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:

DEM 7,000,000 (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

In the Australian/New Zealand CBS/Fox Video trailer of the film, the trailer had a Star Wars (1977) style crawl, which a voiceover was heard saying "CBS/Fox video presents... A galactic adventure from the excitement zone!... Moon 44. By 2038 all natural resources have been depleted. Multi-national corporations have taken control of the universe. Rival corporations fight deadly battles over priceless mining planets in outer space..." The voiceover in the trailer is also heard stating that the film is "The best adventure since the Star Wars trilogy" and "The most suspenseful journey since Aliens".

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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

Cookie: And then, I was everyone's friend.

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Connections

Referenced in Interkozmosz (2014)

User Reviews

Good looking, OK, but some mostly forgivable flaws

This is a stylish looking movie, with moody lighting and atmospheric industrial sets. The space ships are cool - though why the good guys only have helicopters is a puzzle. The characters are likable enough but some are out-of-the-box Hollywood cutouts. The actors are either almost famous, or look hauntingly like people who are - I spent a lot of time wondering if I had seen them before (I hadn't it turns out). The story is OK, however there are a few plot glitches, and at times the story line is a bit thin. There are no real surprises - and no moral ambiguity. The dialogue is OK but once or twice stinks so bad you'll cringe (it may have been an attempt at humour?). At least there are no sudden swerves into the horror genre, and no completely unexplainable plot twists (as in Sunshine for instance).

If you like sci-fi anyway you probably be forgiving enough to enjoy this. I got the DVD for £1 at Tescos so I feel I got my money's worth.