A unexpected sequence of events diverts the first manned rocket ship to the moon to Mars, where remains, both material and animal, are found of a once great civilization.
The "science" in this movie is as simplistic and charmingly naive as in every other space movie of its time - the instrument panel looks like it was recycled from an old Buick. But X-M does get extra credit for a few things. The theme of the destructive power of nuclear war; the highly atypical downbeat ending; and the first use of the theremin in a sci-fi soundtrack, the precursor of countless movies to come.
If not in the first rank of great 50s sci-fi, X-M is an earnest little movie that has little to be ashamed of.
The "science" in this movie is as simplistic and charmingly naive as in every other space movie of its time - the instrument panel looks like it was recycled from an old Buick. But X-M does get extra credit for a few things. The theme of the destructive power of nuclear war; the highly atypical downbeat ending; and the first use of the theremin in a sci-fi soundtrack, the precursor of countless movies to come.
If not in the first rank of great 50s sci-fi, X-M is an earnest little movie that has little to be ashamed of.