Moon

Sony

R4 DVD

Moon is an indie Sci-fi film which was shot on the low budget of £2.5million, it was directed by British director Duncan Jones. His name might not ring a bell straight away, but his birth name might; “Zowie Bowie”, son of the famous rockstar David Bowie. Jones, has always been determined to make a successful and independent career for himself. He went to the London film school and honed his skills making adverts; this is his first feature and has been very well received.

The world has solved its energy needs in a new and exciting way through helium mining on the moon. The energy created provides some 80% of the world with clean energy and is mined in a simple automated facility manned by a caretaker Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell). The caretaker is on a three year contract and has a companion in the form of Gerty the robot (voiced by Kevin Spacey).

Sam is coming to the end of his three year contract with Lunar Industries and cannot wait to get back to his wife and child. But things are not going as well as he would have hoped, he is having some health problems, occasional hallucinations and his wife has dumped him. After one of the collectors reports an error he goes out to investigate and has an accident.

He comes to in the infirmary with no memory of what is occurred but finds he is being kept secured in the facility and not allowed to investigate the incident. After some creative mechanics he makes it outside and heads to the scene of the accident. When he arrives he is shocked to find a body similar to his own in the wreck.

He carries it back, barely alive, to the base and now there are two Sam Bells. Clearly something is amiss, while at first they clash, soon they work together to try and decipher the true story of what has occurred. What they discover is a powerful and melancholic reflection on the dangers of a monopoly business using cloning technology for profit and control.

This is an intelligent work of science fiction with superb dialogue and great wit. Sam Rockwell as “the clones” is truly impressive playing both roles without missing a beat and Kevin Spacey as the HAL inspired robot is marvellous. The film certainly includes lots of homages including 2001, Alien, Silent Running, Blade Runner Outland and Solaris, but is not slavish to science fiction conventions, here Gerty the robot is helpful rather than a hindrance and the clones are portrayed in a sympathetic light.

Moon also falls offers an interesting combination of character driven psychological sci-fi and hard sci-fi. Helium-3 (HE-3) is based on real science. In nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei bearing the same valence charge would be fused together, creating a release of energy. Researchers are currently using He-3 in their efforts to generate a controlled nuclear fusion reaction. It only occurs fairly on earth but is found far greater abundance in the lunar soil.

Moon has a truly retro feel and creates a unique atmosphere and mood. It is a different sort of science fiction than we are currently used to. Rather than emphasizing CGI, over powering special effects and action this is a character driven film which is truly mesmerizing. It is a rather nice surprise for an Indie sci-fi title.

Reviews appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with multiple images and with expanded content. We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy Magazine.

This review will appear in Volume 3 No.1 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the front page of Synergy Magazine Website or use the following link: http://www.synergy-magazine.com