Search - Rocky Jones, Space Ranger: Beyond the Moon on DVD

Fun, campy early 1950s "sci-fi" adventure

Valnastar | Deep 13, USA | 02/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rocky Jones Space Ranger is back in print and fairly inexpensive too. This classic TV early 1950's space opera is filled with cheap sets, poor special effects, annoying sidekicks, and a hero who in one episode actually tells his female crewmate to "go knit a sweater" (and she actually does) when they have a disagreement! It's hilarious early TV "sci-fi" suitable for all ages, so you can treat yourself and your kids to a bit of TV history and have a good laugh together. I saw three episodes of this show a few years ago (2 of them on Mystery Science Theater 3000) and they were all loads of fun. This disc is a relative bargain at the price of less than $10.

If you've never seen the show, it's really something. Rocky Jones is a square-jawed fisticuffs wielding spaceship pilot with REALLY goofy sidekicks, including Winky, a young man who acts like a kid, and Bobby, a little kid that acts all grown-up. Then there's VERY short-skirted Vena, his bright female crewmate that gets treated like, well, like women were mostly treated in the US in 1950's TV. Finally, there's elderly and brilliant Professor Newton, who in spite of being a genius, makes just enough miscalculations to get them into real trouble.

Rocky Jones is a vision of the far future firmly rooted in the early 1950's. They don't make them like this anymore! If you liked Lost In Space, this is sort of an earlier version of that, possibly even goofier, so you might well like this too."

ROCKEY JONES-Was well done for 1950's

Keith Mirenberg | www.spaceanimations.org | 03/07/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Rocky Jones was very well done for a space opera of the 1950's. The stories that were told by most TV shows in the 50's were often simple, and this show was no different in that regard. These plots were good enough to cause me to run home as a grade school kid in hopes of catching the latest episode of Rocky Jones.

Speaking technically, the special effects were done by someone with a real sense for it. There were no genuine sci-fi visual effects experts in the 1950's, just people with a good intuative feel for the subject and others who didn't have a clue. These special effects were obviously done by one person or very well coordinated.

I will not defend the often terrible plots in Rocky Jones but will speak up for the special effects which were better than other TV space operas of the day and often as good or better than film quality. They included effective model work, credible ground support equipment, very interesting humanoid robots, realistic space stations, well filmed launch sequences, great sound effects and wonderful futuristic music."