocky's sidekick Winky (Scotty Beckett) to remark - "Hey Rocky, who is that luscious trail of star dust anyway?" Perhaps the surprise member of the cast for trivia fans is the character Bavarro, who a dozen years later would become the perfect foil for Colonel Hogan on the popular series "Hogan's Heroes". I didn't make the connection at first, but will have to go back to review John Banner's scenes to measure the resemblance.OK, it's dated, black and white, and has moments when the non action simply plods along, but overall I found "Crash of Moons" to be likable enough. It helps that the players themselves didn't seem to take the whole thing too seriously, as they looked to be in the spirit of things, all with a straight face. I wonder how much practice that took, as some of those space uniforms looked downright out of this world in a genuinely 'out there' sort of way.

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Snow Leopard

This is a pretty standard example of the kind of 1950's sci-fi movie that, on the one hand, now comes across as thoroughly dated and often unintentionally funny, but that also has a certain charm, at least to those who can appreciate the genre. This is not a bad film of its kind, despite its deficiencies.The "Crash of Moons" has to do with a pair of 'gypsy moons', one of which is inhabited, that are locked into an irregular orbit around each other (as one character helpfully describes it, 'like two children on a playground'), and that are headed for a collision with another inhabited moon. The 'United Worlds' sends Space Ranger Rocky Jones and his friends to save everybody. One of the moons (whose leader is John Banner, better known as Sergeant Schultz from "Hogan's Heroes") is quite cooperative, but the other world is ruled by an entertainingly mean-spirited queen who, for reasons that apparently satisfy her, would rather eliminate the Space Rangers than have their help.Most of the characters are stereotypes, but the actors are not bad, and most of them seem to enjoy what they are doing, which gives it some real life most of the time. Some of the events and much of the jargon in the dialogue lack any plausibility, but the basic premise of the impending collision comes across pretty well, and creates some real interest. The direction could have been a lot better, because in many of the crises the tension is prematurely defused, but on the other hand there is usually enough going on to keep the viewer's interest. The 'special' effects are about what you would expect, but at least they're good for some chuckles.This movie won't be of general interest today, but if you enjoy movies such as "Plan 9 From Outer Space", this one is worth a look. "Crash of Moons" is not nearly as uproariously inept (what movie is), but it will keep your attention and provide some light entertainment.

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Sterno-2

Crash of Moons isn't half bad. Considering that it was an MST experiment, you're tendency is to brace for the worst, especially considering it falls into that dreaded 50s-era space movie.The plot is quite evident and the characters are engaging. Rocky Jones is a take-charge, aggressive, and well-meaning character who made James T. Kirk possible a generation later. Miss Ray, whose mini-skirted character is constrained by 1950s perception of women, comes off well. Despite her character being rather hamstrung, she manages to breathe life into the role and lessens the effect. "Winky", on the other hand, is an annoying character who would have been the first to die had he been in either a 80s slasher flick or the original Star Trek series.Be willing to suspend your disbelieve with respect to the scientific end of the story. But don't let that get in the way of enjoying a good rainy Saturday afternoon movie.Sterno says sign up for a mission with Rocky Jones.

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