3.5/4  Marvelous Moon Madness
"Moon" is essentially "Cast Away" in space and a rather impressive film to boot. "Moon" exceeds as a drama, mystery and a sci-fi film. With a 15 million dollar budget, "Moon" shows you get a lot of a little. ( Michael Bay...please take no... (read full)

3/4  Solid as The Moon
An interesting movie. It is good and I am really glad more and more movies are coming out like this. In fact, the best movie of 2009 so far. First we had "The Fountain" and then we had the amazing "Sunshine." Though this is not as good a... (read full)

3.5/4  Moon
Moon is a story about a man, Sam Bell, who works on a moon base in absolute solitude; he only has a robot for company (voice by Kevin Spacey). Sam has been working there totally alone for almost three years and two weeks before his contrac... (read full)

5/5 Good Sci-Fi movies don't need to cost billions
  by Reviewer
"Moon" does precisely what a good Sci-Fi should do: keep you suspended to the end. It will surprise you, too.

Great little story from not-so-distant future, great acting, great treat for a lazy winter evening.

5/5 Spoiler-free review -- A fun and unexpected little sci-fi surprise
  by buru buru piggu (New York, NY USA)
It was easy to dismiss Moon as a 2001: A Space Odyssey clone based on the trailers, claustrophobic space station setting and the HAL 9000-like robot assistant (GERTY). It is a surprisingly fun space mystery and I'm glad I was wrong. The film opens with a commercial from Lunar Industries, promising a safe, dependable, and clean energy source from the moon. Then it cuts right to the lunar surface where astronaut/miner Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is preparing a cargo of helium for launch back to Earth.

With 2 weeks left of his contract, he is more than ready to go home. Living in isolation on the dark side of the moon for the past 3 years, with the satellite dish down, his only link with Earth are company transmissions, delayed TV feeds of sporting events, and the occasional pre-recorded video relay from his wife. With not another living soul on the moon, Sam occupies himself by talking to his plants, carving a miniature model of his town, and talking to GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Sam thinks he's going insane from the psychological stress of isolation and starts seeing things. He scalds his hand on boiling water and later causes a serious crash with his rover, knocking out one of the giant combine harvesters. This is where the real mystery begins, as Sam discovers that he is not alone. I won't spoil the surprise, but what follows is an entertaining and suspenseful experience.

GERTY's monotone diction, calm demeanor, and design are unmistakably inspired by HAL 9000, a perhaps deliberate decision by the filmmakers to heighten the sense of mystery and play on our preconceived notions of the sci-fi genre built up by other films. He also has a camera "eye" like the HAL, and we've also seen the maniacal ship's AI Otto from Wall-E. We don't know if GERTY's pleasantly warm voice and smiley face LCD display means he is genuinely helpful or if he's concealing a secret agenda. Director Duncan Jones is using our expectations against us, and this is part of the fun of unraveling the drama of Moon.

The film draws influences from other films like Blade Runner, Aliens, and of course, 2001 (whose vision of the future is clean and white interiors with bright lights) and Silent Running. With a 90 min runtime, the film is short. Made on a tiny budget (by today's standards) of $5 million, it is carried by the remarkable performance of Rockwell whose shows many sides of the Sam character. Interiors are very convincingly designed, with some lunar surface shots and CG that are perhaps a bit too heavy on lens flare. Except one instance of backal nudity (unfortunately, it's from Rockwell and not the lovely Dominique McElligott), a scene of nasty vomiting and a fist-fight, nothing too graphic is shown. The ending could've used maybe 3-5 minutes more of exposition as it did feel a bit rushed, but don't let me dissuade you from watching this wonderful film. A totally worthwhile way to spend movie night. 4.5/5

5/5 Probably one of the best movies of the year if not the best
  by Huntress (Vienna, Austria)
I have seen a lot of movies this year and "Moon" is one of the few that I truly and thoroughly enjoyed. I don't even know where to begin with my praise. It is hard for me to believe that this movie was made on the meagre budget of only 5 million Dollars! Most Hollywood directors would have a laughing fit and say it is impossible to make a movie with pocket money like that, but "Moon" doesn't look cheap. Not one bit. It is a very sleek movie. The SFX are not used to dazzle but to enhance the look and turn the already wonderful set of a lunar base into something that really sits on the moon. It is re-freshing to have a SciFi movie in which the SFX take a back seat. The score by Clint Mansell is a beautiful understated affair that fits perfectly to the tone of the overall story. No. This movie is not cheap. It is elegant and Duncan Jones and the whole production team need to be congratulated for this amazing achievement!

For Sam Rockwell the movie is a tour de force. This is a one man show and it could have gone all horribly wrong with a less talented actor, but his acting just blew me away. I am hoping against hope that this movie will have a wider release. So far it has been only shown on various film festivals like the Viennale, Sundance or Tribeca and only had a wider release in the UK. I really do not want to see this movie to become an insider like "The Fall". It really deserves recognition. It doesn't happen very often, that a movie this good comes along and Sam Rockwell and Duncan Jones should receive at least some awards. I will cross my fingers.


5/5 orginal and intelligent
  by Richard Almasi (Europa)
If you belong to the category of people who measure all new sci-fi against classics such as 2001, Alien, Blade Runner, Startrek etc. to judge their quality...you should really have a look at 'Moon'.

The story is highly original and refreshing, and the acting by Sam Rockwell is just amazing...I have only seen him once before as the bad-guy in a Charlies Angels movie (don't ask...), his acting in this film is impressive.
This film could easily have become a silly and stupid thing in the wrong hands. But even though it is comical at times, through the absurdity of the situation, it keeps a mature and intelligent tone, with a story that becomes very touching as the film progresses.
The film evolves from something simple into something engaging.

5/5 Nostalgic Sci-Fi Flick
  by Castaway Reviewer (Tyler, Texas)
I loved this movie. Felt like I was back in the 1970's watching a big budget Sci-fi flick. Very entertaining with an excellent, thought provoking plot. Well done!