MOON 44: Roland Emmerich’s Science Fiction Without Any Disasters

Before Roland Emmerich directed his first hit, Universal Soldier, and eventually shifted to blockbuster disaster films, he began with themes of parapsychology and typical space settings. He painstakingly forged his own style before ultimately being consumed by commercialism. Moon 44 is an unjustly forgotten, yet atmospheric, well-executed, and memorable homage by Emmerich to Ridley Scott‘s Alien and Blade Runner. The director borrowed the oppressive atmosphere of the space station from those films, placing mostly down-and-out people there, forcing them to find the strength to avoid descending into madness. As a result, the film gains an interesting humanistic dimension, even though it is a simple story about a battle in space. Moreover, it is clear that the film was not expensive, but it still strongly carries the stylistic scent of the 1980s, which, from today’s perspective, is an advantage. Retro-futurism attracts more mature viewers to science fiction, though it is unfortunate that this attraction still doesn’t extend to Moon 44.

Michael Paré, who plays the lead role, is a wasted talent in science fiction cinema. He appeared too late, after the major roles had already been cast, including by Ridley Scott. Roland Emmerich infused him with elements of Rick Deckard, Roy Batty, Buckaroo Banzai, and perhaps even Ellen Ripley, only with physical cojones. However, he didn’t guide him effectively through the nuances of being tough, but cleverly made him accessible to the audience. That’s why it can sometimes be amusing to watch the actor in scenes where he pilots a combat helicopter and a spaceship. He is accompanied by actors known to fans of broad science fiction, though not its stars. B movies in fantasy and sci-fi sometimes meant something very valuable, without which the genre cannot do, so it is a pleasure to watch in Moon 44, for example, Brian Thompson, Dean Devlin, who later found a permanent place in Emmerich’s productions, and Malcolm McDowell – the most well-known and accomplished of them all, although I would never call him a blockbuster star. There’s even a woman in the film, which didn’t happen too often in this type of movie, and she doesn’t play just a subordinate role. I know Ridley Scott tried to break the male monopoly on science fiction cinema and storytelling with the character of Ellen Ripley, but on a global scale, that didn’t succeed. The character of Terry Morgan, however, is a clear counterbalance to the typical troglodyte examples of heroes, and she has a more important role in the plot than, for example, Major Lee, played by McDowell, who takes up much less screen time. That character, however, is the least successful in the production. He lingers in the shadows, and as a result, loses his personality. From the beginning, it is clear that he is the villain, but his henchman, Sergeant Sykes, fits that role better.

The film’s plot is simple but not simplistic. In the mining colony of Moon 44, managed by one of the major corporations, a group of prisoners, among whom is an undercover agent, is placed. His task is to solve the mystery of the disappearing resource shuttles. He has many personal problems, and the prisoners surrounding him do not make his job any easier. He fights on several fronts like a tragic hero, protecting the remnants of himself, the weaker ones in the colony, and his mission. And you almost wish he would remain a tragic figure until the end, like Ellen Ripley ultimately does in Alien 3 by David Fincher. You wish, at least I do, that those tight, damp, steam-filled corridors full of sinister shadows would be filled with more than just people, and if they are, that they would be scarier. It occurred to me that the atmosphere of mystery, which Emmerich undoubtedly managed to build, was somehow lost along the way in favor of a simple criminal plot that could have been written by a moderately literate teenager. Nevertheless, Moon 44 still holds up stylistically, all the way to the very retro depiction of the final battle with the cruiser attacking the station. The visuals are obviously cheap, but not amateurish, and that’s a difference. The director effectively masked any visual shortcomings with the moon’s dark, shadowy scenery. Finally, in Emmerich’s film, the music serves its proper function – it accentuates the action without dominating it. The editing skillfully combines different rhythms and emotions. The viewer does not get lost in the plot due to a lack of logic. And that is really interesting for an Emmerich film. The world of the film is simple, but coherent. Above all, there is no global catastrophe or much of the earthly world.

As usual, I wouldn’t recommend this production to you if it weren’t available online. It may not be easy to find, but a little effort could greatly enrich any fan of Alien with an interesting film experience and the opportunity to realize, probably once again, how much Ridley Scott influenced the shape of science fiction at the turn of the century. And he still does, no matter what you think of Prometheus. So, if you’re waiting for a final twist in Moon 44, you won’t get one. You might also be disappointed by the true identity of the resource shuttle thief, but the last shot is truly great. The protagonist remains so at odds with the world that you almost want to see him in another space adventure.