Riders to the Stars

A premise that's about as blithering as you're ever likely to see, but the film is pretty well-made anyway, and the acting is uniformly good. A mixture of special-effects tricks that prove oddly effective (the stock B&W Goddard's-rocket-leaving-earth POV, along with a truly scarifying close-up of a space-related death and some other weirdly tinted frames); unfortunately though we also have to endure model rockets with Bic lighters coming out of their rear ends being bombarded by Crackerjacks.

This movie is 100% pure crystallized carbon.

Uncommonly quiet and thoughtful, and if you can accept that it's a total bust scientifically, you have a cool pre-imagining of The Right Stuff. It's also got some surprisingly anti-military aspects and one of the better female leads of this era of the genre.

Sci-Fi das Antigas #5

"Riders to the Stars" captures the early ambitions and dreams of sending a man into space. Created before any actual space travel occurred, the film is naturally filled with speculative and inaccurate assumptions about the endeavor. However, precisely these imaginative leaps and the portrayal of the era's hopes and apprehensions regarding human space exploration lend the film its charm, offering a fascinating glimpse into the past's visions and concerns.