Moon 44 (1990)

Memorable, crazy movie

Fresh and Exciting

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

By 2038, the Earth's natural resources have been depleted; valuable minerals are now being mined on distant moons in the depths of space. With their mines repeatedly coming under attack from rival company Pyrite, Galactic Mining send a group of convicted criminals and computer whizz kids to Moon 44, to train as fighter pilots and navigators. Tough internal affairs cop Stone (Michael Paré) goes undercover with the prisoners to try and find out why the company's mining shuttles have been mysteriously disappearing.Six years before he scored a massive worldwide hit with alien invasion blockbuster Independence Day, Roland Emmerich helmed Moon 44, an extremely lacklustre sci-fi thriller that saw the director desperately attempting to imbue his film with a sense of style by ripping off the look and feel of Ridley Scott's classics Alien and Bladerunner. However, some reasonable model effects, and an excess of fluorescent lighting, spurting steam vents, and slowly rotating ventilation fans do little to hide the fact that this is one hell of a dull film, with dreadful performances, terrible dialogue, unexciting action sequences, and characters that it's very difficult to give a damn about.Interestingly, it was shortly after appearing in this film that Stephen Geoffreys, who plays Moon 44's drug-dealer Cookie, left mainstream cinema to carve out a career in gay porn, making one wonder whether he found appearing in that kind of film less embarrassing than being in really bad sci-fi flicks like this one.

This is a stylish looking movie, with moody lighting and atmospheric industrial sets. The space ships are cool - though why the good guys only have helicopters is a puzzle. The characters are likable enough but some are out-of-the-box Hollywood cutouts. The actors are either almost famous, or look hauntingly like people who are - I spent a lot of time wondering if I had seen them before (I hadn't it turns out). The story is OK, however there are a few plot glitches, and at times the story line is a bit thin. There are no real surprises - and no moral ambiguity. The dialogue is OK but once or twice stinks so bad you'll cringe (it may have been an attempt at humour?). At least there are no sudden swerves into the horror genre, and no completely unexplainable plot twists (as in Sunshine for instance).If you like sci-fi anyway you probably be forgiving enough to enjoy this. I got the DVD for £1 at Tescos so I feel I got my money's worth.

Not a bad try,Yes it's a cheap B movie ..but its easy viewing and enjoyable.Some so-called reviews on IMDb take themselves way too seriously and movies at that!, and had knocked down these kinda B movies. If your one of these annoying train-spotting IMDb reviewer. Then please do not watch this movie ,Just go a bury your heads in the sand, and tap together your little red shoes 'there's no place like home'. I'm sure that the wizard of oz ..would be more enjoyable for you anyway. Ratingsdated 90's graphics 7 out of 10 background music 7 out of 10 acting 6 out of 10 story line 5 out of 10 enjoyablity factor 8 out of 10.

The film was interesting sci-fi fare. I felt for the characters in their pridicaments. Granted, it could have been much better, but it could have been worse to. I guess the biggest complaint that I have is that the DVD was released in the inferior format of full frame. I would like to have the opportunity to see the film in it's intended format so that I can get all the necessary information to determine if this is a better film than I think. Thus far all I have seen is the blur of the full frame destruction of the film. Come on Artisan, get with the program!