Customer Reviews

Moonbase

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Normally, I am very powerful with words, but this movie just left me speechless. No words I can say in this review can come close to what I really think. I'll start off on a good note. There are two bits of cleverness you'll find while watching. First, typed words below a shot of a horribly fake orbiting space prison read, "Minimum sentence: life without possibility of parole." Not much, but just enough to get a small chortle out of someone. Second, to comfort a young recruit gathering garbage on the moon, another man tells a quite amusing story about Neil Armstrong's real first words on the moon.

Much unfortunately, those are the only perks, and I'll add that after the story about Armstrong is finished, the man it was meant to calm down is relieved just long enough for terrorists to surprise and kill him. How idiotic is that?

The special f/x looked like they were done with a home video camera and an obsolete bluescreen found in a Salvation Army. The same goes for the props. The suits that the protagonists use are biohazard suits on loan from the CDC. The suits that the antagonists use are black spandex and goggles. The gravity on the moon is terribly simulated, and only by slow movements and one's words about being able to lift great weight. The final explosion meant to completely vaporize anything in its radius is merely a simple fade technique from trash to no trash. Call me crazy, but I would think that such an explosion would vaporize everything. Instead, it makes the garbage disappear and doesn't touch the moon's soil. I don't know how much more fake anyone can get.

The plot just outright... me off. A group of prisoners escape from a maximum security prison and hop a shuttle to the moon to find some nuclear weapons. Somehow, this small group that is outmanned, outgunned, and possesses no knowledge of the moon's topography is always able to get the jump on everyone. First, they kill a young recruit on his first solo assignment. I can tolerate that, but when they killed off an entire security team twice their size and then crashed a shuttle carrying an even larger military contingent to the moon without losing more than two of their men, I almost smashed my TV. The phrase "Just shoot them!!!" comes to mind more than once.

In conclusion, if you buy this movie, give it to someone you hate because it has the anger capability of someone keying your car. The f/x which normally would be laughable have all the humor taken out by the plot. Any idiot can see that this doesn't even earn a star, and I'll add that I have a 186 IQ.

A nice little story about self-sacrifice and redemption disguised as a low-budget sci-fi shoot-em-up. While most of the special effects are a little cheesy, the characters and storytelling are solid. Scott Plank in the lead is both heroic and vulnerable, Jocelyn Seagrave is both ballsy and tender (easy on the eyes, too). The director does a nice job with both the action and drama, and there are even a few great comic moments (the "real" Neil Armstrong story). Revelations, about the characters' past, add some emotional layers to the movie, and a couple of fun twists help round it out as well. Check out Robert O'Reilley (StarTrek's Klingon "Gow-ron") as the main bad guy (He's pretty intense as a cold-blooded convict desperate to highjack his way back to earth).

I really enjoyed this film. Mazzucato boils sci-fi down to its essence and really delivers. I only wish I had known about this sooner when it was in theaters!