#the movie where emmerich and devlin met

[grigori77]

Guilty Pleasure #13

MOON 44

Dir. ROLAND EMMERICH; Wri. P.J. MITCHELL, DEAN HEYDE, OLIVER EBERLE & ROLAND EMMERICH; Music. JOEL GOLDSMITH; Starring. MICHAEL PARÉ, LISA EICHHORN, DEAN DEVLIN, BRIAN THOMPSON, LEON RIPPY, STEPHEN GEOFFREYS, MALCOLM McDOWELL, ROSCOE LEE BROWNE; R.T. 99 mins; 1990, Germany

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: In a dark future where Earth’s natural resources are exhausted, mankind has gone out into the stars in search of mining opportunities, leading to bitter territorial wars between multinational corporations seeking economic superiority.  Moon 44 is a mineral-rich lump of rock controlled by Galactic Mining corporation, and the latest target of industrial espionage from their deadly rivals Pyrite Defence Company, leading GM to send professional undercover agent Felix Stone (Paré) to their outpost amongst a consignment of convict defence-system pilots to find and plug their “leak”.

WHY IT’S GUILTY: There’s a lot wrong with this film, not least the fact that it’s now become so painfully, almost embarrassingly dated; it’s also a seriously clunky beast, tonally schizophrenic, shockingly derivative and somewhat lacking in consistent character motivation.  There’s also a rather unpleasant rape/revenge subplot that leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth – altogether, then, it’s no great surprise that it vanished largely without a trace on release and has now slipped into general cinematic obscurity …

WHY IT’S A PLEASURE: … but in my opinion this isn’t really a fair assessment.  There’s a certain down-and-dirty charm to this film, and strong curiosity value in the fact that it marks the initial meeting point of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who became the director/writer/producer double act that brought us iconic sci-fi fixtures such as Universal Soldier, Stargate and Independence Day.  It’s a rough piece of work, but you can see glimmers of Emmerich’s punchy, glossy, hyperbolic style throughout, and he already showed a certain amount of skill in the action arena with the combat helicopter-based set-pieces (yeah, that never really made a lot of sense to me either, but I can’t deny finding some lowbrow enjoyment in the finished sequences).  The majority of the characters seem to be drawn in broad strokes or downright clichés, but they serve their functions well enough to support what passes for a plot, and some of them are likeable enough for us to care what happens to them – a large amount of the credit must of course go to what is a surprisingly solid cast for such pulpy fare.  Michael Paré was something of a B-movie star at the time, and this fits in well with more prominent landmark leads in the likes of The Philadelphia Experiment and Streets of Fire, once again playing the kind of winningly vulnerable, self-deprecating tough guy that likely would have made him a massive star if he’d been born into today’s generation of knowing, post-modern screen heroes; there’s also memorable support from Emmerich-regular Leon Rippy, Fright Night’s wise-cracking nerd Stephen Geoffreys and an unusually sympathetic turn from B-picture thug-for-hire Brian Thompson, while Devlin himself makes a particularly lasting impression as tech-wizard whistleblower Tyler, marking his bow-out as a jobbing actor before he made his far-more-successful transition into powerhouse writer-producer.  The production values are low but there’s scuzzy impact to the post-Alien industrial future design sensibility, while the underlying themes of the main plot have become intriguingly prescient in these current days of impending economic and ecological collapse in the face of overpopulation and dwindling resources, lending the film a kind of low-rent social relevance.  There’s plenty to count against it, but enough value to make this a comfortable guilty pleasure.  Give it a chance and it might surprise you.