MOON: DVD / Blu-Ray review

Written specifically for Sam Rockwell after conversations with Duncan Jones where they discussed their favourite Sci-Fi films (Blade Runner, Silent Running, Outlands, Alien)

MOON stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, nearing the end of his contract with the mining company, Lunar Industries, for whom he has been a faithful employee for three long years. His home has been Sarang, a moon base where he has spent his days alone mining Helium 3, the precious gas that holds the key to solving Earth's energy crisis.

Isolated and determined, Sam has followed the rules obediently and his time on the moon has been enlightening but uneventful. He does his job mechanically and spends most of his time dreaming of his imminent return to earth, his wife and young daughter. Finally he will have someone to talk to beyond "Gerty" (Kevin Spacey), the base's robot assistant.

Two weeks shy of his departure from Sarang, Sam starts seeing and hearing things and begins to question the nature of reality, and his very existence.

Sam Rockwell puts in a stunning performance as Sam Bell (in more ways than one), and he has to, he is the only actor on screen for the vast majority of the film. It is one of those rare performances that allows you to empathise completely with the character, to feel for Sam and his circumstances and forget you are watching an actor. A performance that has started to gain attention as one worthy of an Academy Award nomination.

MOON was completed for just under $5,000,000 but it certainly does not look like it was made on the cheap, incredible skill has been exercised in the making of this film, utilising every trick in the book to make us believe we are there, on the Moon with Sam. Fantastic use of model miniatures for the external shots of the lunar landscape and Sarang mixed with just over 400 visual effects shots give MOON a real old school Sci-Fi feel that has been sadly missing from the genre. Indeed Sci-Fi fans will have fun picking up on the various homages paid to the classics of the genre throughout the film.

A lovely performance from Kevin Spacey as the voice of Sam's companion robot Gerty increases the feeling of quality throughout, and everything is pulled together with an absolutely incredible score by Clint Mansell.

Disc extras are the same on both formats. As well as two great commentaries, one with Jones and crew (very funny), and one with Jones and producer Stuart Fenegan (excellent also), you will be treated to a 'Making Of MOON' featurette, a visual effects featurette, two Director Q&A sessions from MOON screenings and another short film 'Whistle' written and directed by Duncan Jones as well.

MOON is one of those films where all the ingredients have combined to deliver an end product greater than the sum of it's parts, and watching the wonderful extras really brings home the amount of effort, blood, sweat & tears have gone into making this very ambitious first feature, many nods to a Sci-Fi past, and a big pointer to the future of a Director with huge potential.

Here is a great featurette where Duncan Jones talks about making MOON