Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Moon

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Moon

    Click image for larger version

Name:	moon.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	9.9 KB
ID:	384123

    Released by: Sony
    Released on: 1/12/2010
    Director: Duncan Jones
    Cast: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
    Year: 2009
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Set at some indeterminate time in the future, Moon follows a man named Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell of Frost Vs. Nixon) who is just nearing the end of the three year contract he signed with Lunar Industries group. Sam's been toiling away up on the moon inside an energy mining base for the last thirty-six months and is really looking forward to going home and reuniting with his wife and infant daughter. To keep himself occupied during this time, Sam has had the companionship of a robot named Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), but has had no actual human contact during this time. As his tour of duty comes to a close, the communications systems in the base start to short out and experience technical difficulties and it's around this time that Sam starts having some strange hallucinations.

    One day, on a routine mission, he heads out across the moon's surface and drives his transport vehicle into one of the harvesting machines that combs the rocks and then wakes up inside the infirmary room where Gerty tells him he needs to take it easy and rest but as Sam recovers from his accident he starts putting together the pieces of the puzzle that make up his very existence.

    The closest point of reference here is Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film with which Moon shares a few similarities, the most obvious of which is the presence of a robot which helps the human character run the day to day operations. Moon, however, is far from a rip off of Kubrick's masterpiece, even if it does wear that influence on its sleeve. Writer-director Duncan Jones has delivered a refreshingly simple and minimalist science fiction tale that puts far more emphasis on the psychology and fragility of the human condition than on special effects or high concept action set pieces. In fact, with the exception of the set design and a few minor instances relating to space travel, there are precious few special effects in the film.

    At the center of this bleak landscape is Sam Rockwell in the lead. His performance here is excellent, running the gamut from pitiful to frightening, funny to tragically sad and covering all the bases in between. While Kevin Spacey's voice acting covers Gerty's emotionless presence perfectly, this is in many ways a one man show and Rockwell handles it perfectly. His characters transformation and the personal 'voyage' we see him go on in this picture is intense and often times a bit unsettling and had the performance not been up to snuff it would have tanked the entire film. Thankfully, Rockwell proves more than up to the task here.

    While the film may not move at a lightning quick pace, it does build very deliberately for the first hour of its running time, saving the best bits for last though peppering the first two thirds with some interesting foreshadowing. If the film is slow, it's never boring and it's wonderfully shot and set to an amazing score by composter Clint Mansell (best known for his work on Requiem For A Dream). Jones nails the proper visuals and sound effects to ensure that his story is told without a need for flash, putting substance over style but doing so without shorting the film as far as cinematography and tone go. The film isn't quite a masterpiece, you can figure out where it's going fairly early on if you pay close enough attention, but it's an impressive effort and it speaks volumes about the director's potential.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    Presented in AVC encoded 1080p 2.40.1 anamorphic widescreen, Moon looks about as good as it should on Blu-ray. This is not a visually flashy movie, its color scheme is predominantly black and white and the whole film has a very bleak visual look to it that, while perfect for the story, doesn't really lend itself to demo disc material. That said, in the context of the visuals, Sony's transfer is a good one. There is a softness to certain scenes but this isn't a constant and is likely an intentional stylistic choice. Detail is generally very good, close up shots in particular, while the outdoor shots that take place on the surface of the moon show all manner of texture and almost tangible debris. Black levels are strong while the whites have a intentionally and effective stagnancy to them, giving the whole picture a very sterile tone. Black levels are good, flesh tones look natural except when they're supposed to appear sickly, and the image is clean and free of any print damage, leaving only a welcome coat of natural looking film grain in its place. All in all, this is a very good transfer that really effectively represents the visuals that the filmmakers obviously worked quite hard to create.

    Audio options are supplied in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio in English, French and Portuguese options while a Dolby Digital 5.1 track is provided in Spanish with optional subtitles available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The English language DTS-HD track is a good one, full of subtle ambience and perfectly clear dialogue. The levels are really well balanced and the score in particular has a really strong resonance to it. This isn't a particularly aggressive track but there are some scenes that benefit from some clever rear channel placement such as the scene where Sam crashes the transport. Most of what you'll hear in the surround channels, however, are little audible details such as the whirring of Gerty's arm or the blip of technology inside the base. There's a lot of this detail work in the mix and it really helps flesh things out really effectively. There's a lot of ambience here and it suits the movie perfectly.

    Sony has supplied two commentary tracks, the first with writer-director Duncan Jones who is joined by the director of photography Gary Shaw, concept designer Gavin Rothery and production designer Tony Noble. At times this track gets a little too busy for its own good but there is a wealth of information here that makes it worth checking out, particularly as it lets Noble and Rothery talk about building the sets and getting the right look for the film. The second commentary again features Duncan Jones, this time accompanied by the film's producer, Stuart Fenegan. This track has a bit more of a flow to it and while Jones does the bulk of the work here, Fenegan chimes in with his input as well. Here we learn about the film's origins, casting and reception that also covers model work, effects work, GERTY, and much more. Between the two tracks, very little is left uncovered though personally I'd have really wanted to get Sam Rockwell on board one of the track to get his input on the film.

    Sony has also included two documentaries, the first of which is The Making of Moon (16:18, SD), a pretty standard look at what went into putting this picture together by way of some decent interviews with the principal cast and crew. Creating the Visual Effects (11:08, SD) is, as you could probably guess, a look at the film's effects work which includes an interesting talk with Visual Effects Supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp.


    From there, we get some interesting question and answer/interview sessions, starting with the Science Center Q&A With Director Duncan Jones (20:48) which allows the writer/director to field questions from an audience immediately following a screening that was held at the Houston Space Museum. Similar is the Filmmaker's Q&A At The Sundance Film Festival (11:15) where Jones again talks to an audience about the film and about making the picture. Both are quite interesting though they inevitably cover some of the same ground as the commentary tracks.

    Rounding out the extras are a short film by Duncan Jones called Whistle (28:46 in SD), a trailer for the feature, trailers for a few unrelated Sony properties, a Blu-ray promo spot, menus and chapter selection. The disc is also Blu-ray Live enabled. All of the extras are in HD except where noted.

    The Final Word:

    A really well made and deliberately plotted thriller, Moon is a film that relies on acting rather than action and which uses its deceptively simple premise and set design to sneak up on you. Sam Rockwell's performance is perfect while the look and sound of the movie match the bleak storyline perfectly. Sony's Blu-ray release looks and sounds great and features some pretty decent extra features as well.
      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X