Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Sometime in the future, Lunar Industries becomes the Earth's dominant supplier of clean energy that's harvested from the lunar soil and sent back to our planet. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has been stationed on the dark side of the moon for nearly three years and has only two weeks to go before he can rejoin his wife and young daughter back home, but his extended isolation is beginning to take its toll. He starts to hallucinate and question his sanity when he discovers he may not be the only human at the facility.

Moon is one of the best science-fiction films since Contact and Sam Rockwell deserves an Oscar nomination as the lonely astronaut. From the opening credits, I wondered why a company would send someone to the moon for a three year stint with only a robot (voice by Kevin Spacey) as a companion, although the reason why is revealed as the story develops. The deliberate pacing may turn some off, but be sure to stick with it because measurably improves in the second act.

Moon's video encode shines is in its straightforward presentation of an isolated moon outpost with its no frills living conditions. Colors are confined to various shades of white and gray with elevated contrast and the space horizon is black as night with millions of tiny stars. The image can look a tad soft with occasional banding, but the overall visual experience is up to Sony's high standards.

The science-fiction genre is generally filled with loud explosions and fierce battles, but you'll find neither in this DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. The majority of the film is relatively quiet with intelligible dialog. The surround experience is very encompassing, especially the background noise of Sam's living conditions. The engrossing score from Clint Mansell is outstanding and the frequency response from the track is top-notch with rumbling bass and crisp highs.

Supplements include two audio commentaries, a couple of making-of featurettes, two question and answer sessions with the director—one at the Sundance Film Festival and the other at the Houston Space Center—along with some trailers to other Sony movies.

Science-fiction fans have longed for movies such as this and it's easy to see why the film has received so many accolades. The performance by Sam Rockwell is terrific and the script is very intelligent and well thought-out. Throw in the near-reference audio and video and it's an easy film to recommend.

Release Date: January 12, 2009
Studio: Sony

Movie: 9/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 9/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics