Earth + Space + Waters in 24 minutes (covering possibly 24 hours or 1 day in the movie) can become a calamitous ride and make you neither stand on earth, stay in space or swim in waters; this is what happens in The Impossible Voyage which tries to plant its flag on the Alps, the sun and in the oceans but fails everywhere. Of course there wasn't any flag in the movie; I am talking about the actual success of the film in covering such wide parameters in such a short time.
I highly appreciated the efforts put by Georges in A Trip to the Moon, a science-fiction avant-garde film for its time. But here I sensed a buy-one-get-two free offer coming at me and I wasn't happy with either of the three. Why should I watch a group of jubilant men travelling so much? I need a reason here because I am giving 24 minutes for the film; in A Trip to the Moon, which was over in 8 minutes, I got much of the excitement and humor that appeased my appetite. Here, after the starter, the main-menu and the dessert, I became sick because all the three courses were disparate, uneven and highly pointless. Georges could've given a definite plot to the film, for example, three different groups going taking three different routes or something like that, instead of following the same angle of A Trip to the Moon. The story begins the same with a arguments, consternation and discussions between the men and women and also has a similar climax to A Trip in the Moon. We however see a train, a tank, a spacecraft and a submarine this time, and during the voyage to the sun, we actually see the train fly. Throughout the journey the men are cheered by everyone and we see some slapstick humor thrown in with the usual trips and tumbles. And since I saw it in color, I could see the red flames, the white snow and the brown mountains – this somewhat dampens the realistic element, making the background look all the more artificial.
Everything here is perfunctorily covered, and Georges again wants more emphasis on special effects, but compromising on the story completely will not make them work. Also, without sound, the journey gets all the more drab and colorless. I wouldn't advise viewers on watching The Impossible Voyage to take a call on Georges' works – watch A Trip to the Moon or The India Rubber Head instead.
I highly appreciated the efforts put by Georges in A Trip to the Moon, a science-fiction avant-garde film for its time. But here I sensed a buy-one-get-two free offer coming at me and I wasn't happy with either of the three. Why should I watch a group of jubilant men travelling so much? I need a reason here because I am giving 24 minutes for the film; in A Trip to the Moon, which was over in 8 minutes, I got much of the excitement and humor that appeased my appetite. Here, after the starter, the main-menu and the dessert, I became sick because all the three courses were disparate, uneven and highly pointless. Georges could've given a definite plot to the film, for example, three different groups going taking three different routes or something like that, instead of following the same angle of A Trip to the Moon. The story begins the same with a arguments, consternation and discussions between the men and women and also has a similar climax to A Trip in the Moon. We however see a train, a tank, a spacecraft and a submarine this time, and during the voyage to the sun, we actually see the train fly. Throughout the journey the men are cheered by everyone and we see some slapstick humor thrown in with the usual trips and tumbles. And since I saw it in color, I could see the red flames, the white snow and the brown mountains – this somewhat dampens the realistic element, making the background look all the more artificial.
Everything here is perfunctorily covered, and Georges again wants more emphasis on special effects, but compromising on the story completely will not make them work. Also, without sound, the journey gets all the more drab and colorless. I wouldn't advise viewers on watching The Impossible Voyage to take a call on Georges' works – watch A Trip to the Moon or The India Rubber Head instead.