In the newest version of "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," Georges Melies "A Trip to the Moon" is one of the few pre-1930 films mentioned. It's innovative as one of the first science fiction films, but ultimately it's an easy watch: eight minutes of a straight-forward adventure story. Why is it so important to film history, except that it's the first?
In short form, it's the entire production: Massive, hand-painted film sets that are not even seen often in film's golden age; A wide cast for such a short film who must adapt to the unfamiliar landscape of acting before a camera while performing stunts; iconic imagery, like the space ship landing in the eye of the moon.
Yes, it's straight-forward, but so are most of the greatest stories. It's innovative for what it was in 1902, but there's something to take out of it now, when so much in current cinema is an overly complicated plot and cheap, green-screen scenery.
And in a personal note, it's another movie to check off from the 1001.
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