Georges Melies’ “A Trip to the Moon” made in 1902 in France is one of the most important classic films to date. The film is significant for quite a few reasons; “A Trip to the Moon” was the first science fiction film, was so popular in it’s time that many other filmmakers illegally copied it, and it was made with an extravagant budget for the time.
“A Trip to the Moon” is the first science fiction movie to be made and paved the way for the science fiction of today. Melies used special effects and editing along with simple backdrops to create the whimsical world in which “A Trip to the Moon” occurs. Being made in 1902, “A Trip to the Moon” was years ahead of it’s time as the Wright brothers wouldn’t fly the first airplane for another year after the film’s release. Many of today’s science fiction films have the same ingredients as Melies “A Trip to the Moon,” an outlandish goal, convincing special effects, outer space, humour, and adventure.
Melies' four hundredth film was so popular that many other filmmakers illegally copied or pirated copies of the film to pass off as their own work. As the film was not copyrighted yet in the United States, Edison was one who pirated “A Trip to the Moon.” Eventually to combat the copies of his work, Melies opened an office in the United States.
“A Trip to the Moon” was expensive both in regard to time and money in 1902. The film cost 10,000 francs and took four months to complete. Compared to the movie budgets of today 10,000 francs may not seem like much, it is equivalent to approximately $277,777 today, which is not much compared to multi-million dollar budgets of some films but is still a decent amount of money.
“A Trip to the Moon is a classic for several reasons, it as the first of it’s kind, it was extraordinarily popular, and a lot of time and money was spent on it’s creation. The film has also stood the test of time and is still enjoyed today being available to stream on Netflix and with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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