I read these other reviews of this film here and see where people who wish to come across as Oh-So-Savvy and smart, condescendingly make fun of the period look, the soundtrack, and the costumes. 'Oh yes, by all means, let's show everyone how chic and up to date we are...' I swear, I don't know whether to be more disgusted at the shallowness or the stupidity. It truly is a toss up...
Anyway, that is PRECISELY why I personally read EXTERNAL reviews of films here on IMDb; and, along those lines, I became aware of this very little known film by way of the excellent MORIA movie review site, which I consult regularly about any and all Horror and Sci Fi films. I don't always agree with the fellow there and sometimes I quite violently disagree with him (such as with 'THE HAUNTING' (1999) and 'THE LOST BOYS') However, he has a very nice three star review of this film and I pretty much agree with his assessment. YES, of course the film was made in 19 frigg'n 69 for God's sake, so give it a break. OF COURSE it's gonna look like the period; but, I'll tell you that it looks a HELL of a LOT better than any film made around 1978 or so which when I see the 'styles' and look of that period I immediately and simultaneously lose consciousness and take a colossal dump in my pants.
Sorry... I got a bit off track there. So, as I was saying... As Richard says at MORIA, it IS a bloody HAMMER film after all and the script is quite solid, really. The story is very engaging and the acting and direction are a LOT better than a number of other horribly goofy films made around that time. With an obviously severely limited budget, I think that they did quite well with the look and design of the Lunar buildings, machinery, and landscape. They did the best they could with the cinematography, clearly taking a lot of effort to make the best out of what they had.
I really enjoyed the soundtrack (another thing that some mindlessly tasteless @sshole reviewer snidely and contemptuously said to 'ignore'. GEEZ, is it REALLY illegal to kill people like that...?) Anyway, seriously, the soundtrack went everywhere from Psychodelic power pop to sounding like Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock, to Jazz Flute, you name it. Not bad at all. Even the 'dancing girls' kind of had a seductive charm. What is amazing is that this film was made at that time and with this very low of a budget and yet it always seems to stay (just barely) this side of CHEEEEEEEZ.
You know what it sort of reminded me of, especially being a British production, is the most excellent and truly hip UFO series, which I dearly love. It wasn't THAT sexy, but I will tell you that in my lowly and wretched opinion the mood, style, execution, and design were frigg'n LIGHT YEARS & orders of magnitude better than Gerry Anderson's later series SPACE 1999. GEEZ that was a real stink'n turkey in just about every way.
No, I think what really kept this one entertaining and engaging was that it was seriously and competently done. Roy Ward Baker had just come off directing some excellent HAMMER films like one of my ABSOLUTE all time favourites 'QUATERMASS AND THE PIT' (aka: '5 MILLION YEARS TO EARTH'.) He was a very good director and really knew how to put together very entertaining films that many, MANY other directors would have turned into a HUGE CHEEEEEEZ fest.
So, if you happen to like older Sci Fi films (I'm not talking about the REALLY creaky 1950's Sci Fi here) but sort of the 1960's stylized, hip, Sci Fi (sort of like the excellent Space Operas that came out of Italy at that time like 'WILD, WILD, PLANET' for example - although this one isn't nearly as stylish as that one) then you should really enjoy this fun little Lunar Science Fiction movie.
Anyway, that is PRECISELY why I personally read EXTERNAL reviews of films here on IMDb; and, along those lines, I became aware of this very little known film by way of the excellent MORIA movie review site, which I consult regularly about any and all Horror and Sci Fi films. I don't always agree with the fellow there and sometimes I quite violently disagree with him (such as with 'THE HAUNTING' (1999) and 'THE LOST BOYS') However, he has a very nice three star review of this film and I pretty much agree with his assessment. YES, of course the film was made in 19 frigg'n 69 for God's sake, so give it a break. OF COURSE it's gonna look like the period; but, I'll tell you that it looks a HELL of a LOT better than any film made around 1978 or so which when I see the 'styles' and look of that period I immediately and simultaneously lose consciousness and take a colossal dump in my pants.
Sorry... I got a bit off track there. So, as I was saying... As Richard says at MORIA, it IS a bloody HAMMER film after all and the script is quite solid, really. The story is very engaging and the acting and direction are a LOT better than a number of other horribly goofy films made around that time. With an obviously severely limited budget, I think that they did quite well with the look and design of the Lunar buildings, machinery, and landscape. They did the best they could with the cinematography, clearly taking a lot of effort to make the best out of what they had.
I really enjoyed the soundtrack (another thing that some mindlessly tasteless @sshole reviewer snidely and contemptuously said to 'ignore'. GEEZ, is it REALLY illegal to kill people like that...?) Anyway, seriously, the soundtrack went everywhere from Psychodelic power pop to sounding like Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock, to Jazz Flute, you name it. Not bad at all. Even the 'dancing girls' kind of had a seductive charm. What is amazing is that this film was made at that time and with this very low of a budget and yet it always seems to stay (just barely) this side of CHEEEEEEEZ.
You know what it sort of reminded me of, especially being a British production, is the most excellent and truly hip UFO series, which I dearly love. It wasn't THAT sexy, but I will tell you that in my lowly and wretched opinion the mood, style, execution, and design were frigg'n LIGHT YEARS & orders of magnitude better than Gerry Anderson's later series SPACE 1999. GEEZ that was a real stink'n turkey in just about every way.
No, I think what really kept this one entertaining and engaging was that it was seriously and competently done. Roy Ward Baker had just come off directing some excellent HAMMER films like one of my ABSOLUTE all time favourites 'QUATERMASS AND THE PIT' (aka: '5 MILLION YEARS TO EARTH'.) He was a very good director and really knew how to put together very entertaining films that many, MANY other directors would have turned into a HUGE CHEEEEEEZ fest.
So, if you happen to like older Sci Fi films (I'm not talking about the REALLY creaky 1950's Sci Fi here) but sort of the 1960's stylized, hip, Sci Fi (sort of like the excellent Space Operas that came out of Italy at that time like 'WILD, WILD, PLANET' for example - although this one isn't nearly as stylish as that one) then you should really enjoy this fun little Lunar Science Fiction movie.