Moon 44 Movie Review 221

Moon 44 is a Science fiction movie from 1990 that is in the vein of Bladerunner and Aliens.It stars Michael Pare and is written and directed by Roland Emmerich.Michael Pare is a guy I recognised from The Philadelphia Experiment which is another good old sci fi movie.Roland Emmerich is a name you will probably recognise from Independence Day and Stargate and many others.This movie is one of his first ones and is heavily influenced by the movies previously mentioned.

Its set in the future and Pare stars as Felix Stone, an undercover/internal affairs agent who is hired by a mining company to investigate goings on at Moon 44.This is a universe where mining companies work on planets in outer space and battle each other for control.Recently a rival mining company have been taking over planets by attacking them with battle robots and of course Moon 44 is next! 2 shuttles have disappeared and Stone, played by Pare is sent up to investigate. The mining company is too mean to pay people proper danger money so naturally have decided to use prisoners as pilots!! They in turn will be guided by navigators who are only teenagers!! Surely nothing can go wrong! If you can get your head around this premise then the movie settles down nicely into an enjoyable ride.

In charge of the mining operation on Moon 44 is Major Lee played by the always good Malcolm McDowell and just under him is Sergeant Sykes played by Leon Rippy.He is a guy who you will say " oh wait, haven't I seen him in something before" and the same goes for Brian Thompson who plays Jake O'Neill.He is a big, square jawed guy who is basically one of the leaders of the prisoners sent to Moon 44.Stone's chief navigator is Tyler played by Dean Devlin and he acts as his confidante while he is there.

Pare is a guy that I wondered why he wasn't in more things as he was good in this.I liked the 'dark look' of this movie and it has the same one that Bladerunner and Aliens have and for the most part the effects are okay. It's when there are outside shots of the helicopters that they are piloting that the movie falls down a bit. It's clearly just small remote controlled helicopters filmed close-up! Other than this the movie is very enjoyable even though it's predictable.It's just a simple sci fi movie that is worth a look.Yes it's old and dated but you would do a lot worse than to rent this out or try to get a cheap copy online especially if bleak sci fi is your thing! 

Moon 44- 5/10