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Moontrap
USA 1989
produced by Robert Dyke, James A. Courtney (executive), Brian C. Manoogian (executive), Alan M. Solomon (executive) for Shapiro-Glickenhaus
directed by Robert Dyke
starring Walter Koenig, Bruce Campbell, Leigh Lombardi, Robert Kurcz, John J. Saunders, Reavis Graham, Tom Case, Judy Levitt, Reuben Yabuku, Doug Childs, Mariafae Mytnyk, James A. Courtney, Tony Abruzzo, Tom Whalen, Pat Carozzo, B.K. Taylor (voice), Jay Scott (voice), Lani Castner (voice)
written by Tex Ragsdale, music by Joseph LoDuca, special effects by Acme Effects
review by Mike Haberfelner
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While on a routine Space Shuttle mission, pilots Jason (Walter Keonig)
and Ray (Bruce Campbell) discover a huge, burnt out spaceship drifting by,
and when they explore, they find a decomposed corpse and some kind of pod,
both of which they bring to earth. Soon it's determined the spaceship must
have come from the moon, and NASA naturally wants to launch a moon mission
immediately, but gouvernment bigwig Haskell (Reavis Graham) calls it a
hoax, despite being presented with hard evidence to the contrary. Then
though, while nobody's looking, the pod opens itself and out comes an
entity that builds itself into a giant robot, using the machinery in the
lab it's kept at as components, and as its robotic self it goes on the
offensive, bound to eradicate all human life - until Jason discovers its
Achilles' heel and destroys the robot. That of course means funding for
the moon mission is granted. On the moon, Jason and Ray find a 14,000
year old space station, which is where the spaceship must have come from,
and they also find a very human looking woman, Mera (Leigh Lombardi) in a
cryogenic chamber, whom they unfreeze, and - since she comes with her own
spacesuit - take with them. What they don't know is, there are still
plenty of pods on the moon who are just good in hiding, and who have since
stolen Ray and Jason's landing shuttle - so they have no way off the moon,
unless they find it again. But looking for it, they're attacked by robots
and Ray is killed saving the others - only to later come back as the
grotesque head of one of the alien robots. Eventually, Jason and Mera
are taken captive by the aliens, who take them with them onto their
spaceship that they are now launching towards earth. Somehow, Jason and
Mera manage to escape and make it to the heart of the spaceship, which
just happens to be Jason and Ray's lunar shuttle. Meanwhile, earth has
launched a Space Shuttle to attack the alien spacecraft, but it doesn't
stand a chance, is just swatted away like a fly. Luckily though Jason
remembers there's a self destruct switch on the lunar shuttle, presses it,
and then he and Mera make a hasty escape and ... Now Moontrap
isn't the reinvention of science fiction cinema, nor is it the most
intelligent or thought through movie, but as sci-fi entertainment from the
B-variety goes, this is actually a very enjoyable little romp: There's
plenty of action throughout, Walter Koenig and Bruce Campbell make a
likeable duo and have great chemistry, the tone of the movie's light and
carried by slight self irony, and the film thankfully stays away from
over-explaining every last little thing and losing itself in laughable
space age esoterica in the process, the action is well-staged, and one
just has to love the robots in this film. Basically, this is a little B
you'll probably like more than you expect to.
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