“Moon” Movie Trailer Now Online

Why didn’t I know about this movie?

I have no clue how I didn’t notice this film was in the works, but it would appear I’m not quite as well plugged into the sci-fi pulse as I used to be. Announced last year, “Moon” is set on the lunar surface where a lone contractor is manning the Helium-3 mining operation. Acted by Sam Rockwell, the setting looks like a visual treat, bound to get any science fiction enthusiast’s taste buds excited. However, yesterday the trailer was released ahead of its June 12th release… and it looks good…

Directed by Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son), Moon was aired at the Sundance Film Festival in January. And I’m excited. It appears to be a not-so-high-budget sci-fi, but with huge impact in many ways. The reviews are beyond glowing. The brief synopsis is as follows:

After spending three years on the moon as a solitary miner, Sam Bell (Rockwell) is almost ready to return home to his wife and daughter. But as his homecoming approaches, he begins to experience strange things that can’t be explained and his employer may have a sinister plan in mind for him. — From Collider.com

From there on in, it looks like Sam goes through a desperate battle to keep his sanity after he rescues a younger “Sam” from the lunar surface. It has some serious 2001: A Space Odyssey undertones but after watching the trailer (below), I was instantly reminded of the 1972 classic Silent Running. In fact, it’s uncanny (reviewer Devin Faraci agrees). It’s not that Moon has copied Silent Running, Jones has captured that isolated feel of a guy left alone to be looked after by robots and tend to his plants (in a picture with that storyline, you know something bad is going to happen).

In keeping with 2001, there is of course a HAL 9000 clone, but in Moon the friendly-scary artificial intelligence takes the form of an emoticon-displaying robot with the monotone (sinister) voice of Kevin Spacey (can this film get any better?). Also, the graphics look believable (not unlike what you’d expect from a real future mission), pressurized rovers and bases look outstanding too. We’d just need to work on the gravity situation and we’d be in for an early win.

I’ll stop there and let you enjoy the trailer, but be sure to flick it to HD and dim the lights, this could be the best indie sci-fi to hit the screens for many, many years to come…