Moonbase

While not the worst Sci-Fi movie I've ever seen it definitely isn't good. Special effects are bad which is to be expected with a movie of this caliber. The acting is decent for a B-movie which thankfully prevents this film from being totally unwatchable. The plot isn't particularly engaging, just a b-movie rehash of a prisoner escape attempt with a few other movie clichés thrown in. The whole movie reeks of the 80s, which is weird considering it came out in 1997. It's more entertaining than watching paint dry but I wouldn't put it on my list of maybe watch again movies. If you have absolutely nothing else going on and you're bored out of the gourd there are a lot worst things to watch.

No Fireworks Despite Violent Action.

Science fiction films that reflect quality are scarce indeed, largely because transposal of imaginative themes from the genre to the screen too often falls short of effective execution as a result of insufficient funding or inadequate invention, and unfortunately for its producers, this work is lacking on both counts, woefully so in the case of the latter. With essentially no budget with which to operate, it is a grave mistake to attempt the depiction of such a gamut of events as those within this scenario and, in particular, special effects of space opera warfare which appear only clownish, while seeds from the scriptors' imagination lie fallow due to some of the most fatuous misunderstanding of basic scientific principles to be found. Among these are frequent firing of weapons within a sealed environment, and a wayward law of gravity which enables freedom of movement of cast members while inanimate objects float weightlessly, but it is easier to accept these than it is to pretend that any of the episodes have a basis in plausibility. The plot involves an escape of life sentenced prisoners from a space station penal colony to a waste landfill upon our moon and their various attempts to obtain passage back to Earth, with some few capable players present who are execrably directed by first-timer Paolo Mazzucato, whose production team wastes effort upon such as holographic pornography while ignoring a pressing and basic requirement for the creation of states of suspense and of impetus.

After a daring prison break, a group of dangerous convicts stows away on a trash-disposal pod headed for the Moon. Upon their arrival, they encounter a visiting team of soldiers.

Let the explosions and karate begin!

MOONBASE is an average low-budget production. All of the basic elements of such films are included: Stock sci-fi characters, a government conspiracy, a doomsday scenario, etc. There's even a rekindled romance between two ex-lovers. In spaaace!

This movie's problem lies in its many stretches of tedium in between action sequences. These could / should have been shortened to help numb some of the pain! The bad guys tend to hide most of the time, only emerging for brief encounters of violence.

Fans of unnecessary nudity will rejoice during the naked hologram scene...

A nice little story about self-sacrifice and redemption disguised as a low-budget sci-fi shoot-em-up. While most of the special effects are a little cheesy, the characters and storytelling are solid. Scott Plank in the lead is both heroic and vulnerable, Jocelyn Seagrave is both ballsy and tender (easy on the eyes, too). The director does a nice job with both the action and drama, and there are even a few great comic moments (the "real" Neil Armstrong story). Revelations, about the characters' past, add some emotional layers to the movie, and a couple of fun twists help round it out as well. Check out Robert O'Reilley (StarTrek's Klingon "Gow-ron") as the main bad guy (He's pretty intense as a cold-blooded convict desperate to highjack his way back to earth).

This seemingly unaffiliated space drama, borrows from everyone but is a more than adequate representation of the genre. Nothing new here, but you keep trying to pick where you have seen 'that' before. Great entertainment when scheduled late-night Wimbledon coverage has been washed out.