Moon could do with a heftier dose of weird, but the disciplined storytelling and direction bodes well for director Duncan Jones.
Moon (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:157
Fresh:140
Rotten:17
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Boosted by Sam Rockwell's intense performance, Moon is a compelling work of science-fiction, and a promising debut from director Duncan Jones.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:17-07-2009
Synopsis:
It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a...
It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive.
Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of “Sarang,” the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond “Gerty,” the base’s well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer.
Suddenly, Sam’s health starts to deteriorate. Painful headaches, hallucinations and a lack of focus lead to an almost fatal accident on a routine drive on the moon in a lunar rover. While recuperating back at the base (with no memory of how he got there), Sam meets a younger, angrier version of himself, who claims to be there to fulfill the same three year contract Sam started all those years ago.
Confined with what appears to be a clone of his earlier self, and with a “support crew” on its way to help put the base back into productive order, Sam is fighting the clock to discover what’s going on and where he fits into company plans. --© Sony Pictures Classics
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Director: Duncan Jones
Director: Duncan Jones
Screenwriter: Mark Bowden, Nathaniel Parker
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Reviews for Moon
Intelligent, resourceful and elegantly made, Moon marks a mightily impressive low-budget debut from director Duncan Jones.
Pitched at the other end of the sci-fi market from Transformers 2, this is too quirky and cerebral to be a hit, but it's more than a space oddity.
It’s not fair to say that the film runs out of steam towards the end, because it remains crisp and unpredictable, but it does have the feel of an addictive Outer Limits episode finding ways to stretch itself over the feature-length mark.
An eerie, disturbing and moving film, but not without occasional bursts of humour, Moon is a refreshing antidote to the dumb action-orientated futuristic fodder has dominated cinemas in recent years.
They do make ’em like they used to — a fresh blast of old-school sci-fi, bursting with ideas and a stellar turn from Rockwell.
Psychedelic sci-fi? Glam rock goes off-world? No: wordy and overwrought like a radio play in space.
A heartfelt, if self-consciously derivative drama of human loneliness.
An impressive directorial debut with a smart, absorbing and well-acted film that’s not just for geeks.
An indie sci-fi movie? That's what the director Duncan Jones has put together, to mostly inspired effect.
This is a defiantly British film. It’s one we can be proud of – in moderation.
It's one of the best original film ideas in ages - it'll leave your mind whirring for days.
Enjoyably trippy, brain-bending stuff, but the most satisfying thing about Moon is that it marks a return to the notion of science fiction as a genre fuelled by big ideas rather than big special effects.
Duncan Jones's intelligent, hugely moving debut deftly resurrects a mutinously old-fashioned style of SF.
Moon really gets under the skin as it probes the nature of humanity while keeping us on the edge of our seats.
A beautifully-crafted sci-fi poser, an endearing and ultimately touching thriller-cum-drama which echoes the 1972 deep space classic Silent Running.
A minor masterpiece. Quite simply Moon, given its minuscule budget - around £2.5million - is a cinematic miracle. The film is one of the best examples of thought provoking sci-fi that we have seen in an age.
Latest News for Moon
November 27, 2009:
Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
'Moon' director Duncan Jones and the movie's computer voice, Kevin Spacey, have reteamed for a couple of advertisements currently airing on British TV. The commercials, embedded... More...
October 08, 2009:
Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
Space. Once film's final frontier, over the years sci-fi has sometimes been the domain of cliche and inferior riffs on past glories. All the more surprising, then, to discover a... More...
September 15, 2009:
Concept Art for Moon Director Duncan Jones' Mute ![]()
Director Duncan Jones, whose Moon has gone down as one of the finest sci-fi films of the year, has posted concept art for his next film, a thriller entitled Mute. Like Blade... More...
July 20, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Duncan Jones
Duncan Jones has done the impossible -- tell a smart, engaging and entertaining sci-fi story on a modest budget. In Britain. As his debut feature film. No wonder everyone's... More...
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