The Science Fiction Review Movies,Technology Moon (2009) directed by Duncan Jones

Moon (2009) directed by Duncan Jones

Book Cover

I remember sometime this year seeing Moon (2009) in a list of “must see” Sci-Fi films that were recently released. I had never heard of it, yet it seems to have had excellent reviews. The premise is that there are moon bases that harvest hydrogen energy and send it back to Earth to provide for 75% of the planet. Most of the operations are automated, however one person is needed to manage a base. I was worried at first because the story started out rather slow. Soon after I started to worry, the mysteries began to unfold and I was hooked.

I was expecting the base to be under low gravity, but it was under normal Earth gravity. This bothered me for just a little while until I remember that in just about every Sci-Fi movie or TV show, the creators choose to just assume Earth gravity on ships. Why should a moon base be any different? I just convinced myself that they had some type of gravity field generator or something, then went back to focusing on what mattered, the plot. The special effects are minimalistic, but not cheesy. Moon seemed to me to be the opposite of 2012, which had amazing special effects but such a thin plot that it was comical.

Many of the reviews I’ve seen have compared this movie to 2001: A Space Odyssey. I would argue that there really are only two similarities: there is an astronaut; there is an artificial intelligence. GERTY, the robot, has a physical manifestation complete with graphical emoticons, rather than being a just a glowing red eye (HAL-9000). The plot is completely different, but still psychological in nature. Sam Rockwell did a very good job playing the astronaut, Sam Bell. I didn’t realize that Kevin Spacey did the voice of GERTY until the credits. After going back to a few scenes, it seems like they modulated Spacey’s voice to make it more robotic. I think that is why I didn’t recognize it. I’m not complaining, just making an observation. Anyway, this is one of the best Sci-Fi movies I’ve seen in a long time. I highly recommend watching this. If you have Netflix, it is included in the free streaming service, so you have no excuse not to watch.

1 thought on “Moon (2009) directed by Duncan Jones”

  1. I agree wholeheartedly, this is one of the best science fiction films to come out in a long time. One of the best ever, truly. I was engaged from start to finish and hope to get a copy for Christmas as I am wanting to watch it again. Glad to read that you enjoyed it and that it wasn’t overhyped to the point of it affecting your experience.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please prove you are a human * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Post

Real Steel (2011) Directed by Shawn LevyReal Steel (2011) Directed by Shawn Levy

DVD Cover
I saw a preview for Real Steel a while back and completely forgot about it until I noticed it at my local Redbox. I didn’t really have high expectations of the movie, but I love robots, so checked it out. Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) plays Charlie Kenton, a washed up boxer that now competes in humanoid robot battles. After the embarrassing destruction of yet another robot, some guys track him down and tell him his ex wife died and now custody of his 11 year old son Max falls to him. His sister-in-law that wants custody, and Charlie wants nothing to do with the kid. Just as he is about to sign over custody, he notices she is married to some rich old guy. Seeing an opportunity to buy another robot, Charlie makes a secret deal for 100K to sign over custody. Conveniently, the rich husband is planning a trip to Europe, so doesn’t want the kid quite yet. The deal is 50K now, 50K at the end of the summer. Charlie reluctantly takes Max on the road to explore the underworld of robot boxing.
(more…)

Transformers (2007)Transformers (2007)

Released July 3, 2007 (IMDb)

I have found myself not going to movies in the theater much lately, mostly because I don’t think that they would be worth the price of admission. I refuse to pay for candy and drinks at outrageous prices, so I find watching a movie at home on DVD with a pizza or cheese sticks is a much better deal. Transformers was one of the movies I didn’t want to wait and watch on DVD. I didn’t really follow the early production closely, but when I saw the trailer I knew I had to see it in the theater. (more…)

Willow Garage to make domestic robot development open sourceWillow Garage to make domestic robot development open source

I found this C|Net news article via Slashdot talking about a company named Willow Garage that hopes to develop domestic robots, autonomous boats, and autonomous cars. I’m especially interested in this development since I’m such a fan of Asimov, who is attributed to first using the term ‘robotics’. I’m not sure that there will be any sentient robots any time soon, but I’m glad to see that the development information will be open source. I think that keeping the design specifications open will be a good thing, rather then keep them secret which could lead to a monopoly like US Robotics and Mechanical Men in Asimov’s writing.

How far do you think robotics will have progressed 10, 20, or even 50 years from now? I’m interested in reading your comments about this.