Carrying extra fuel to slow down and land is not fiction. It's just one more thing to consider in your payload weight budget.
Our current methods of thrust through chemical rocket fuel is not up to the job. Fact is, you could keep piling on more and more rocket fuel but you will get beyond diminishing returns very fast to the point you go backwards because the damn thing gets too heavy. The efficiency rating of the thrust produced by chemical rocket fuel is incredibly low
Can we get to the Moon? Sure! But not today and certainly not 50 years ago. Our current means of propulsion is simply too inefficient.
Perhaps in the future we can create and contain antimatter cheaply and safely. That would bring our rockets thrust efficiency to around 40%. Even using fusion is a tall order with an efficiency rating of 1%
Bottom line is, using todays tech, it is simply not feasible to go to the Moon, land, and come back again. If you want to beat Heiwas challenge, you will have to do it using technology that hasn't been invented yet. And that in itself proves the Moon landing was a hoax.