Killing Moon (1999)

Better than most people think

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the best things about this movie is that it centers around the outbreak of an unknown illness that is suspected to be caused by a virus. So, of course, they get the CDC involved. The great thing is that everyone, including the doctor, refers to it as the Center for Disease Control. Even the woman in the film who is supposed to be from the CDC does not know that it's the CenterS for Disease Control.They couldn't even spring for a real uniform for the Navy officer. He looks like he should be getting your bags out of the back of your taxi or opening a door for you.The acting and the script are horrible. There are a couple of good performances (like that of the actor portraying the pilot), but the only serve to highlight how bad the rest of the performances are. There are many moments of tense confrontation, minus any tension.Low-budget is one thing. That explains the horrible sets and confined feeling of the movie. But surely someone could have made the dialogue more believable.

So bad, I spent most of the movie sifting through IMDb and noticed some vaguely interesting things:1. The production company Trinity Pictures has six other movies listed on IMDb. They have a combined user rating of 4.4, Trinity should probably look into making wedding videos... 2. Three people in the cast were also in the film Full Disclosure. In fact there are quite a few joint ventures as you go thru, probably owing to the inbred nature of Canadian films... 3. There are six recognizable character actors (including The Smoking Man) in the movie. In spite of name recognition Baldwin and Miller are billed below the ubiquitous but mostly unknown Kim Coates (who played the jerk archetype in this movie and wasn't integral to the story such as it was). 4. Chris Makepeace is not listed in additional crew but had a credit as Second Assistant Director. He is of course the geek who needed the protection of Adam Baldwin in My Bodyguard who while sharing a surname with Dan Baldwin is no relation.5. It really is a shame that a once promising actress like Penelope Ann Miller has to take tripe like this now-a-days. Long ways from co-starring with the likes of Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn, Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando and even Govenator Arnie not to mention Dan's more successful but equally fatuous brother Alec... She seemed to have been given the script on the way to the set as she continually stumbled over lines, but then her lines would be difficult to say aloud in any circumstance where other people might hear you. 6. I counted plot elements lifted from no fewer than eight well known movies, including some of the main characters (An out of element Dr. who rises to the occasion; Barely trained pilot who heroically manages; An overzealous mil group guy who wants the infectious virus at the expense of the infected; A paranoid cowardly jerk who continually and improbably screws everything up, too bad Helen Hayes wasn't around to slap him; A thief who inadvertently contracts and spreads virus etc etc etc).

Pretty darn bad. I watched this as a fan of Penelope Ann Miller, and I was disappointed, but in her defense, she didn't have much to work with. Daniel Baldwin was atrocious. The best acting was done by people I've never heard of, like Dennis Akayama and Diana Salvatore. The science was beyond ludicrous for reasons others have pointed out. Don't waste your time. Grade: F

I didn't know this bomb of a movie was made-for-TV. I stumbled onto it on DVD. Can you imagine? Someone actually produced this stinker for further distribution! It looks bad, feels bad, smells bad! Just because Daniel Baldwin has a famous acting last name should be no reason EVER to use him as an actor ever again. He can't act. He poses. Why he walks around the entire movie with his fingers and thumbs folded into a triangle in front of him is a mystery. He also looks like he just got up from a large pizza and pitcher of beer. (Daniel, PLEASE join a fitness club!) The rest of the cast is equally bad. The plot is so predictable, although the sudden revelation and turn of allegiances in the film are totally unmotivated. And why is this film called "Killing Moon"? You'll have to wait until the last line of the movie to find out why.... if you can make it that far.