Chandrayaan-3 mission: Moon landing in sci-fi and movies | India News

In a moment etched into history, ‘India took a walk on the Moon’ as Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the lunar surface on Wednesday. Moon landing stands as one of the humanity’s greatest achievements which has captured the imagination of filmmakers and writers worldwide. From spellbinding recreations to fantastical journeys, the silver screen has offered various interpretations of lunar exploration. Here are some movies which have dared to tread on the lunar surface and have helped in imbibing moon landing in the popular culture.
From the Earth to the Moon

Jules Verne’s 1865 novel ‘From the Earth to the Moon’, which was adapted into a film in 1958, tells the story of launching three people to Moon using an enormous Columbiad Space Gun. The sequel, Around the Moon, is on the three men’s voyage from Earth to Moon.
The Man Who Sold the Moon

Popular science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein wrote a short story in 1950, ‘The Man Who Sold the Moon’. It’s about a businessman determined to reach and control Moon.
Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)

The first film to show moon expedition is ‘Le voyage dans la Lune’ (A Trip to the Moon) made by French filmmaker Georges Melies in 1902. The film was inspired by works of Jules Vernes and H G Wells.
Frau im Mond (Girl in the Moon)

‘Frau im Mond’ (Girl in the Moon) was a 1929 German science fiction silent film by Fritz Lang. It is based on the 1928 novel ‘The Rocket to the Moon’, and showed use of multistage rockets to travel to Moon.
A Fall of Moondust

Moon is a tourist destination in Arthur C Clarke’s 1961 novel ‘A Fall of Moondust’. Set in the 21st century, Moon has been colonised and is visited by tourists, who can travel in a boat named Selene across one of the lunar seas filled with extremely fine dust. The story revolves around rescuing passengers after the boat sinks into this Sea of Thirst after a moonquake.
Diamonds are Forever

In the 1971 movie ‘Diamonds are Forever’, James Bond played by Sean Connery stumbles across a film set used for fake moon landing footage where he evades slow moving astronauts and takes off in moon buggy into the Nevada desert.