Lua Negra: O Super Carro

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.

Great film that takes me back to the '80s in a good way.

I agree with the positive reviews already posted and fondly remember "Black Moon Rising" projected on the giant screen at the Virgina Theater in Champaign, IL. The car chase scenes are tremendous and they don't trash the Dodge Daytona Turbo. I was driving the same car at the time and it has always been my favorite vehicle.

Considering the participation of John Carpenter and Roger Corman it really is a "good little film" as everyone seem to call it. New World released several of these small gems in the '80s. "The Philadelphia Experiment" and "Eddie and the Cruisers" come to mind. Small budgets, great stories and terrific acting in films that actually improve with age.

Any film with Tommy Lee Jones is worth a look and Linda Hamilton is always a looker. Check it out.

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.

No Tommy Lee Jones fan should miss this outing. While it's not great cinema, it IS great fun. The action is top-notch and the characters are appealing. The relationship between Jones and Hamilton is surprising well-balanced for an 80s action film and some of the lines are definitely ones to put in the memory bank and quote. It has a bit of everything for a fun rent (or purchase) - action, romance, coldly wicked villains, a flawed hero, a strong heroine, humor and a bit of pathos. (Watch the emotions play across Jones' face in his conversation with Keenan Wynn.) It's a favorite in my circle of film fans.

Ho hum, another 80's supercar movie... no wait, that's Tommy Lee Jones. And Linda Hamilton. And the car doesn't get all that much screen time! Wait, could this be a (gasp!) real movie? Yes!

The car (an aircraft-composite alternate-fuel vehicle named "Black Moon") doesn't get much in the way of road time, as it's the target of some ne-er-do-well car thieves early in the flick. But Tommy Lee's got to get something he dropped back... and it's in the car. And what's this? The car theft ringleader (Robert Vaughn) is a white-collar corporate type who's not about to just let it be driven away? Hrmm... this isn't sounding like our usual crash-em-up plot here. Lots of intrigue, quite a bit of steamy interaction between Jones and Hamilton, and some wonderful stuntwork (including jumping a car from one skyscraper to another). Definitely worth a couple of bucks at the video store for a few nights.