Although it is futuristic, "Murder By Moonlight" could hardly be called prophetic; the Soviet Union imploded only a short while after this film was made, making its Eastern-Western tensions seem anachronistic a couple of years later. It is a rather cheap, studio-bound production, and contains more chit-chat than mystery or action. It does have a surprising culprit, however, for those who stick with the film to the end. Julian Sands camps it up with a robotic Russian accent, while Briggite Nielsen holds her own against him in what must be one of her better performances; unfortunately, her amazing physique stays mostly hidden under baggy uniforms. ** out of 4.
10 Reviews
Oh, dear me NO!
aburtonline1 August 2013
I watched this on the UK Horror Channel and what do you know, that's spot on just where it should be! On the plus side, the plot is not too bad if very dated, the set of supporting actors is really good, Brian Cox and Celia Imrie set the tone with Julian Sands making a valiant attempt to play the Russian 'NastyBecomesNicey', and the settings are fine.
On the other hand...
It's marred by chronic 2D character stereotyping. As always we have inflexible Russians all plain looking in dull dingy outfits, and cool suited attractive Americans, sad because they are unable to communicate meaningfully with them. And it's killed off by Brigitte Nielsen's managing to make the whole thing look like it's acted according to the Plywood school. Whoever thought that she could possibly contribute to making it a watchable film should have their cabin airlock bolts cut and be flushed out into space. She honked in Rocky but was hailed because, lets face it, anyone would have looked passable with Sly Stallone to compare against, and she honks here.
if - - you - - are - - irritated - - by - - having - - to - - read - - this - - written - - like - - a - - list - - you - - will - - know - - just - - what - - I - - mean - - it - - is - - just - - like - - briquette's - - delivery - - of - - even - - the - - simplest - - lines.
Good for a sozzled night in with nothing else to watch, but if you expect anything to draw you in and engage you as many old films of this era can, look elsewhere.
On the other hand...
It's marred by chronic 2D character stereotyping. As always we have inflexible Russians all plain looking in dull dingy outfits, and cool suited attractive Americans, sad because they are unable to communicate meaningfully with them. And it's killed off by Brigitte Nielsen's managing to make the whole thing look like it's acted according to the Plywood school. Whoever thought that she could possibly contribute to making it a watchable film should have their cabin airlock bolts cut and be flushed out into space. She honked in Rocky but was hailed because, lets face it, anyone would have looked passable with Sly Stallone to compare against, and she honks here.
if - - you - - are - - irritated - - by - - having - - to - - read - - this - - written - - like - - a - - list - - you - - will - - know - - just - - what - - I - - mean - - it - - is - - just - - like - - briquette's - - delivery - - of - - even - - the - - simplest - - lines.
Good for a sozzled night in with nothing else to watch, but if you expect anything to draw you in and engage you as many old films of this era can, look elsewhere.
Murder on the Moon
BandSAboutMovies22 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg and written by Carla Jean Wagner, this is also known as Murder By Moonlight.
After nearly launching a nuclear war, America and Russia decide to work together to colonize the moon. But when several NASA astronauts are found dead, Dennis Huff (Gerald McRaney!) sends Lieutenant Maggie Bartok (Bridgette Nielsen) while Russian drafts Major Sorokin Kirilenko (Julian Sands) to figure out who the killer is.
Can these mismatched space detectives solve the case, compare haircuts and fall in love?
Michael Lindsay-Hogg had a wild career and life. His wife hinted when he was old enough to understand that his father may have been Orson Welles. A DNA test was inconclusive, but Gloria Vanderbilt confirmed the fact for him. He was a director on the British music show Ready Steady Go!, which led to him making clips that later would be known as music videos for the Beatles ("Paperback Writer," "Hey Jude," "Revolution" and "Rain") and the Rolling Stones ("2000 Light Years from Home," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Child of the Moon). He also directed The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus and The Beatles' Get Back, which is where the Apple rooftop performance comes from and the footage that Peter Jackson used for his documentary.
In the 70s, he had great success with Brideshead Revisited and Nasty Habits. In the 80s, he made Simon and Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park, Neil Young's Neil Young in Berlin and Graceland: The African Concert with Paul Simon. And as the 90s came, he was making TV movies like Ivana Trump's For Love Alone.
This has an interesting cast, including Brian Cox, David Yip (Wu Han from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and Ricco Ross (Private Frost from Aliens). There's also a completely out of left field trans element that is just as wild in 2023 as it had to be back in 1989.
After nearly launching a nuclear war, America and Russia decide to work together to colonize the moon. But when several NASA astronauts are found dead, Dennis Huff (Gerald McRaney!) sends Lieutenant Maggie Bartok (Bridgette Nielsen) while Russian drafts Major Sorokin Kirilenko (Julian Sands) to figure out who the killer is.
