DVD: MOON

 Rewritten and expanded from a 2-star Amazon review.

Caution, one spoiler is mentioned because otherwise I couldn't begin to explain why I didn't like this film and I am a fan of science fiction. No, make that complete spoilers are mentioned.

On the moon, one man monitors automated mining. He is coming to the end of a three-year stint and is shortly due to be taken back to earth. When he leaves his base to check on a problem, he has an accident from which he can not be rescued as there is no-one to rescue him. He then 'wakes up' back at the base and doesn't remember the accident.

What happens next is pretty obvious to anyone with even the slightest familiarity with SF, including the nature of the individual who wakes up. You can work it out without too much difficulty from the four sentence synopsis of the first 30 minutes. But, I'm going to do it for you.

The man who has woken up has to be a clone. If he is a clone then so is the first man. Why?  The main reason is that if you can make a clone with mostly intact  (plus false) memories of the original then there is no need (as we find out) to send the original in the first place. Also, because there is supposed to be no direct contact with Earth so Man 1 has only received relayed messages from his wife while we has seen/heard the computer talking directly to Earth. If he is on a 3-year cycle then the clone is programmed to die at the end of that period and be replaced.

All this is born out when Man 2 manages to get out of the base and rescues Man 1 who is deteriorating physically and mentally, far more so than his superficial wounds would cause. The interaction between the two clones plus the computer takes up over half the film.

This is a short film padded out to interminable length. While it does develop logically within its basic premise, sadly it is also boring and it is obvious and I really found it to be a big disappointment. It would have made an excellent 45minute tv drama but certainly no longer than that.