Very disappointing...

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

In the 1950's, space sci-fi (movies, Rocky Jones, Captain Video, etc.) were a must see for me. When Men into Space hit television, I was glued to the screen. Ratchet forward 60 odd years, and episodes don't have quite the dazzle they did in 1959. Each episode seems to have the same mix of the following:Relatively mature themes with a hint of soap opera that stressed science, over fiction. These would have appealed to adults as well as kids back then. An moment of clairvoyance, in which they explore, or at least mention a concern of science or space flight that won't become relevant for at least 50 years, women astronauts being an example. One episode has striking similarities to the Apollo 13 mission.Silly science, including floating stars whizzing by, "tanker" rockets for refueling in space, and walking the moon in space suits about as thick as pajamas. The various rockets appear to be about as big externally a mini van, but a Greyhound bus on the inside. In one story, we see meteors pummeling the surface of the moon, and we hear the thud of each impact. A formulaic, fairy-tale ending where the astronauts face some life-threatening ordeal Through clever MacGyver improvisation and a stroke of ever-present luck, everyone lives happily ever-after.Actors we'll see in the coming years becoming stars of note to varying degrees. In Episode 1, McCauley's wife is played by Angie Dickenson. Saturday morning breakfasts now include a segment called "You won't believe who appeared in this morning's 'Men Into Space'." So do I like it after decades? Definitely. Part of the appeal is purely nostalgic, and the other part is looking for examples of the above and how they were woven together in a half hour show in 1959. The show tells us a lot about ourselves two years before Alan Shepard's first US manned space flight, and a mere 10 years before the moon landing. "2001: A Space Odyssey" with its attention to scientific detail is just nine years off. As a kid, I would have given Men Into Space 11 stars, Today, not so many.

"Men Into Space" was one of two 1959 TV series created to 'cash in' on the burgeoning NASA space program, as the first astronauts were being selected, and this CBS production benefited from the participation of two space 'legends' in the production team; for technical advice, Willy Ley, America's best-known space 'expert', provided uncredited assistance, and Chesley Bonestell, the 'father' of space illustration, was listed as 'creator', and provided the remarkably accurate 'look' of the series. As the pair had also worked on George Pal's production of Robert Heinlein's DESTINATION MOON (1950), the series had a very similar 'feel', with aerodynamic multi-stage rockets with fins, a classic 'wheel-within-wheel' space station, correctly envisioned 'pressure-suit' inspired spacesuits, and a 'moon' that was composed of jagged peaks and sharply defined craters (a conception that would carry over to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and would only be modified when astronauts discovered the clinging dust that actually covers the lunar surface, and 'softens' the appearance).With Ivan Tors as an executive producer, the stories were 'kid-friendly', with plots focusing on fundamental space issues (weightlessness, oxygen, navigation in space), although, with the Cold War raging, sabotage and politics were also touched on, if only lightly. Veteran actor William Lundigan starred, as 'no nonsense' commander Col. Edward McCauley, and while he seemed a bit old for hopping around space, he was an adequate 'father-figure' for the young cast assembled.CBS expected the show to become a hit with kids, and marketed a variety of merchandise (including a 'lunch box' that I was a proud owner of!), but the special effects turned out to be cost-prohibitive, and the series was canceled after a single season, and never syndicated.Considering the fanciful 'space opera' series ("Lost in Space", "Star Trek") that would dominate the airwaves within a few years, "Men Into Space", with it's realistic approach to space flight, was far ahead of it's time.

As with other reviewers, my impression of this never-syndicated, never-published-on-video series rests on childhood memories, in my case from age 7. However, at the time I had read a lot of popular books on the prospect of manned space flight, and "Men Into Space" resonated perfectly with the best that scientist-author Willy Ley and colleagues had to offer a 50's audience. As the episodes progressed, we witnessed man's first space flight, EVA, moon landing, and moon base operation. Space was depicted as silent (no "whooshing" spacecraft); multistage rockets were used; and full pressure suits were de rigueur. I suppose this series stood on the broad shoulders of the Heinlein-penned film DESTINATION MOON (1950), but you have to credit the TV show's producers with a level of scientific integrity not seen in in network sci-fi before or since.

This was a quite good pre-Mercury attempt to show the future of space travel with emphasis on the team work of the crews involved. I recall shows dealing with landing on the moon and what man would find there. As well as working on building a space station and what would be involved. It did try to be factual but took dramatic license on a number of occasions.I am possibly the only one who still has his official Col. McCauley space helmet (still in the original box).