Yog
Oct 29th, 2009, 05:42:58 PM
None of you probably heard of this movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/), yet you should, so I'm going to post about it. It's an independent Sci Fi flick made by a British director named Duncon Jones, who you probably also never heard about. It made a grand total of $7M worldwide ($4.9M US) box office. It has a shoestring budget. The studio does not have the money to market the movie or release it wide.
Yet, it's absobloody fantabulary fantazingly incredistically amazing. IMO, one of the most superb Sci Fi films of all time, and an absolute timeless classic.
The first thing you'll notice is the brilliant cinematography. It has the same epic visual feel as 2001 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/), and does well to simulate the cold claustrophobia and loneliness of space. The lunar base is very realistic, it's as if it was built by NASA. The attention to detail for how they designed the base, the equipment, the vehicles and how it all functions together is impressive. If you love realism in Sci Fi, this is the movie for you. Another similar film I'd like to compare to is Sunshine (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/), it has much the same feel of paranoia and suspense, but without the zombies.
In order not to spoiler anyone, I'll just explain the basic premise of the movie. You can also view the trailer here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twuScTcDP_Q).
At the center of our attention is Sam Bell, an astronaut who spent 3 years at the far side of the moon working for a mining corporation called Lunar Industries. This bearded hermit is by the end of his contract, and is starting to go crazy due to the isolated loneliness. Sam operates a giant automated mining facility harvesting Helium-3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3), a mineral rare on earth, but found in abundance on the moon's surface. The corporation ships the HE3 back to earth by an unmanned transport shuttle on a regular basis to fuel (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html) the fusion reactors on earth. In addition to a lot of automated equipment, Sam is aided by a computer called 'Gerty'. Gerty reminds you of HAL9000, but instead of that hostile red glowing eye, there is a monitor attached to a robotic arm following him around. Displayed is a smiley face conveying its 'emotions', and this computer seems quite emphatic and friendly I might add. One day, Sam is driving with his lunar rover to fix one of the harvesters, but something goes wrong. There is more to this mining operation than meets the eye..
The best part of this movie is Sam Rockwell's performance as "Sam Bell", an Oscar class performance. You'll see him hallucinating, you will wonder as him what is real and what is not, you will wonder as him, if Gerty can be trusted, the Corporation, or even himself, or indeed WHO is himself? Why is he there, how did he get there, where did he come from, is it all a dream? You will wonder as in a David Lynch movie WTF is going on. Yet all of this happens with a crisp clarity, and by the end of it, it will all make sense and come together as the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
This movie is highly recommended, I give it 5/5
Yet, it's absobloody fantabulary fantazingly incredistically amazing. IMO, one of the most superb Sci Fi films of all time, and an absolute timeless classic.
The first thing you'll notice is the brilliant cinematography. It has the same epic visual feel as 2001 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/), and does well to simulate the cold claustrophobia and loneliness of space. The lunar base is very realistic, it's as if it was built by NASA. The attention to detail for how they designed the base, the equipment, the vehicles and how it all functions together is impressive. If you love realism in Sci Fi, this is the movie for you. Another similar film I'd like to compare to is Sunshine (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/), it has much the same feel of paranoia and suspense, but without the zombies.
In order not to spoiler anyone, I'll just explain the basic premise of the movie. You can also view the trailer here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twuScTcDP_Q).
At the center of our attention is Sam Bell, an astronaut who spent 3 years at the far side of the moon working for a mining corporation called Lunar Industries. This bearded hermit is by the end of his contract, and is starting to go crazy due to the isolated loneliness. Sam operates a giant automated mining facility harvesting Helium-3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3), a mineral rare on earth, but found in abundance on the moon's surface. The corporation ships the HE3 back to earth by an unmanned transport shuttle on a regular basis to fuel (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html) the fusion reactors on earth. In addition to a lot of automated equipment, Sam is aided by a computer called 'Gerty'. Gerty reminds you of HAL9000, but instead of that hostile red glowing eye, there is a monitor attached to a robotic arm following him around. Displayed is a smiley face conveying its 'emotions', and this computer seems quite emphatic and friendly I might add. One day, Sam is driving with his lunar rover to fix one of the harvesters, but something goes wrong. There is more to this mining operation than meets the eye..
The best part of this movie is Sam Rockwell's performance as "Sam Bell", an Oscar class performance. You'll see him hallucinating, you will wonder as him what is real and what is not, you will wonder as him, if Gerty can be trusted, the Corporation, or even himself, or indeed WHO is himself? Why is he there, how did he get there, where did he come from, is it all a dream? You will wonder as in a David Lynch movie WTF is going on. Yet all of this happens with a crisp clarity, and by the end of it, it will all make sense and come together as the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
This movie is highly recommended, I give it 5/5