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25 Best Moon Movies Ever: Fiction, Apollo Films and Documentaries

A guide to 25 Moon movies across silent fantasy, lunar science fiction, Apollo history, documentaries and mission dramas—with notes on what kind of Moon story each film tells.
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The best Moon movies range from Georges Méliès’s 1902 silent fantasy to documentaries built from Apollo-era footage and modern lunar science fiction. This is an editorial selection, not an objective ranking: it includes films set on the Moon, journeys and missions to it, documentaries about exploration, and stories in which the Moon matters to the plot. Some are lunar-surface adventures; others, such as Apollo 13, are mission films that never reach the surface.

How this list defines a Moon movie

“Moon movie” covers more than films set on the lunar surface. The selection below spans lunar fantasy and science fiction, real exploration and Apollo history, and stories in which the Moon is a significant setting or subject. The categories overlap, so each entry notes what kind of lunar connection it offers. The choices are editorial: curated guides from Space.com and Rotten Tomatoes use broad scopes too, but neither establishes a universal ranking.

25 Moon movies to watch

1. A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Georges Méliès’s silent fantasy is an essential starting point for cinema’s imagined Moon. It is not a realistic account of spaceflight; its theatrical images and playful expedition make it a foundational work of lunar fantasy. Rotten Tomatoes identifies it as an iconic early depiction of the Moon.

2. Woman in the Moon (1929)

Fritz Lang’s silent science-fiction adventure imagines a rocket journey to the Moon. It belongs here for its early, serious-minded vision of lunar travel, rather than for documentary accuracy.

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3. Destination Moon (1950)

This earnest mid-century science-fiction film follows an effort to reach the Moon. Its focus is the mission and its planning, making it a good choice for viewers interested in classic spaceflight fiction. It also appears in Space.com’s lunar-film selection.

4. Project Moonbase (1953)

A low-budget science-fiction story about a lunar outpost, this is a compact pick for viewers curious about how early space-age cinema pictured life and politics beyond Earth.

5. From the Earth to the Moon (1958)

This Jules Verne adaptation turns the Moon expedition into an adventure. It offers a mid-century screen interpretation of a classic literary journey rather than a historical mission account; Space.com also includes it in its Moon-movie guide.

6. First Men in the Moon (1964)

Based on H. G. Wells, this fantasy adventure follows an imagined lunar expedition. Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion effects are a major draw for viewers who enjoy practical effects and vintage science fiction. Space.com highlights the film’s effects work.

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7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Moon is one significant stage in Stanley Kubrick’s expansive science-fiction story, though the film is not primarily set there. Choose it for its influential, contemplative view of space exploration and humanity, rather than for a focused lunar adventure.

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8. Moon Zero Two (1969)

Hammer’s self-described “space western” brings frontier adventure to a lunar setting. Its unusual genre blend makes it a useful pick for viewers who want a less solemn take on Moon-set science fiction. Space.com includes it in its lunar selection.

9. Marooned (1969)

This survival drama centers on astronauts stranded in space, not on life on the lunar surface. Its place on a broad Moon list comes from its connection to the era’s crewed spaceflight and mission storytelling; it is a better fit for viewers interested in orbital peril than lunar exploration.

10. Moonwalk One (1971)

This documentary follows the Apollo 11 mission and its historic Moon landing. It offers a nonfiction counterpart to fictional lunar expeditions, with the real mission as its subject.

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11. For All Mankind (1989)

Al Reinert’s documentary assembles Apollo mission material into a view of lunar exploration from the astronauts’ perspective. It is one of the strongest choices here for viewers who want the real missions rather than a dramatization.

12. Apollo 13 (1995)

Ron Howard’s drama follows the 1970 lunar mission’s emergency and the effort to bring its crew home. It never reaches the lunar surface, as Space.com notes, but the Moon-bound mission is central to the story. Choose it for a tense Earth-centered rescue drama, not a Moonwalk film.

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13. Apollo 11 (1996)

This made-for-television dramatization tells the Apollo 11 story. It is distinct from the 2019 archival documentary also titled Apollo 11; check the year when searching, since the titles are easy to confuse.

