“This thing is going to me on my head, isn’t it?”
And then it does.
Bringing drama to dry scientific process, even for exploration, can be difficult, and Riders To The Stars (1954) struggles with that problem. A test rocket, penetrating into space, returns to Earth with its metal parts deeply compromised, such that they can be shattered by a simple blow. The hypothesis is that cosmic rays are damaging the metal. Yet, meteorites survive the trip through space unscathed, but whatever may preserve them burns off in the atmosphere. If we’re to explore space and other planets, we must solve this mystery. How?
By capturing a meteorite before it enters the atmosphere.
This is the story, from the recognition of a solution to the selection of the pilots, to the capture and safe return to Earth of a meteorite. In order to spice it up, the storytellers withhold information as with any mystery, although, truth be told, there’s no reason that the candidates to pilot the rockets have to hold doctorates – nor is it clear why the candidates are told not to share the nature of their specialties with each other during the testing period.
But the story, given its subject matter, is told in an adequate, if not exciting, manner. A little bit of broken romance is thrown in to symbolize the sacrifices the pilots are making, and some new romance to indicate that those who are brave are presented with interesting opportunities.
And it was refreshing to see two strong female characters (one only briefly, though), including a doctorate-holder on the launch team (but I don’t recall if they actually specified her area – it might have been astrophysics), although she’s stuck with a boring communications job during the actual launch – but the studio’s budget may have been stretched a bit thin at that juncture.
The special effects ranged from awful (why are the rockets and meteorites dancing a jig out there?), to a bit beautiful in a scene where passing meteorites are seen through a telescope, all the way to borrowed footage from actual rocket launches, both outside and inside views, which gives us some of verisimilitude. The acting was also good.
But, despite a fairly good climax, it’s all just a bit dry, perhaps a trifle too didactic, even if sometimes the science is absolutely wrong.
Call it a good college try at a tough subject.
