A space salvage expert and his partner become involved with a group of criminals intent on hijacking a small asteroid made of sapphire and crashing it into the moon.A space salvage expert and his partner become involved with a group of criminals intent on hijacking a small asteroid made of sapphire and crashing it into the moon.A space salvage expert and his partner become involved with a group of criminals intent on hijacking a small asteroid made of sapphire and crashing it into the moon.
Catherine Schell
- Clem Taplin
- (as Catherina von Schell)
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Moon Zero Two boasts a standard Western movie plot-a battle over mining rights -and simply transposes the story to the Moon .You can even see the main character ,Captain Kemp as a variation on the archetypal drifting cowboy,except that it is the deep range of space rather than the prairie that forms his environment. He is engaged by multi- billionaire J J Hubbard (Warren Mitchell )to bring back a rogue asteroid made from pure sapphire and land it on a remote part of the moon.He is also assisting the bewitching Clementine -fetchingly portrayed by Catherine Von Schell-to locate her brother who has gone missing on the moon .The plot strands are linked when it is revealed that he has been killed by Hubbard's minions as Hubbard needs the area of the claim to land the asteroid on.
The look and feel of the movie are very late 60's -bright colours;"dolly girl "hairdos and clothes for the women, and the "swinging" muzak like noise that passed for soundtrack music in the lesser movies of the day. The action scenes are awful-a bar room brawl is about the worst committed to celluloid ,and a shoot out with the bad guys on the abandoned mining site is stupendously lacking in excitement or pace. Add some poor acting in most of the roles --I except Warren Mitchell and Schell -and the result is tiresome and lacking in flair or pace
Treasure Hammer Movies for the horror movies they did and forgive them this misfire
The look and feel of the movie are very late 60's -bright colours;"dolly girl "hairdos and clothes for the women, and the "swinging" muzak like noise that passed for soundtrack music in the lesser movies of the day. The action scenes are awful-a bar room brawl is about the worst committed to celluloid ,and a shoot out with the bad guys on the abandoned mining site is stupendously lacking in excitement or pace. Add some poor acting in most of the roles --I except Warren Mitchell and Schell -and the result is tiresome and lacking in flair or pace
Treasure Hammer Movies for the horror movies they did and forgive them this misfire
"Moon zero two" does not deserve such a low rating ;it is very entertaining ,its screenplay -which sometimes looks like a sci -fi western: the "saloon" and the 'gold digger " brother - is never dull;it even displays some humor :the "Moonopoly" is a very good idea! The two plots -although implausible- are smartly connected.The special effects are not bad for the time ,considering a relatively low budget.Actually it could be a comic ,a Flash Gordon adventure ;if you are looking for "2001" ,you 'd better move on ;but if you simply want to have a good time,you can watch it.
The only real horror is the cartoon of the cast and credits and an awful song.
The only real horror is the cartoon of the cast and credits and an awful song.
This is not actually that bad a film, if you take away the stupid bits and ignore some of the wooden acting. But I'm afraid it hasn't stood the test of time that well, thanks largely to the awful music and costumes on show here. If you can ignore those, the story isn't too bad.
It's always interesting in these types of movies to do the "Hey! Isn't that...!" thing when the actors appear. Here we have Warren Mitchell as the bad guy.....who went on to play Alf Garnett in "Til Death do Us PArt" in the same year as this film, and for many years after. Also here is Catherine Schell, of Space 1999 fame. Of course the main star here, James Olsen, is probably more familiar from his roles in The Andromeda Strain a couple of years later, or the Arnie vehicle, Commando, some time later. Also present is that stalwart of Carry On movies, Bernard Bresslaw.
Of course, this movie has its bad points. The least of which is the music. It's just so 60's its almost criminal. Add to that, the PVC clothes which we all will apparently wear in the future, along with the garish, often lop-sided wigs (which must have been re-used in UFO, methinks) and you have a film which will always be dated to the time it was made.
Other bad points include the acting. I won't go into the many instances but at one point big Bernie Bresslaw (who plays a heavy) has to look bored and almost asleep during the plot exposition by the bad guy's scientist. He does this so well that you think he really is bored of the film, not the scene he's in.
The science isn't too bad for a film of this era. No one wandering about on the lunar surface without a helmet, for instance, or other foolishness.
But unfortunately, the costumes, wigs and music will always make this movie a bit of a chuckle. I suspect this was something of an experiment by Hammer, to see if they could break out of the horror genre. I don't know how well it went down at the time, but I guess it wasn't that well, as I can't recall any other Hammer sci-fi projects.
Anyway, a dated piece, but worth a look if there's nothing better on (or you just want to laugh at 60's fashions).
It's always interesting in these types of movies to do the "Hey! Isn't that...!" thing when the actors appear. Here we have Warren Mitchell as the bad guy.....who went on to play Alf Garnett in "Til Death do Us PArt" in the same year as this film, and for many years after. Also here is Catherine Schell, of Space 1999 fame. Of course the main star here, James Olsen, is probably more familiar from his roles in The Andromeda Strain a couple of years later, or the Arnie vehicle, Commando, some time later. Also present is that stalwart of Carry On movies, Bernard Bresslaw.
