Beyond the Rising Moon

This is obviously a very low-budget independent film, but it's orders of magnitude better than most movies of its type. The story is pretty cliché, but solidly told; the actors are good (not great, but good) and the SFX are respectable for the era and budget. Pentan (the lead character) is an artificial human who wants to be free. Her escape from the rat race is far more difficult that yours or mine, but her motivation is stronger. Most of us are wage slaves, she is a real slave, and I was rooting for her from the start. I didn't like the fact that the antagonists are pure blackguards – they never waver nor question their own motives – they are driven by profit and refuse to give an inch. I can't say there are any surprises in this video, except that it's better than you might expect, and I'd like to see what it would look like with a decent budget and top grade actors.

Pentan (Tracy Davis) is a genetically-modified, lab-grown assassin working for one of the mega-corporations that rule the known galaxy a hundred years from now. When an alien artifact is discovered on a distant world, she goes rogue to try and secure it for her own and try to win her freedom. Also featuring a bunch of people you've never heard of.

This film was made on a shoestring independently by people who seem to have really cared about it. Visually it lifts a lot of its style from Blade Runner and Dune, while the script borrows heavily from the works of William Gibson and Frederik Pohl. The extensive miniature work is both laudable and laughable, and it has a certain charm. It's a shame that the pacing and the performances couldn't have been better, though. Apparently this was re-released in the mid-00's under the title Outerworld with extensive editing and effects work being replaced with CGI, to the film's detriment. That's only what I've read though, as I haven't seen that newer version, nor am I inclined to.

I happen to like miniature F/X when done well and while this movie sort of tips its hand that you're looking at miniatures, I liked the overall visual feel. I think some of the F/X were probably handled with very early CG mixed in (if anyone knows I'd be interested to know). There are some decent "dog fights" between the spaceships and a few good action sequences.

Overall, where the movie's lower budget showed through in my mind, was with the audio and acting. The one thing that can'e be chalked up to it having been done over 20 years ago is the acting. At times it just screams "B-movie!", but as another reviewer said, that adds to the charm. If you like older sci-fi and movies with their own stylized atmosphere, you'll probably enjoy this film.

I saw this on TV as Outerworld. The special effects seem dated, but were actually decent for a 1987 low-budget movie. The story involves an "artificial human" engineered for "corporate warfare" including stealing, killing and seducing. However, Pentan (Tracy Davis) decides she is tired of killing for the corporation's profit, and wants to be free. She obtains information very important to her employer, but doesn't turn it over. The rest would be spoilers.

This was apparently Ms. Davis' first big role, and she was apparently out of the business eight years later. She is well-suited for this character, and has a striking appearance, in a good way. Later roles were as "sales clerk" and "store manager" which is too bad; I would have enjoyed seeing her in something substantial.

Originally released in 1987 as "Star Quest: Beyond The Rising Moon", this movie is a minor indie triumph with ambitious and charming old school, "Space:1999"-style model work and effects supporting stiff performances, pedestrian direction, and a derivative, predictable screenplay. That version is currently available on Youtube.

The "Outerworld" version now on Netflix and other sources is an appalling attempt to update and revise the film a la George Lucas's tweaks to the original STAR WARS trilogy and is about a thousand times less successful (and Lucas attempts were abject failures). No attempt has been made to mesh the original effects with the tacky and immediately-dated 2005 CGI and the film source appears to come from a very dated, late 1980s master. At the very least, a new film scan should have been struck and the original, unadulterated version made available to exist along side this "special edition" abortion but that is not the case. Ugh.