14. The Dish (2000)

This historical comedy focuses on the Parkes Observatory team in Australia and its role in Apollo 11 communications. The astronauts and lunar landing are not its main setting; its appeal is the ground-based work and human complications behind a historic broadcast.

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15. Space Cowboys (2000)

This adventure follows older former astronauts drawn into a crisis connected to a lunar-bound mission. It is a character-led spaceflight story rather than a film about living on the Moon.

16. The Moon (2007)

This South Korean science-fiction title offers a contemporary lunar-mission story. Because the English-language title is shared with other films, include the country and year when looking it up to find the intended movie.

17. Moon (2009)

Duncan Jones’s science-fiction drama stars Sam Rockwell as a worker at a lunar base. It is one of the clearest choices for viewers who want a story substantially set on the Moon, with isolation and identity at its center. Space.com includes it in its selection.

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18. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

The Moon is a major part of this action blockbuster’s plot and backstory. It is a fit for viewers seeking spectacle and franchise action rather than a realistic account of lunar exploration.

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19. Iron Sky (2012)

This science-fiction comedy uses a lunar base as the launching point for an absurdist alternate-history premise. Its tone is deliberately broad, making it a pick for viewers who want comic rather than sober space fiction.

20. The Last Man on the Moon (2014)

This documentary profiles Gene Cernan, the Apollo astronaut who became the last person to walk on the Moon. It brings the subject back to a real explorer’s life and legacy, rather than reconstructing the mission as fiction.

21. First Man (2018)

Damien Chazelle’s biographical drama follows Neil Armstrong and the path to Apollo 11. It is a mission-and-astronaut story, with the lunar landing as its defining destination. Space.com lists it among its Moon films.

22. Apollo 11 (2019)

Todd Douglas Miller’s documentary uses archival material to tell the Apollo 11 story. Unlike the 1996 television drama, this is a documentary; the year and director help distinguish the two films.

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23. Moonfall (2022)

Roland Emmerich’s disaster science fiction turns the Moon itself into the source of a global crisis. It is a choice for viewers who want large-scale spectacle, not a grounded mission history. Space.com includes it in its lunar roundup.

24. Return to the Moon (NASA Goddard, 2010)

This NASA Goddard science film follows the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It is a nonfiction option for viewers interested in robotic lunar exploration, with an important format caveat: NASA says it was prepared exclusively for spherical projection systems, not ordinary television or computer viewing. See the NASA Goddard film page.

25. Apollo 8 onboard footage (National Archives film record)

This archival film record is a valuable nonfiction watch for viewers interested in the first crewed flight to orbit the Moon. The National Archives describes the unedited color footage as including the first human-filmed images of the lunar surface and the first Earthrise. It is an archival record, rather than a conventional feature film; see the National Archives record.

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Choose by what you want from a Moon movie

If you want… Try… Why it fits
A classic imagined expedition A Trip to the Moon (1902), Woman in the Moon (1929), or First Men in the Moon (1964) Silent fantasy, early lunar science fiction, or a Wells adaptation with stop-motion effects.
A story set substantially on the Moon Moon (2009), Moon Zero Two (1969), or Iron Sky (2012) Each uses a lunar setting, with tones ranging from psychological drama to space western and comedy.
An Apollo-era documentary Moonwalk One (1971), For All Mankind (1989), or Apollo 11 (2019) Nonfiction perspectives on actual lunar exploration and the Apollo missions.
A mission drama or astronaut biography Apollo 13 (1995) or First Man (2018) Human drama shaped by lunar missions, even when the action is not chiefly on the lunar surface.
Big, playful spectacle Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) or Moonfall (2022) Both make the Moon central to large-scale action, rather than aiming for documentary realism.

Where to find real lunar footage

For historical context beyond a single film, the National Archives’ guide to space-exploration films describes NASA audiovisual holdings covering Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and the Space Shuttle. The collections include documentary footage as well as films made for public distribution. These records can help distinguish original mission material from later dramatizations.

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For a genuinely unusual viewing format, NASA Goddard’s Return to the Moon follows the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, but the agency says it was prepared exclusively for spherical projection systems. It is therefore not a standard home-screen recommendation.

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