Can these mismatched space detectives solve the case, compare haircuts and fall in love?
Michael Lindsay-Hogg had a wild career and life. His wife hinted when he was old enough to understand that his father may have been Orson Welles. A DNA test was inconclusive, but Gloria Vanderbilt confirmed the fact for him. He was a director on the British music show Ready Steady Go!, which led to him making clips that later would be known as music videos for the Beatles ("Paperback Writer," "Hey Jude," "Revolution" and "Rain") and the Rolling Stones ("2000 Light Years from Home," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Child of the Moon). He also directed The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus and The Beatles' Get Back, which is where the Apple rooftop performance comes from and the footage that Peter Jackson used for his documentary.
In the 70s, he had great success with Brideshead Revisited and Nasty Habits. In the 80s, he made Simon and Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park, Neil Young's Neil Young in Berlin and Graceland: The African Concert with Paul Simon. And as the 90s came, he was making TV movies like Ivana Trump's For Love Alone.
This has an interesting cast, including Brian Cox, David Yip (Wu Han from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and Ricco Ross (Private Frost from Aliens). There's also a completely out of left field trans element that is just as wild in 2023 as it had to be back in 1989.
Murderous acting
Prismark104 August 2013
This was a glossy, international co-production by ITV. An attempt by the channel to show that they can attract big talent and make a glossy production, something the BBC could not do.
There is a twist in this drama that it is a whodunnit and we are looking for a mysterious killer on the moon.
Julian Sands plays a Russian investigator with all the charisma of a zombie in a coma. The Great Dane Brigitte Nielsen plays an American who gets out acted by her recently enhanced breasts.
The film is tosh in so many levels, from the script to the acting. To call it wooden is being offensive to forests.
The production design is pants, for something on the moon I get the feeling that we are on a spaceship with beige sets.
The fall in the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union soon after the production was shown makes it look like a throwback to another era.
Also it was not much of a murder mystery.
There is a twist in this drama that it is a whodunnit and we are looking for a mysterious killer on the moon.
Julian Sands plays a Russian investigator with all the charisma of a zombie in a coma. The Great Dane Brigitte Nielsen plays an American who gets out acted by her recently enhanced breasts.
The film is tosh in so many levels, from the script to the acting. To call it wooden is being offensive to forests.
The production design is pants, for something on the moon I get the feeling that we are on a spaceship with beige sets.
The fall in the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union soon after the production was shown makes it look like a throwback to another era.
Also it was not much of a murder mystery.
Lethargic futuristic murder-mystery.
Red-Barracuda27 March 2015
Set in the near future, American and Soviet mining companies have set up moon-bases. A murder happens and a KGB man is teamed up with a NASA investigator to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Murder by Moonlight is a TV movie whose limited budget is never disguised. It has some name actors in fairness, yet they don't contribute much. Brigitte Nielsen sports massive shoulder pads but gives a very weak performance, Julian Sands sports an over-done Russian accent but is also somewhat lacking, while the usually reliable Brian Cox has no more than a clichéd support role as a Soviet official. The two principals Nielsen and Sands are the sleuthing duo who, as is customary, begin at logger-heads with each other but gradually get to like one and other. They even go as far to develop a romance, which it has to be said was very unconvincing and lacking in any chemistry. Matters are also not helped very much by a cheap tinny soundtrack that constantly reminds you of how low budget it all is. I do like a murder-mystery but this one was handled in a somewhat dull manner, although I will give it credit for at least having a memorable culprit.
Murder by Moonlight is a TV movie whose limited budget is never disguised. It has some name actors in fairness, yet they don't contribute much. Brigitte Nielsen sports massive shoulder pads but gives a very weak performance, Julian Sands sports an over-done Russian accent but is also somewhat lacking, while the usually reliable Brian Cox has no more than a clichéd support role as a Soviet official. The two principals Nielsen and Sands are the sleuthing duo who, as is customary, begin at logger-heads with each other but gradually get to like one and other. They even go as far to develop a romance, which it has to be said was very unconvincing and lacking in any chemistry. Matters are also not helped very much by a cheap tinny soundtrack that constantly reminds you of how low budget it all is. I do like a murder-mystery but this one was handled in a somewhat dull manner, although I will give it credit for at least having a memorable culprit.
Lack Of Set Up And Acting Sink This One
charlieoso11 June 2018
Instantly we see the death of an American astronaut on Russian soil on the moon. Dennis Hull played by Gerald McRaney wants an American there to investigate rather than under just Russian investigative eyes. In comes Brigette Nielsen as the American Maggie Bartok and Julian Sands as the Russian Major Kirilenko. Due to the political strife the movie does have some tension between the characters and in the end a little better than I was actually expecting mainly due to the usually good Sands. But this TV movie has some big problems. One is the acting by Nielsen just doesn't help the movie at all, she seems to just smile a lot and punch through her lines. But, an even bigger problem is there is absolutely no set up to the murder victim or any of the characters before the murder or their interrogation by the investigators. Which is too bad, because the mystery angle to this movie isn't bad, just really poorly plotted through the early goings.
