Sans issue

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...

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.

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.

"Black Moon Rising" is a formulaic and predictable but nevertheless entertaining and fast-paced thriller based on a story originally written by no less than John Carpenter. Apparently he wrote it in the 70's already, but the content was admirably processed and adapted in order for the events to take place in a typically 80's setting with even faster cars and contemporary hot starlets like Linda Hamilton that are, in fact, most unattractive by today's standards. Tommy Lee Jones, on the other, rarely looked cooler than here in his role as super-thief Sam Quint. Quint is hired to steal a tape containing evidence against a dodgy company, but quickly finds himself chased by the company's fanatic security guards as well as his governmental employer. Quint hides the tape inside a prototype race car (one that reaches up to 350mph!), but before he has a proper opportunity to recover it, the wheels get stolen by a professionally organized syndicate of car thieves. That's how Quint meets and gradually falls for Hamilton's character Nina, as she's a sly and experienced kleptomaniac! "Black Moon Rising" is a prototypic example of an action movie in which one little handling (like hiding a tape in the truck of a car) snowballs into a gigantic avalanche of clichéd but even so enjoyable situations until a grotesque finale is inevitable. In this case the finale involves an impressive piece of stunt car driving at great height. Literally! It's a forgettable and lightweight 80's action movie, but Harry Cokeliss' direction is fairly competent and the dull moments can easily be count on the fingers of one hand. Robert Vaughn is on automatic pilot (pun intended) in his confident role of relentless crime boss and there are some neat cameos from familiar names like Keenan Wynn, William Sanderson and Richard Jaeckal. Nothing special, but definitely a fine choice if you seek mindless rainy-Sunday afternoon entertainment.

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.