Moon Zero Two (1970)

Expected more

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I saw this film as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and though it was featured on the show, I thought it had its moments. In fact, I would say it is a rather fun film featuring a city on the moon and a heist in space. Hammer generally makes an entertaining film, though usually they are known for horror films. Donald Pleasence was in a couple of their films, and I could so see him as the bad guy in this one mainly because the main villain here wears some rather strange outfits and if you have seen Donald in a film, you know if he is a good guy he dresses in a distinguished way, but if he is the bad guy, prepare to seem him in leather and other completely insane outfits. The effects are dated, but look good for the time and my guess is the budget as well. Sure, you see a lot of lines holding the actors and actresses when in space, but you saw those in the Disney film, "The Black Hole" which was made later and featured a bigger budget and they were more obvious in that one as you could see the clothes being pulled by the wires in that one! So, while not a great film or perfect it is a rather fun film to watch.The story has a pilot of a spaceship who salvages things in space like satellites who comes across a woman who has come to the city on the moon in search of her brother. The pilot is also approached by another man who is rather wealthy who has a business proposition for the pilot as he proposes crashing an asteroid onto the moon. Why you ask? It is basically a huge chunk of sapphire. They have all the details worked out and they complete the first portion of the mission fine, but while waiting for the second phase back on the moon the pilot is once again approached by the woman who has not seen her brother. They go to try and find him and find out there is something sinister behind his disappearance.This movie made for a rather good episode of MST3K, but not because they riffed particularly well, but because they didn't. The movie was good enough that I watch this episode mainly to see the film and maybe chuckle here and there at a riff rather than watching it exclusively for the riffing. It is a first season episode which is why the riffing just is not quite up to the later years on the show, so it is nice that the movie itself helps carry the episode. I did like the bump where Joel recreated the anti gravity fight, like I said, they just were not quite as sharp during the first season, but the film itself made this a good one to watch. They also would riff an Oscar winning movie about space, but if I had to watch either this one or that one, give me this film. It is more fun while I found that one had some okay moments, but was a bore in other.This was not a bad film to me. I like a Hammer made film, and this one had some crazy stuff going on. I would actually like to see the film without MST3K as the film had to have at least twenty minutes cut from it and I am curious as to what is missing. They definitely left enough in so that you are not lost. I like the actors for the most part, but I think someone else in the villain role would have been preferred. I do not know, I just like the way the portrayed the city on the moon and the bar in particular, with the really crummy alcoholic beverages. So, sure it is lame and the effects are dated, but the fun still remains.

One of Hammer's oddest films is this one, their sole foray into Science-Fiction, which has quite a maligned reputation but emerges to be reasonably tolerable under the circumstances. It obviously won't stand comparisons with the likes of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), though still valuable for being one of the very first films to exploit the 1969 landing on the moon.The famed British studio were noted for making expensive-looking Gothic Horrors with limited means; here, however, the low budget shows through as the futuristic sets they came up with are rather shoddy! For what it's worth, the film does contain at least one Hammer-type image involving a space suit found to be inhabited by a skeleton. Incidentally, MOON ZERO TWO has been referred to as a Space Western (in view of its mining, dynamiting, discovery of a priceless mineral, claim-jumping and shoot-outs): so far so good…however, having an outer space saloon (complete with dancing cowgirls) in 2021 is beyond ridiculous! Peter Hyams had the good sense to forego such puerile shenanigans when he made his own 'Space Western' with Sean Connery, OUTLAND (1981).Having said that, It's undeniably superior to ZETA ONE (1969), which I watched recently, though still containing a definite camp factor – starting with the goofy animated credit sequence (accompanied by a decidedly infectious title tune) but extending to hilarious costumes and props…not to mention the presence of a dapper megalomaniac villain (by the way, as was the case with ZETA ONE itself, the cast features a member of the "Carry On" gang in Bernard Bresslaw, again, appearing as a baddie albeit a dimwitted brute!). Having mentioned the cast, Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper turns up here as well for one brief scene; as for the film's American lead, James Olson (with receding blond hair!) doesn't exactly set the screen on fire. It's interesting, though, that co-star Adrienne Corri would appear in Hammer's more traditional VAMPIRE CIRCUS (though still contriving a twist in its tail) and Kubrick's subsequent piece of sophisticated sci-fi, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, within the same year (1971).

