Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Dalbert Pringle Directed in 1929 by famed, German film-maker, Fritz Lang - This silent-era, SyFy story (with an unbelievable running time of nearly 3 hours - Phew!!) was, unfortunately, more sappy soap opera than it was anything else.With the release of Lang's beloved "Metropolis" just 2 years earlier - I (like most viewers, I'm sure) was certainly expecting this offering to be a truly spectacular follow-up to said film - But, nope - "Woman In The Moon" just wasn't in the same innovative league as was its notable predecessor.Yes. Visually speaking - There were some choice moments in this over-long story where it actually showed some promising potential - But, sorry to say - Any awesome visuals got themselves repeatedly set on the back-burner while irksome personal dramas became almost the entire focus of this particular trip to the moon.(*P.S.*) - Wait till you see the rocket-ship's "state-of-the-art" control panel of 90 years ago. Believe me - It'll absolutely kill you.

uykusuz Considering its time and conditions, it is very courageous and well designed and often considered to be one of the first "serious" science fiction films. Though some things are out of facts of today it is really an unforgettable sample and pioneer of space films in the history of cinema.It had to be more excited than Star Wars in the beginning of '20s. The types chosen are quite interesting and though it's a silent movie, the explanations are quite satisfactory enabling the movie comprehensible. For the lovers of the art of cinema, it is a film absolutely to bee seen and to be added into their archive.

jim-papageorge I saw the original premiere presentation director's cut of this movie in January of 2003, with excellent musical accompaniment by Dennis James at the Paramount theater. Perfect, restored print, a movie that I have always wanted to see (since it was mentioned in Carlos Clarens "Horror Movies" first published in 1967). HOWEVER... The tendency toward "original, premiere presntation" director's cut reached new heights of lunacy (pun intended) with this movie. It ran more than three hours and 40 minutes! According to it's IMDB entry the original version that ran in the US was 95 minutes with longer versions (running time up to 2 and a half hours) running in Europe. At times I felt as if I had been placed in hypersleep in prep for a deep space expedition of my own! The film certainly lived up to advance billing, yet certain things, like the 45-minute opening dinner scene, were obviously way longer than they needed to be. One doesn't need to be a genius to know that after the premiere, Fritz Lang probably cut the dinner scene to about three minutes, removed whole sections, and generally tightened up an otherwise improbable story. For example, the moon is portrayed as a rather pleasant (if poorly stocked with resources for survival) beach resort. Everyone runs around in sweaters and jodhpurs, and true love seems destined to survive the wait for a return rescue rocket. Other stuff was great: the launch pad, countdown and the experience of the G forces on blastoff were, well the archetypal events for all the space operas to follow. A good movie, but probably seen to much better effect on video or in the shorter release version (if either ever turns up).

dbdumonteil "Frau im Mond" is Lang's last silent movie and if it does not work that much well,blame it on the lack of sound.Earlier works such as "der Müde Tod" "die Niebelungen" and "Metropolis" easily made up for that with awesome,breath-taking pictures:that's why these three movies are as exciting today (particularly "Metropolis") as they were for the twenties' audience."Frau in Mond" is a different matter,because the first part is completely unspectacular,and as we cannot hear the dialogue,it's pretty boring.Things live up a bit when the moon trek begins.But Thea von Harbou's screenplay -probably inspired by Jules Verne's "de la terre à la lune" and HG Welles's "first men in the moon" - remains listless and uninteresting till the final thirty minutes.One must notice it's a very long yarn which runs about 165 min ,which is rather long !The best part is the last one:Lang's touch can be felt here.The old man ,discovering gold which drives him so mad he treats the metal like some divinity(recalling "Von Stroheim's "Greed").The villain,who wants to sacrifice all his mates for this fortune.And finally a riveting ,chilling scene :lack of oxygen leads the men to draw straws.This is by far the best sequence and we really feel the character's terror.The ending is both surprising and moving:some kind of Genesis all over again!But be warned ,you've got to sit through almost three hours ,and there are comic implausibilities:on the moon you can breathe as easily as on our good old earth,to name but one."Frau im Mond" epitomizes the agony of the silent movie.With "M" (dein ¨Mörder sieht dich an),his next movie and his first talkie,Lang found back his niche in the Pantheon of the seventh art.