Murder mystery in space
Leofwine_draca6 June 2015
What a shame that somebody retitled this film to MURDER BY MOONLIGHT, which makes it sound like any bog standard murder mystery or film noir. The original title, MURDER ON THE MOON, is much better and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of title: this is a straightforward murder mystery with the twist that the entire film is set on a Martian moonbase in the near future.
It's a straightforward effort, constrained by the nature of the TV movie into neither being particularly sexy or violent, but saying that it's a film which holds the attention throughout. The storyline sees an astronaut being murdered and an American (Brigitte Nielsen in an unusual casting choice) and a Russian (Julian Sands in another unusual casting choice) forced to team up to solve the crime.
The film keeps you watching throughout, even if Nielsen's acting ability isn't really apparent. Julian Sands is much better and it's fun to see him before he was typecast as a stock British bad guy in the movies. The British nature of this film means that there are supporting roles for people you wouldn't expect to see in this kind of production, like David Yip and Brian Cox, with Celia Imrie particularly incongruous. Even ALIENS's Ricco Ross pops up in an early cameo. American director Michael Lindsay-Hogg was best known for his work on the famous BRIDESHEAD REVISITED TV miniseries of the early 1980s.
It's a straightforward effort, constrained by the nature of the TV movie into neither being particularly sexy or violent, but saying that it's a film which holds the attention throughout. The storyline sees an astronaut being murdered and an American (Brigitte Nielsen in an unusual casting choice) and a Russian (Julian Sands in another unusual casting choice) forced to team up to solve the crime.
The film keeps you watching throughout, even if Nielsen's acting ability isn't really apparent. Julian Sands is much better and it's fun to see him before he was typecast as a stock British bad guy in the movies. The British nature of this film means that there are supporting roles for people you wouldn't expect to see in this kind of production, like David Yip and Brian Cox, with Celia Imrie particularly incongruous. Even ALIENS's Ricco Ross pops up in an early cameo. American director Michael Lindsay-Hogg was best known for his work on the famous BRIDESHEAD REVISITED TV miniseries of the early 1980s.
Worth Watching!
doloryn7 June 2005
It's really too bad this movie was first aired the week before the Berlin Wall fell. It was a very well done mystery involving a murder on a commercial American moonbase located in Soviet lunar territory. Because of the jurisdiction problems, Bartok (CIA) and a KGB major were both sent to investigate.
They found more than they bargained for. Besides the original murder, there were others all aimed at covering up a truth both Soviet and Americans wanted revealed. Fascinating. Well worth watching.
The detail in this film is great. How would people live on a lunar mining station? The bar converts to other things, there's a library, and the quarters, while not spacious, are adequate. They didn't ignore the air situation or the gravity. And they DIDN'T have people exploding in decompression like they did in Outland. Very well done.
They found more than they bargained for. Besides the original murder, there were others all aimed at covering up a truth both Soviet and Americans wanted revealed. Fascinating. Well worth watching.
The detail in this film is great. How would people live on a lunar mining station? The bar converts to other things, there's a library, and the quarters, while not spacious, are adequate. They didn't ignore the air situation or the gravity. And they DIDN'T have people exploding in decompression like they did in Outland. Very well done.
A Pretty Decent Murder Mystery
kdm04218 July 2002
This 1989 made for TV movie is worth checking out. Brigitte Nielsen gives an OK performance as the sleuth, but what kept my attention was the writer's attention to detail... In terms of the mystery. Science fiction fans will find a lot of aspects about this film (the political situation, the murder attempt in the library, etc.), a bit hard to swallow. But, hey, give these guys a break. The movie was made before the Berlin Wall fell, and as for the science, well, they don't attempt to explain anything away with technobabble, nor do they forget that the moon has no atmosphere. The love story between the investigators didn't gell, but again, they don't dwell on it. The resolution is a great twist on the concept of "hide in plain sight."
Real hard sci fi
valeriecoskrey7 December 2014
I liked this movie on many levels, despite the poor acting by Neilson. It had the flavor of a realistic moon base, and a mystery that made sense. It provided a haunting view of a political future and expected technologies. I think it was underrated and would like to see it shown on syfy channel. It is definitely as good as the current made for TV movies. As a who-done-it, it is moderate in its effectiveness, although it did take me a while to guess who the guilty party was. There were some surprising revelations along the way that greatly added to the quality of the story--revelations that were made in a low-key but effective manner and that served to define the politics and technology that made the story a true science fiction of the hard type.
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