Comparing Jules Verne’s
From
the Earth to the Moon
Novel to the Hollywood Movie
Jules Verne authored FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON in 1865. The original novel was in French and later was translated into English. This exercise deals with watching a Hollywood adaptation of the novel, actually the movie trailer, and comparing it to the Wikipedia summary which appears below. Below are several images from the movie trailer which suggest, as hints, inconsistencies between the movie and the novel. Click here to watch the movie Trailer.
The following summary is from the
Wikipedia website:
It's
been some time since the end of the American Civil War. The Gun Club, a society
based in Baltimore
and dedicated to the design of weapons of all kinds (especially cannons), meets
when Impey Barbicane, its
president, calls them to support his idea: according to his calculations, a cannon can shoot a projectile so that it reaches the moon.
After receiving the whole support of his companions, a few of them meet to
decide the place from where the projectile will be shot, the dimensions and
makings of both the cannon and the projectile, and which kind of powder are
they to use.
An old
enemy of Barbicane, a Captain Nicholl
of Philadelphia, designer of plate armor, declares that the enterprise is
absurd and makes a series of bets with Barbicane,
each of them of increasing amount over the impossibility of such feat.
The
first obstacle, the money, and over which Nicholl has
bet 1000 dollars, is raised from most countries in America and Europe, in which
the mission reaches variable success (while the USA gives 4 million dollars,
England doesn't give a farthing, being envious of the United States in matters
of science), but in the end nearly five and a half million dollars are raised,
which ensures the financial feasibility of the project.
After
deciding the place for the launch (Stone's Hill in "Tampa
Town", Florida; predating Kennedy Space Center's placement in
Florida by almost 100 years; Verne gives the exact position as 27°7' northern latitude
and 5°7' western longitude, of course relative to the meridian of Washington
that is 
27°7′0″N 82°9′0″W /
27.116667°N 82.15°W / [1]
), the Gun Club travels there and starts the construction of the Columbiad cannon, which requires the excavation of a
900-foot-deep (270 m) and 60-foot-wide (18 m) circular hole, which is
made in the nick of time, but a surprise awaits Barbicane:
Michel Ardan, a French
adventurer, plans to travel aboard the projectile.
During
a meeting between Ardan, the Gun Club and the
inhabitants of Florida, Nicholl appears and
challenges Barbicane to a duel, which is successfully
stopped when Ardan, warned by J. T. Maston, secretary of the Gun Club, meets the rivals in the
forest they have agreed to duel in. Meanwhile, Barbicane
finds the solution to the problem of surviving the incredible acceleration that
the explosion would cause. Ardan suggests Barbicane and Nicholl to travel
with him in the projectile, and the offer is accepted.
In the
end, the projectile is successfully launched, but the destinies of the three
astronauts are left inconclusive. The sequel, Around the
Moon, deals with what happens to the three men in their travel
from the Earth to the Moon.
The Assignment
After having studied the images from the movie trailer and/or having viewed
the movie trailer, you are asked to compose a one page narrative describing inaccuracies
between the novel and the movie.