25 best moon movies ever

A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Georges Méliès’ 14-minute film is the first science fiction movie ever made, and at its time exceptionally advanced in terms of its special effects and use of animation. Based very loosely on works by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells (yes, The First Men in the Moon again), it was not available in its complete form until 2002, when the ending sequence was discovered in a French barn; you can catch the newly-restored version on the 2012 Blu-ray release.

Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon (2011)

Yes, the Transformers trilogy is often held up as an example of the worst excesses of modern Hollywood filmmaking, but there’s no denying that the moon looms large in Michael Bay’s third outing, in which the dark side of the heavenly body conceals a mysterious Cybertronian spacecraft. Also features a cameo from none other than Buzz Aldrin… as himself.

A Grand Day Out (1989)

Wallace and Gromit’s first adventure propelled the pair into the hearts of millions – and onto the moon in a homemade rocket. Which, as we all know, is the best place to go if you run out of cheese and need to restock. The 23-minute film was nominated for an Oscar, only to lose out to Creature Comforts, another film made by the same Nick Park-led Aardman Animations team.

From the Earth to the Moon (1958)

Based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name (which also inspired A Trip to the Moon), this Technicolor romp, set just after the end of the American Civil War, concerns a munitions expert that invents the most powerful explosive of all time – in other words, the perfect propellent for a rocket to the Moon. Sadly (and somewhat hilariously), a slashing of the budget due to studio RKO’s collapse led to all the scenes taking place on the moon being cut.

Apollo 13 (1995)

“Houston, we have a problem,” says Tom Hanks in one of the the biggest understatements in movie history. Apollo 13 is the true story of the lunar mission that never landed on the moon, but had to abort and return to Earth after an oxygen tank exploded. The zero gravity scenes were filmed aboard a “Vomit Comet” plane performing parabolic arcs to achieve genuine weightlessness – and the cast and crew had to go through over 500 of them.