Film: Moon

[Frank N Stein]

Wondering who saw this film, and what you think of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_%28film%29

I saw this film just the other day on a Netflix stream, and I personally thought it was very well made. One glaring piece of BA I saw in it was the lunar base having 1g (all scenes outside the base looked like it was close to 1/6th g)

[Gillianren]

I thought it was brilliant. Especially if you consider the budget--everything, including effects, was done on I believe $6 million. Which, let's face it, the director's father probably has in his couch. I think Sam Rockwell is one of our best actors, given how often he does roles where I have to look at a cast list to realize it's him.

[R.A.F.]

Wondering who saw this film, and what you think of it.

About 20 minutes into this movie, the "hook" is exposed, and I thought "I'm not going to like this movie"...however as the story unfolded, I became more and more involved. By the end of the movie I was totally captivated.

A quirky, well made movie that makes you think...what more can you ask for in a sci/fi movie?


Especially if you consider the budget.

When I found out how much it cost, my jaw literally dropped. They sure got more "mileage" out of their money than most movies do.

[Gillianren]

When I found out how much it cost, my jaw literally dropped. They sure got more "mileage" out of their money than most movies do.

Oh, yeah. I assume Kevin Spacey worked for much less than his usual fee; director Duncan Jones says, in an interview on one of the special features, that you can see all the money up there on the screen, and he's right. I would not have believed how little it cost. (Heh. Though thinking of millions of dollars as "little" is definitely modern thinking!) Clearly, this means they learned economy, not a bad lesson.

[R.A.F.]

director Duncan Jones says, in an interview on one of the special features...

I really appreciated the special features as they added to my enjoyment, and understanding of the film...something one wouldn't expect from a "cheap" film....

...contrast that with the DVD release of (the name escapes me...it's that movie Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for). Not only were there zero special features, there was no scene selection at all....just the movie.

Talk about cheap.

[EDG]

I thought it was very good. I did notice that it was 1g in the station, but I guess they did that for budget reasons.

[Gillianren]

...contrast that with the DVD release of (the name escapes me...it's that movie Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for). Not only were there zero special features, there was no scene selection at all....just the movie.

The Blind Side, I believe. I was already planning to give it a miss, but now, I really won't watch it. Bad enough that Eraserhead didn't have chapter breaks; it's short and low budget. For a major studio release, there's no excuse.

[Occam]

The Blind Side, I believe. I was already planning to give it a miss, but now, I really won't watch it. Bad enough that Eraserhead didn't have chapter breaks; it's short and low budget. For a major studio release, there's no excuse.
I really enjoyed 'The Blind Side' as a feel-good true story. They remained fairly faithful to reality and I think it's as good (and in the same niche) as 'Erin Brokovich'. Of course, if you hated that movie then it's not much of a recommendation.
I thought 'Moon' was excellent. Yes, there were some silly moments in it but so much is forgiveable if the basic story doesn't insult one's intelligence and the acting/direction has integrity.

[Gillianren]

I really enjoyed 'The Blind Side' as a feel-good true story. They remained fairly faithful to reality and I think it's as good (and in the same niche) as 'Erin Brokovich'. Of course, if you hated that movie then it's not much of a recommendation.

I didn't hate it. I thought it was a whitewash in places, and I'm irritated that apparently, "feel-good" is an important criterion when determining if an actress deserves an award or not.


I thought 'Moon' was excellent. Yes, there were some silly moments in it but so much is forgiveable if the basic story doesn't insult one's intelligence and the acting/direction has integrity.

I thought it stayed true to its internal logic, too, which is always nice.

[CJSF]

I watched Moon last night, and I liked it. The stars being visible from the sunlit surface distracted me only a little. I told my brain that the base had some sort of artificial gravity, since that wasn't really central to the plot.

Potential spoilers in white (highlight to read):

Given the lengths the Lunar was willing to go to in keeping the clones working 3 year stints, I did wonder why they wouldn't have had a contingency plan to eliminate a returning clone on arrival. They pretty well left the Sams untracked, which I find unlikely and there was no sensor in the return pod that could detect stowaways. I'd have thought some sort of accidental discovery of the plan and an attempted escape would be inevitable at some point.
Still, all said I enjoyed it.

CJSF

[Gillianren]

A one word guess for your spoiler? Hubris. Of course it'll go according to plan!

[R.A.F.]

A one word guess for your spoiler? Hubris. Of course it'll go according to plan!

The company never expected to have any "problems", so they never planned for them.

Why does this sound so familiar?

[karadan]

I thought it was brilliant. Especially if you consider the budget--everything, including effects, was done on I believe $6 million. Which, let's face it, the director's father probably has in his couch. I think Sam Rockwell is one of our best actors, given how often he does roles where I have to look at a cast list to realize it's him.

Definitely. Sam Rockwell is certainly one of the best 17 percenters out there. (in most of the films he is in, his screen time is roughly 17% and yet he manages to be the most memorable character and/or carries the film). Galaxy Quest and The Green Mile, for instance.

I thought he was mesmerising in Moon.

[parallaxicality]

I really like Moon. Sam Rockwell, the fantastic score, the beautiful lunar FX (stars notwithstanding, they really conveyed the otherworldly lightforms one sees on the Moon). I was a bit disappointed that the "big twist" was revealed so early. I was hoping the movie would be a bit more psychological- is he crazy? Is he a clone? Or is something else entirely happening? But given the current state of science fiction, I'll take anything with a brain cell in its head.

[EricFD]

This is the first I have heard of the movie. Sounds like something I would definitely like to see. Thanks for mentioning it. I'm always on the look-out for good flicks.

It seems that some of the best films around you never hear about except through word of mouth. Another one I came across which I thought was excellent was Dark Matter. I stumbled across it quite serendipitously. There had been no promos for or previews of the movie.

Thanks again! :)

[Mellow]

I thought "Moon" was somewhat reminiscent of a 1970's scifi movie (and no worse for that). Fairly straightforward, not overburdened with random CGI spectacle. Concentrated on direction and script. All good in my book.

[Gillianren]

The fact that they couldn't afford random CGI spectacle didn't hurt the film at all.

[Strange]

The fact that they couldn't afford random CGI spectacle didn't hurt the film at all.

And I thought it was the Brits who went in for understatment.

Couldn't agree more.

[RAF_Blackace]

Duncan Jones is David Bowies Son....There's a star man waiting in the isles.....

Otherwise known as Zowie Bowie

[kamaz]

A very good movie.

One problem I noticed -- the main character needs a comsat to communicate with Earth (and a malfunction of said comsat is a major plot element). This indicates that his base is located on the lunar Farside (otherwise he would have a line-of-sight link to Earth). Problem is, at one point they show an orbital image of a strip-mined lunar mare -- these are only on the Nearside! (Okay, there is Mascoviense and Orientale, but I think that what they show is too big to be any of them).

[Glom]

Really good movie. Feels very genuine. Liked the idea of He-3 actually being used to supply our energy needs. I liked the base. I probably wouldn't want to spend 3 years there though. Maybe 4 weeks on 4 weeks off.

Don't know why they bothered with the clone plot. I could easily buy real savings in not having to pay a free person and pay for transportation, but wouldn't it be easier just to be an anthropomorphic robot?

I didn't like the way they tried to do 1/6 G outside the base, but just left it 1G inside. First, they did the 1/6G in the shlocky way and second they should have just left it at 1G. I would readily have suspended disbelief if they had just asked us to accept obvious 1G as really being 1/6G.