Rocketship XM

A cheap B&W movie rushed into to production to beat the groundbreaking "Destination Moon" to the cinema screens in the early 50s, Rocketship XM sees a group of plucky astronauts veer off their chosen route to the moon, landing instead on mars in a mind numbing piece of unscientific anti-logic that sets up the rest of this odd slice of B-movie madness.

On arrival the crew discover remnants of an ancient Martian civilization that appear to have wiped themselves out with nuclear weapons. The atomic paranoia gripping the world when the film was made inspired Sci-fi filmmakers everywhere and they produced all manner of anti-bomb movies ranging from mutant insect pictures to the original Godzilla in Japan. Rocketship Xm remains an interesting, if terribly dated, picture, particularly with it's bottom feeding Martians who are all that is left of a once powerful society and a refreshingly downbeat ending.