Of course, this movie has its bad points. The least of which is the music. It's just so 60's its almost criminal. Add to that, the PVC clothes which we all will apparently wear in the future, along with the garish, often lop-sided wigs (which must have been re-used in UFO, methinks) and you have a film which will always be dated to the time it was made.
Other bad points include the acting. I won't go into the many instances but at one point big Bernie Bresslaw (who plays a heavy) has to look bored and almost asleep during the plot exposition by the bad guy's scientist. He does this so well that you think he really is bored of the film, not the scene he's in.
The science isn't too bad for a film of this era. No one wandering about on the lunar surface without a helmet, for instance, or other foolishness.
But unfortunately, the costumes, wigs and music will always make this movie a bit of a chuckle. I suspect this was something of an experiment by Hammer, to see if they could break out of the horror genre. I don't know how well it went down at the time, but I guess it wasn't that well, as I can't recall any other Hammer sci-fi projects.
Anyway, a dated piece, but worth a look if there's nothing better on (or you just want to laugh at 60's fashions).
Ah, the year was 1969. Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. I was 11 and eating up any science fiction I could. When I saw the advertisement for this movie I HAD to see it. So I had my mom take me and a friend to see it.
Yeah, it was kind of hokey, but I didn't notice that when I was 11. I simply thought it was plain cool. Besides, the larger Lunar Module looked pretty darn impressive. And the main actor, James Olsen, had been in Andromeda Strain a year earlier.
So, is it worth checking out now, circa 2001? Yeah, if you can catch it on cable or maybe the Sci-Fi Channel, it'd be worth a look. Just to see how events were extrapolated from the reality of 1969. Sadly, the politicians killed Apollo just when they were getting good at going to interesting places on the moon, i.e. Apollo 17 at Taurus-Littrow - incredible scenery. So we never established a moon base like the one in the movie. Sad.
It is indeed a "Western" set on the moon. You'll love the bar scene and all the women. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but hey, this was the sixties, and even 11 year old boys liked girls in mini-skirts. So, if you ever have a chance to catch it, grab a six-pack, sit down, and enjoy.
Yeah, it was kind of hokey, but I didn't notice that when I was 11. I simply thought it was plain cool. Besides, the larger Lunar Module looked pretty darn impressive. And the main actor, James Olsen, had been in Andromeda Strain a year earlier.
So, is it worth checking out now, circa 2001? Yeah, if you can catch it on cable or maybe the Sci-Fi Channel, it'd be worth a look. Just to see how events were extrapolated from the reality of 1969. Sadly, the politicians killed Apollo just when they were getting good at going to interesting places on the moon, i.e. Apollo 17 at Taurus-Littrow - incredible scenery. So we never established a moon base like the one in the movie. Sad.
It is indeed a "Western" set on the moon. You'll love the bar scene and all the women. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but hey, this was the sixties, and even 11 year old boys liked girls in mini-skirts. So, if you ever have a chance to catch it, grab a six-pack, sit down, and enjoy.
This is one of the few Hammer films that (to my knowledge) never made it on to VHS. Now with Anchor Bay releasing most of the Hammer Collection on to DVD, I'd like to see them release this one as well.
I saw this in 1970 when I was a little kid, and one of the most hilarious things I remember about it was seeing the rock band from the time period when the movie was in production, playing as aged old men rock stars in the future. It kinda reminds me of the old rock stars from the 60s and 70s playing the same thing today, who haven't changed at all except their age.
I'm not gonna rate it at this time because I haven't seen it in so long, but I'll be looking forward to it if and when it comes out. Just don't take it seriously like some of the other reviews below. It's only escapist fare.
And never mind the MST2K crap. The film isn't that bad to deserve that kind of treatment.
I saw this in 1970 when I was a little kid, and one of the most hilarious things I remember about it was seeing the rock band from the time period when the movie was in production, playing as aged old men rock stars in the future. It kinda reminds me of the old rock stars from the 60s and 70s playing the same thing today, who haven't changed at all except their age.
I'm not gonna rate it at this time because I haven't seen it in so long, but I'll be looking forward to it if and when it comes out. Just don't take it seriously like some of the other reviews below. It's only escapist fare.
And never mind the MST2K crap. The film isn't that bad to deserve that kind of treatment.
Did you know
- TriviaThe film's lunar surface sets and models were so well done some were re-used in other television productions for many years afterwards, appearing in the likes of UFO (1970), Moonbase 3 (1973) and Space: 1999 (1975), as well as the feature films Superman II (1980), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) and as recently as Duncan Jones' debut film Moon (2009).
- GoofsAt the end of the opening credits the two astronauts are dumped into the "Capernicus Garbage Dump" Assuming it was named after the famous astronomer and mathematician, the correct spelling would be Copernicus.
- Crazy creditsWith the permission of John Waddington Limited, the game Moonopoly is based upon the property trading game marketed by them under their registered trade name, 'Monopoly'.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Moon Zero Two (1990)
- SoundtracksMoon Zero Two
Sung by Julie Driscoll
- How long is Moon Zero Two?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- £500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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