Banditen auf dem Mond

What happens when you combine go-go girls, disco music, spaghetti westerns, and 60s sci-fi? "Moon Zero Two" happens, that's what.

The storyline reads like an after-school special, without much character development; but the parts are all well-acted. The miniatures and set designs are well-done, but true to the time; the costumes are mostly vibrant colors and PVC. There are honest efforts made to maintain credibility, such as the lack of noise in a vacuum, and no 'magic gravity' in space. The science is actually quite believable, especially in comparison to other 60s sci-fi.

There are elements ("Moonopoly", six-shooters holstered in PVC gun-belts outside space suits, the moon saloon) of this movie that make it painfully cheesy at times, but not the same "so bad that it's good" cheese one would expect. It's more of a "I'm embarrassed to remember when those things were cool" kind of cheesy.

Overall, an enjoyable watch (depending on your tolerance for '60s kitch) - 6 out of 10.

This is not actually that bad a film, if you take away the stupid bits and ignore some of the wooden acting. But I'm afraid it hasn't stood the test of time that well, thanks largely to the awful music and costumes on show here. If you can ignore those, the story isn't too bad.

It's always interesting in these types of movies to do the "Hey! Isn't that...!" thing when the actors appear. Here we have Warren Mitchell as the bad guy.....who went on to play Alf Garnett in "Til Death do Us PArt" in the same year as this film, and for many years after. Also here is Catherine Schell, of Space 1999 fame. Of course the main star here, James Olsen, is probably more familiar from his roles in The Andromeda Strain a couple of years later, or the Arnie vehicle, Commando, some time later. Also present is that stalwart of Carry On movies, Bernard Bresslaw.

Of course, this movie has its bad points. The least of which is the music. It's just so 60's its almost criminal. Add to that, the PVC clothes which we all will apparently wear in the future, along with the garish, often lop-sided wigs (which must have been re-used in UFO, methinks) and you have a film which will always be dated to the time it was made.

Other bad points include the acting. I won't go into the many instances but at one point big Bernie Bresslaw (who plays a heavy) has to look bored and almost asleep during the plot exposition by the bad guy's scientist. He does this so well that you think he really is bored of the film, not the scene he's in.

The science isn't too bad for a film of this era. No one wandering about on the lunar surface without a helmet, for instance, or other foolishness.

But unfortunately, the costumes, wigs and music will always make this movie a bit of a chuckle. I suspect this was something of an experiment by Hammer, to see if they could break out of the horror genre. I don't know how well it went down at the time, but I guess it wasn't that well, as I can't recall any other Hammer sci-fi projects.

Anyway, a dated piece, but worth a look if there's nothing better on (or you just want to laugh at 60's fashions).

Ah, the year was 1969. Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. I was 11 and eating up any science fiction I could. When I saw the advertisement for this movie I HAD to see it. So I had my mom take me and a friend to see it.

Yeah, it was kind of hokey, but I didn't notice that when I was 11. I simply thought it was plain cool. Besides, the larger Lunar Module looked pretty darn impressive. And the main actor, James Olsen, had been in Andromeda Strain a year earlier.

So, is it worth checking out now, circa 2001? Yeah, if you can catch it on cable or maybe the Sci-Fi Channel, it'd be worth a look. Just to see how events were extrapolated from the reality of 1969. Sadly, the politicians killed Apollo just when they were getting good at going to interesting places on the moon, i.e. Apollo 17 at Taurus-Littrow - incredible scenery. So we never established a moon base like the one in the movie. Sad.

It is indeed a "Western" set on the moon. You'll love the bar scene and all the women. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but hey, this was the sixties, and even 11 year old boys liked girls in mini-skirts. So, if you ever have a chance to catch it, grab a six-pack, sit down, and enjoy.

"Moon zero two" does not deserve such a low rating ;it is very entertaining ,its screenplay -which sometimes looks like a sci -fi western: the "saloon" and the 'gold digger " brother - is never dull;it even displays some humor :the "Moonopoly" is a very good idea! The two plots -although implausible- are smartly connected.The special effects are not bad for the time ,considering a relatively low budget.Actually it could be a comic ,a Flash Gordon adventure ;if you are looking for "2001" ,you 'd better move on ;but if you simply want to have a good time,you can watch it.

The only real horror is the cartoon of the cast and credits and an awful song.

Moon Zero Two boasts a standard Western movie plot-a battle over mining rights -and simply transposes the story to the Moon .You can even see the main character ,Captain Kemp as a variation on the archetypal drifting cowboy,except that it is the deep range of space rather than the prairie that forms his environment. He is engaged by multi- billionaire J J Hubbard (Warren Mitchell )to bring back a rogue asteroid made from pure sapphire and land it on a remote part of the moon.He is also assisting the bewitching Clementine -fetchingly portrayed by Catherine Von Schell-to locate her brother who has gone missing on the moon .The plot strands are linked when it is revealed that he has been killed by Hubbard's minions as Hubbard needs the area of the claim to land the asteroid on.

The look and feel of the movie are very late 60's -bright colours;"dolly girl "hairdos and clothes for the women, and the "swinging" muzak like noise that passed for soundtrack music in the lesser movies of the day. The action scenes are awful-a bar room brawl is about the worst committed to celluloid ,and a shoot out with the bad guys on the abandoned mining site is stupendously lacking in excitement or pace. Add some poor acting in most of the roles --I except Warren Mitchell and Schell -and the result is tiresome and lacking in flair or pace

Treasure Hammer Movies for the horror movies they did and forgive them this misfire