Blu-Ray Review:
Moon
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 89% Fresh: 144 Rotten: 18
It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth's primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of Sarang, the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond Gerty, the faceless well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer. Suddenly, Sam's health starts to deteriorate. Painful headaches, hallucinations and a lack of focus lead to an almost fatal accident on a routine drive on the moon in a lunar rover. While recuperating back at the base (with no memory of how he got there), Sam meets a younger, angrier version of himself, who claims to be there to fulfill the same three year contract Sam started all those years ago.
Confined with what appears to be a clone of his earlier self, and with a support crew on its way to help put the base back into productive order, Sam is fighting the clock to discover what's going on and where he fits into company plans. --© Sony Pictures Classics
Rarely do we see Hollywood produce a film like Moon. It is not a big blockbuster, there isn't a lot of action, and it's the type of Sci-fi we are missing. It reminds me a lot of Stanley Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey". Sam Rockwell gives us an Oscar worthy performance. He is so good at playing the lonely inhabitant of this space station. When the radar's out live communication is not available, he has to rely on taped communication. The only person he really has to talk to is the computer named "Gerty" voiced by Kevin Spacey. You really get a sense watching this film what it would be like to be stuck somewhere far from home with nobody to talk to, and nothing to do but your job. I could see how one could start to get paranoid very easily. I can't go to much into the film because it would give things away, but it's been a long time since I have seen a movie like this, and with the buzz surrounding this one let's hope they do more of it. Sci-fi doesn't always have to be spaceships and laser beams to be a thoughtful and engaging story.
9 out of 10
Video
Moon arrives on Blu-ray with an out of this world 2:40.1 1080p transfer. Now don't get me wrong, the movie has a very bland almost sterile look to it. But this is done on purpose. The environments are mostly white with grays and blacks. But the transfer does an excellent job mimicking the directors intent and giving us a very film-like image. Detail for the most part is amazing. When nearing the harvesters on the moon they are spitting out rocks and debris. When they hit the moons surface you can see every little detail. Also when Sam starts to get sick, you can see blood soaked clothes in startling detail. The interiors of the station are again mostly white. So I won't be going on about how the colours look. Going back to detail again you can see scratches and general wear and tear on the computer named "Gerty". Flesh tones are accurate and get pale as Sam's health deteriorates. Overall I though the transfer on this film was really well done.
9 out of 10
Audio
Just like the video the audio is nothing flashy, but is exactly how things should sound. We get a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that does a spectacular job with the source material. I had to look up who did the score for the movie, Clint Mansell's awesome score is very haunting and brings the loneliness of space to life. The LFE channel is there when it needs to be. Whether it's providing weight to closing doors or when the lunar rover crashes. The rear channels again are only active when they need to be. You can hear the music flowing through them at all times, but when an alarm goes off they blare from all sides. One thing I did notice was very subtle effects that you might miss if you were not listening for them. Like the buzz of an overhead light. Dialogue is clear whether its coming from Sam or Gerty. Just like the video the audio is fantastic in it's own right.
9 out of 10
Extras
Here is what is included in the way of extras:
Commentary Tracks:
Track 1: Writer/Director Duncan Jones, Director of Photography Gary Shaw, Concept Designer Gavin Rothery, and Production Designer Tony Noble
Track 2: Writer/Director Duncan Jones and Producer Stuart Fenegan
Whistle (short film)
The Making of 'Moon'
Creating the Visual Effects
Science Center Q&A With Director Duncan Jones
Filmmaker's Q&A At the Sundance Film Festival
BD-Live
Moon arrives on Blu-ray with a decent set of extras. My only gripe is a common one and that is that most of the features are in SD. For the commentaries I thought Track 2 was the more interesting. I think because it's more to the point than the first one. If you have limited time and you want to listen to only one, my recommendation is Track 2. I enjoyed "The Making of Moon". This is a to the point breakdown of what they had to do to create this film. They discuss the shooting process, design, and more and they talk to cast and crew as well. I also enjoyed listening to the Q&A features both at the Science Center and the Sundance Film Festival. The first is at the Houston space center after a screening of Moon and the other is with a large audience at the Sundance Film Festival. I enjoyed both of them. I thought the visuals in this film were really cool. All the shots of the moon and even the interiors of the space station were well done. "Creating the Visual Effects" looks at how they went about creating the look of the film.
With all the extras make sure you have watched the film first or you might get spoilers you don't want to hear.
7 out of 10
Overall
This is a fine piece of Sci-Fi and one that deserves to be in your library at home. You get great visuals and great audio and a decent collection of extras to go with it. Overall I think Sony has done a wonderful job with this release.
9 out of 10