Moon Zero Two features two seemingly unrelated plot threads with Capt. William H. Kemp (James Olson) as their only connection. In the first, a distraught woman is looking for her brother, a miner on the far side of the moon. She enlists Capt. Kemp to help her by taking her to the brother's claim site. In the second, a very wealthy individual hires Capt. Kemp to help him catch an asteroid and bring it crashing to the moon's surface. The asteroid is actually a giant sapphire. It's near the end of the movie before Capt. Kemp is able to put the two pieces of the plot together, discover the brother's fate, and make a decision on helping with the sapphire plan.What Works: Acting: Overall, the acting in Moon Zero Two is a step above what I expected. But then again most Hammer films, regardless of any other shortcomings, generally featured above average acting. I was especially impressed by Catherine Schell and Warren Mitchell.Style: A lot of people knock it, but Moon Zero Two has more style going for it than a runway in Paris. If you liked the retro look of something like Austin Powers, you'll see the real thing in this movie. From the go-go dancers and their mod outfits to the far-out bar furnishing, the movie's got style to burn. I suppose the best example is the outfit worn by Catherine Schell when she makes her first screen appearance. Words cannot do it justice – suffice it to say that it is the epitome of 60s style.The narrative: As I've already indicated, Moon Zero Two features two seemingly unrelated plot threads that are brought together only near the film's end. While I watched the movie, I realized the plot would come together, but I never once guessed correctly how this was going to be pulled off. It's a clever bit of screen writing.What Didn't Work: James Olson: It's not that Olson is particularly bad in Moon Zero Two, but he lacks the qualities normally associated with the lead in a movie. He's just not a very interesting actor (a nice way to say "He's boring"). Someone with a little more pizazz would have been preferable.Pacing: The biggest single problem I had with Moon Zero Two is the movie's tendency to bog down and go nowhere for extended periods of time. There are great stretches of the film where nothing interesting at all is going on. A little tighter editing might have been a judicious choice.Music: I don't remember the last time I found a film score as annoying as the one in Moon Zero Two. I suppose it could be called freestyle jazz or something like that, but to me, it was just plain headache inducing. And it all seemed so inappropriate given the action on screen. For example, the two main characters might be riding across the moon's surface when out of nowhere the audience is treated to a random trumpet blast. Annoying! Overall, while there's much I did enjoy about Moon Zero Two, there's an equal amount that bothered me. But in this case, the "fun" factor wins out and I'll give it a 6/10.The copy of Moon Zero Two I have was aired as part of Mystery Science Theater 3000. This was a first season episode and it suffers like a lot of the early episodes from inconsistent riffing from the guys at MST3K. Some of the jokes are funny, but there's either not enough of them or they miss their mark. Either way, I found myself wanting to turn down the comedy track to pay attention to the movie. I'll rate Episode #111 a 2/5 on my MST3K rating scale.

First saw it when I was 12 and it has a place in my heart still after all these years; unlike a lot of other movies I enjoyed as a kid but can't stand today like "Battle of the Bulge" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark".Anyway, back to the movie. Today, it's the kitsch value that I really like, I mean, there's something incredibly cute and sexy about 60's women in futuristic garb. There is a conflict in the movie about the tone; is it a sci-fi thriller with action and danger, or a tongue in cheek effort (with Moonopoly even)? The effects are good in some areas and really poor in others; but apart from 2001 you can say that about most sci fi films of that era. It shares something else with 2001 that other more famous sci-fi movies don't and that's no sound in a vacuum. Full credit to the film makers that they paid attention to their science. In fact, the movie script has some basis in real science about conditions on the moon and in space (groovy sequence of a spacesuit puncture causing the crushing of a hired goon). So we have no noise in a vacuum, but do they give us just silence? No, they fill the soundtrack with what can be only described as the kind of music known as Porno-Jazz. No matter, I actually like that kind of stuff. C'mon everyone "Moooooooonnnnnn Zero Twooooo, let's all go to the Moon nowwwwwwwwwwwww, Mooooooooonnnnnnnn Zero Twoooooooooo".