Moon Zero Two

Moon Zero Two

Film poster
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Produced by Michael Carreras
Written by Michael Carreras
Martin Davison
Frank Hardman
Gavin Lyall
Starring James Olson
Catherine Schell
Warren Mitchell
Adrienne Corri
Music by Don Ellis
Cinematography Paul Beeson
Edited by Spencer Reeve
Production
company
Distributed by Warner-Pathé (UK) Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Release dates
  • 26 October 1969 (1969-10-26) (UK)
Running time
 100 min
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £500,000[1][2]

Moon Zero Two is a science fiction film produced by Hammer Films and released in 1969. It was billed as a space Western.

Moon Zero Two was filmed at the ABPC Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England. The screenplay was by Michael Carreras from an original story by Gavin Lyall, Frank Hardman and Martin Davison. It was produced by Michael Carreras and directed by Roy Ward Baker.

Plot

In the year 2021, the moon is in the process of being colonized, and this new frontier is attracting a diverse group of people to settlements such as Moon City, Farside 5 and others.

Two such denizens of this rough and tumble lunar society are the notorious millionaire J. J. Hubbard and former-astronaut-turned-satellite-salvager Bill Kemp. The first man to set foot on Mars, Kemp has now left the Space Corporation because he wants to do space exploration whereas his former employer only wants to do commercial passenger flights to Mars and Venus (the first manned mission to Mercury has not yet been made since there is no compelling financial interest). When Hubbard hears of a small 6000-tonne asteroid made of pure sapphire that is orbiting close to the moon, he hires Kemp to capture it using Kemp's old "Moon 02" space ferry and bring it down to the lunar farside although it would be against the law. However, Kemp has little choice since he has learned that his flight license soon will be revoked due to protests from the Corporation. Hubbard also reveals that he plans to use the sapphire as a rocket engine thermal insulator; he would build more powerful rockets capable of finally colonizing Mercury and the moons of Jupiter—for profit.

Meanwhile, a young woman arrives looking for her brother, a miner working a distant patch of moonscape at Spectacle Crater on the lunar farside. Unfortunately, the trip from Moon City on the nearside would take six days by lunar buggy. Since Kemp could go there in 20 minutes using Moon 02, she convinces him to try to learn whether her brother is still alive. In doing so, Kemp learns more than he would like about some of Hubbard's schemes.

Cast

Visuals

Special visual effects for the film were created by a team headed by veteran visual effects artist Les Bowie, who worked on numerous Hammer productions and several notable British-made science-fiction features.

The "Moon 02" Spacecraft is described in the film as being 'quite old'. Among the set decorations are several of the famous "Ball" chairs created in 1966 by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio. Late in production, a dialogue reference to Neil Armstrong becoming the first man on the Moon was inserted, and a monument on the site is shown. The film was released three months after the landing.

References

  1. ↑ Bruce G. Hallenbeck, British Cult Cinema: Hammer Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Hemlock Books 2011 p216
  2. ↑ Marcus Hearn, The Hammer Vault, Titan Books, 2011 p114

External links

Mystery Science Theater 3000

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