Moon Reviews

MOON

GOOD PLOT

WELL FILMED

SEEMS TO GIVE A REALISTIC VIEW OF WHAT LIFE ON THE MOON WOLD BE LIKE

[Highly rated reviewer]

Was going to do a David Bowie joke, but I'll get on with the review...

Sitting back to absorb Duncan Jones's melancholic toned Moon, its hard to ignore his obvious affection for the cynical pre-Star Wars science fiction of the 1970s. Drab sterile surroundings, pale skin, matted hair, banal work schedules, vacuum packed dinners and the obligatory HAL-like companion are all present and correct.

Putting aside the subtle references to its genre fore·bears (and there are a lot more if you care to look), the story concerns a lone astronaut Sam Bell (Rockwell) who, assigned to maintain a lucrative Helium-3 mining operation on the Moons surface, is reaching the end of his three year stint. The mining itself is largely automated and he has fallen in to a state of deadening boredom and loneliness. The promise of returning to his beloved wife and daughter being the single thread of hope that has kept his lucidity in check.

But all that time alone has had its toll leaving Sam a jaded, twitchy mess and an onset of waking dreams and strange visions sets in motion a dangerous accident and the emergence of a terrible secret...

To say much more about the plot would be a disservice to its considered pacing and intriguing twists. There is nothing spectacularly new here, but its all delivered in such a compelling style you will find yourself drawn in to the story, so long as you have the patience to let a film unfold at its own pace. Yes, this is a very slow story but I would say its subdued tone and lack of bombastic action heightens the sense of isolation and proves that even on the broad canvas of science fiction, less can be so much more.

And of course Sam Rockwell deserves a mention. Being the sole human on screen for almost the entire runtime is not an easy task and the multiple demands of the role he plays here requires an actor of considerable skill and calibre. He delivers a exceptional performance that, alongside Choke and his unfairly overlooked role in The Assassination of Jesse James, should mark him out as one of the finest character actors working at the moment.

High concept adventure this ain't, but rather its a tale of lost identity and hard science in a cold universe. If you long for grown up science fiction that is more interested in ideas than laserbeams, reach for the Moon.

Dull

Dull, Dull,Dull, Dull, Dull, Dull and Dull. Nothing else to say except for. DULL.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Moon Trailer

Wow . . .

Looks amazing. A very 'used' universe with elements of Solaris and 2001: A Space Odysea interwoven into the classic journey home story.

Can't wait!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Moon

Audiences nowadays are knowledgeable and comfortable with all aspects of films set in space, or on the moon in particular. Nothing has to be explained, we accept the lunar landscapes, the moon vehicles and the pre-packaged food. Even the ‘companion computer' is more than familiar. Therein lies the problem with this type of film, there has to be more than clever modelling to lift the film out of the ordinary. The story is slow to build and, with no real unexpected twists I can’t help feeling that most viewers will be one step ahead all the way. It’s interesting, but I expected more.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Watch out for this Director.

Beautifully shot. Understated yet compelling movie with a suitably restrained performance from Sam Rockwell that echoed the right amount of solipsism the plot required. I felt a sort of nervous energy bubbling under from Rockwell, and he did a brilliant job to tame it. The result was a subtleness that captured the inward thinking and loneliness being stuck on the Moon for 3 years would no doubt produce.

The story itself was quite touching in places and Duncan Jones managed to create an empathy with all characters, albeit nearer the end of the film. I actually felt myself empathising with Gerty, the onboard robot computer who is not supposed to show any feelings. Yet through his smiley emoticons I genuinely started feeling for the thing. Making people care for an unfeeling inanimate object isn’t an easy thing to achieve, so kudos to Jones.

The direction from Duncan Jones was nigh on perfection for a first time feature. The work in commercials and music videos have paid off because the film had that slick, polished big budget feel to it yet didn't go overboard at all. Instead Jones managed to utilise every single shot to push the story along, nothing was wasted like you may see on real big budget productions. The lighting was stunning. I felt it came into itself with the lunar surface shots on the moon; beautiful whites and blues and a model landscape that captured the loneliness of space. The set of the base station was also understated in design. It had a simplistic quality to it. It didn’t feel cluttered; it was almost sterile in places, clinical. Whether this was intentional or not I don’t know but it added to the feeling of a blue collar worker going through the motions and feeling disconnected from Earth.

Moon is one of those films that is so subtle in delivery that you probably think you won’t need to see it again. But even now I find the story, the visuals and the characters creeping into my thoughts. You will remember this little indie British Sci fi because it’s a thinking man’s Sci fi and it won’t be drifting around the Hollywood galaxy with some of the other space debris.

Superb

Amazing film. Clever, highly original and ultimately touching story, beautifully made. Though I expect this will be a little too slow for some who equate sci-fi with action packed shoot em ups with lazers.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Great SciFi

The best scifi film I've seen in years, and well worth seeing, if you can find a cinema showing it.

Harkens back to the great dystopian films from the 70's.

Pay attention Lucas and Bay, this is how you do scifi!

Captures the Essence of 70s Sci-Fi

'Moon' is a retro-sci-fi drama starring Frost/Nixon star Sam Rockwell. Rockwell plays an employee on a 3-year contract mining Helium-3 on the moon. He has a handy machine named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) who helps and inform him along the way. After a near-fatal crash in a lunar rover, he suddenly discovers a clone that looks like him but behaves like his old self. This film is quite good and does not fail to capture the essence of the sci-fi films during the 70s and has a good performance from Sam Rockwell. The film gets inspiration from classic, philosophical sci-fi films of the 70s and early 80s (Silent Running, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Russian version of Solaris). GERTY, as seen in the trailer and advertising, is a friendlier, updated version of 2001's HAL 9000. The film cost $5 million to make, according to a universal source, which will make some viewers probably surprised when they read about it. See the film from a philosophical perspective or if you are a fan of classic, thought-provoking sci-fi dramas.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Brilliant!

I'd not wanted to see a film this year as much as I had this one and the DVD landed through my door on Friday morning so I was double pleased.

The film is Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) on the moon coming to the end of his 3 year contract operating mining equipment. He is alone except fro GERTY, a helpful computer voiced by Kevin Spacey. The story kicks off when Sam discovers something one day when he has to leave his compound, and his life will never be the same again. It's a really interesting movie this, and a great concept too, really original and fresh and intriguing and really watchable. I thought it was great.