Moon 44 (1990)

An unconventional corporate agent is given the task of shaping a group of violent criminals and technical wizards into a helicopter defense force assigned to protect a mining station on a remote moon.

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers:

Dean Heyde (screenplay), Oliver Eberle (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Paré, Lisa Eichhorn, Dean Devlin

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Paré	...	Felix Stone
Lisa Eichhorn	...	Terry Morgan
Dean Devlin	...	Tyler
Brian Thompson	...	Jake O'Neal
Malcolm McDowell	...	Major Lee
Stephen Geoffreys	...	Cookie
Leon Rippy	...	Master Sergeant Sykes
Jochen Nickel	...	Scooter Bailey
Mehmet Yilmaz	...	Marc (as Mechmed Yilmaz)
John March	...	Moose Haggerty
Drew Lucas	...	Riffle
David Williamson	...	Lt. Gallagher
Calvin Burke	...	Capt. Stojanowic
Andy Howarth	...	Guard Checkpoint
William Begatie	...	Pilot Taxi-Crane (as William Begatte)

Storyline

In 2038, Earth's mineral resources are drained, there are space fights for the last deposits on other planets and satellites. This is the situation when one of the bigger mining corporations has lost many mineral moons except one and many of their fully automatic mining robots are disappearing on their flight home. Since nobody else wants the job, they send prisoners as a last resort to defend the mining station. Among them, internal affairs agent Felix Stone, assigned to clear the whereabouts of the expensive robots. In an atmosphere of corruption, fear and hatred, Stone gets between the fronts of rivaling groups and locates the person committing sabotage.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | moon | robot | corruption | undercover agent | 

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Taglines:

Dieser Film wird im Jahr 2038 verboten.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1990 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Intruder

Filming Locations:

Ennis House - 2607 Glendower Avenue, Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

DEM7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centropolis Film Productions, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally intended for a theatrical release in the United States by Moviestore Entertainment, who acquired the North American rights to the film for a potential theatrical release, as noted. Instead, though this was released theatrically in other parts of the world, this ended up going straight to video in the States instead.

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Goofs

It is interesting that the defense force on Moon 44 chose helicopters as their primary vehicle. Most planetary moons have very little atmosphere - an environment in which helicopters (which rely upon air/gases for their lift) would be completely useless. In a possible defense of the filmmakers, Moon 44's atmosphere is portrayed as dense and mist-like, possibly similar to that of Saturn's large moon, Titan, which could theoretically support aerodynamic flight.

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Quotes

Scooter Bailey: Back in prison, we turn little boys like you into little girls.

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Connections

Referenced in Guns, Genes & Fighting Machines: The Making of 'Universal Soldier' (2004)

User Reviews

fine early B-movie Roland Emmerich

It's 2038. Earth's resources are depleted. Multinational corporations control far off mining operations in the outer zone. Moon 47 is attacked by robot fighters. With an expected attack on Moon 44, Galactic Mining sends in young tech nerd navigators to guide helicopter pilots. With no one for the dangerous piloting jobs, the company recruits willing prisoners. There is an issue with the situation and internal affairs is needed. The company offers the job to Felix Stone (Michael Paré) in exchange for cancelling his contract.

This is early B-movie Roland Emmerich. I remember watching some of this back in the day. It's got good miniatures but the action is limited filmmaking. Limited is the catch phrase for most of this movie. While I remember the conflict between navigators and pilots, the secret sabotage is forgettable. More than anything, the acting is B-level led by Michael Paré. They are perfectly fine for this solid B-movie. Perfectly fine B-movie defines everything aspect of this movie.