Murder on the Moon

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.