Il giorno della luna nera

A typical 80's action film with an anything but typical plot, Black Moon Rising is not only a film with a memorable story but also admirable acting. Jones, as usual, delivers a great performance, with Linda Hamilton and the always watchable Robert Vaughn backing him up with their immense talent. Above average stunts, an intriguing score, and a fast-paced and, at times, light-hearted script all combine to form a fun and memorable film.

The FBI hires professional thief Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) to steal some data tapes. But he's caught in the act and has to hide the tapes in a prototype super car called the Black Moon. But then the Black Moon is stolen by a car thief (Linda Hamilton) working for big bad guy Ryland (Robert Vaughn). Entertaining popcorn thriller directed by Harley Cokeliss from a story by John Carpenter. Tommy Lee Jones drops one-liners and attracts babes like a true Carpenter hero. Linda Hamilton is great as sexy car thief Nina. She gets the most character attention of anybody in the film. She's also lovely to look at, with her full lips and big '80s hair that she rocked so well. Robert Vaughn redeems himself from Superman III with a nice hissable turn as a villain here. Lee Ving and Bubba Smith appear as thorns in our hero's side. An underrated movie and a fun one.

Sometimes even movies released into regular circulation from the major studios fall through the cracks. This is definitely one of those. Tommy Lee Jones as the industrial spy is as cool and calm as he's ever been. Linda Hamilton is as good as she's ever been and Richard Jaekel turns in another steady performance. The plot is clever and tight enough to satisfy most and the directing by Harley Cockliss (whatever happened to him? This seems to be his only outing) is tight and well paced. The first twenty to thirty minutes of the film were surprisingly good. The story opened briskly, there was some very sharp dialogue (some of it written by John Carpenter, who had originally been hired to direct), and one solid (and underrated) car chase between Jones and Linda Hamilton. This is just a good action thriller, and it has one of the best fist-fight scenes ever.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Tommy Lee Jones plays Quint, a professional thief hired by the government to acquire a tape that will incriminate a major corporation. While he is taking it on the lam, he quickly stashes the tape inside an experimental super-car (the "Black Moon" of the title), which is then stolen by another professional thief, Nina (Linda Hamilton) and her precision team. When the two thieves meet, sparks fly, but Quint will be in big trouble if he doesn't get that tape back. So he teams up with two of the cars' designers to take on Ninas' big bad evil boss Ed Ryland (Robert Vaughn).

The first screenplay ever sold by beloved genre filmmaker John Carpenter, it spent years in development before finally becoming a reality, released by New World in 1986. It's exactly what one would hope it would be: engaging, pedal-to-the-metal nonsense. It's well-paced, it's sexy, it's violent, the car itself is a marvel to behold, and there's some real high-tech finesse displayed by "heroes" and villains alike. It also has a heart, evident in scenes with the great Keenan Wynn (in his penultimate feature film appearance) and Jones.

The real interest here lies in this eclectic cast. We have a typically charismatic, cool-as-can-be Jones (who apparently did most of his own stunts and came up with a lot of Quints' wisecracks) in the lead, an appealing Hamilton as his love interest, football player turned "Police Academy" regular Bubba Smith as a federal agent, Richard Jaeckel, Dan Shor, and William Sanderson as the Black Moons' creators, punk rocker & occasional actor Lee Ving as Jones' persistent nemesis, and Nick Cassavetes as a henchman. Vaughn is smooth and amusingly slimy in the kind of white-collar bad guy he could play in his sleep. Al White, one of the jive talking dudes from "Airplane!", has a bit as a maintenance man.

"Black Moon Rising" is overall a fairly routine, somewhat futuristic B action picture, but is still quite agreeable on that level.

Seven out of 10.

I remember seeing Black Moon Rising on the shelves in the video store when I was just a little one, digging through the dusty cassette covers in the kung fu section. It had caught my eye with that awesome looking car on the front, along with the hilarious Supervan!

And even though it was the eighties, where video stores were a little more lax on ratings, it was still something I never really jumped at hiring.

Moving on 25 years and as both a fan of eighties movies, and as an independent film director, I have been going back to those films of my childhood that I was never lucky enough to see!

I recently picked up Black Moon Rising in my local Poundland, and couldn't wait to get it on screen. As an actor, I think Tommy Lee Jones is fantastic! Yet, at the same time, I find him very hard to watch... I think it's that accent. To me, it seems exaggerated for the most part. But in BMR we have a younger Jones who is a little more appealing.

In a nutshell - John Carpenter's story and screenplay isn't Oscar winning, but it is a hell of a lot better than most eighties flicks, and is highly entertaining! Action, twists, plenty of stars and some chuckles help fill out this adventure thriller that is worth the watch!

In my opinion - Anti-hero Quick (Mr Jones) pulls off his role of a professional thief with such calm and coolness rarely seen in today's cinema. Because of this, he comes across as a much more likable character than usual. Anti-heroine of the hour, Linda Hamilton, squeezes as much of her big hair and cheekbones out of every scene, jumping in on the action as much as her co-star does as the ultimate car thief who falls for her victim.

BMR hardly drags anywhere in its running time, with the excitement kicking off from the get-go mixing car chases with tense escapes, dark murders with great stunt work leading to a fun end showdown that ties it all up nicely!

Black Moon Rising is well worth the watch and still entertains almost 30 years later...