Beyond the Rising Moon

At first glance one might think this is going to be just a cheap SF B-movie, but if one considers how it was made (practically "in the backyard"), it is simply fantastic.

A lot of care went into the production, even with the very limited constraints these independent filmmakers were working in, and one can notice this.

One thing: this is not a movie of the "Spielberg-Lucas-etc.-Roller-Coaster-Ride-with Special-Effects"-kind, so if you expect something of that sort, you will be disappointed. Though it comes with an action-style plot, this is almost a quiet movie - which is one of its charms, if one can appreciate that.

The story, about an female android seeking freedom and teaming up with a space pilot to find a lost alien spaceship, battling an evil corporation on the way, is no big deal, but quite nicely done, human and believable in its context - more than can be said about some multi-million-dollar-productions. The acting sometimes is a bit on the heavy side, but strangely this somehow adds to the atmosphere this film manages to produce (rare in a SF-Film nowadays), and even helps in creating a sense of wonder, which you wouldn't expect in a movie on that budget ... The special effects are done with miniatures and they are in in their way almost stylish, so that you know you're looking at models but you don't care; one can admire what has been done here with a extremely tiny budget and how the filmmakers even managed to achieve a certain visual consistency in their film.

I bought this video by chance, not expecting much, and now find that I've seen it several times already and will continue to see it again from time to time, because in its own unpretentious, not-quite-professional way it manages to take me into another world of infinite possibilities, and what more could one ask from an SF-movie?

Note, from the beginning, that I gave this film an "8". That's because it was shot on a shoestring budget and limited resources by a guy who took it seriously and worked hard on it. Low-buck effort it may be, but it used that tiny budget to best effect, and the result IS a nicely done piece of sci-fi that, although technically dated today, will still hold up well if you overlook the fact that CGI, which is second-nature today, was something which this film did not have the advantage of enjoying.

Most of the F/X filming was done with miniatures, and I mean miniatures, along with stop-motion film work to depict the characters on "large" sets which the production simply did not have, which DID come off pretty well when you consider the limitations they were working with. Some of the F/X models of vessels were hardly larger than a human hand. Other models/sets were assembled from carefully selected ordinary consumer hardware and old military/NASA surplus items that were arranged and configured to good effect.

It was a fine effort that actually does have a decent story line that makes it interesting to watch, particularly considering that it was such a low budget film where innovation, hard work, and dedication helped to make up for the lack of Star Wars style F/X and major studio facilities, with much of this film having been shot in farmland not very far from where I live.

I had a chance to meet and speak with the director/writer at an expo/screening here in town, and he talked about many of the obstacles he and the crew had to overcome while making this film, particularly with doing the sets and F/X, interesting stuff and all in all an enlightening lecture for independent movie makers and/or anyone involved with film.

This film doesn't show up often, but when it does, you should take a look. It's made the way movies used to be made before current day standards turned many small film maker's dreams and labors of love into multi-million buck big-wheel efforts glitzed with fla$h and "kewl 'splosions an' stuff". This film is not too far removed from being a bit of an icon of how it used to be done... with some decent visuals combined with an interesting story.

I applaud it not because it's a great film, but because it turned out as well as it did with such a small amount of resources to work with. I thought enough of it to seek out and purchase a copy on video, took a while but it was out there. Check it out, and give credit where it's due.

This is obviously a very low-budget independent film, but it's orders of magnitude better than most movies of its type. The story is pretty cliché, but solidly told; the actors are good (not great, but good) and the SFX are respectable for the era and budget. Pentan (the lead character) is an artificial human who wants to be free. Her escape from the rat race is far more difficult that yours or mine, but her motivation is stronger. Most of us are wage slaves, she is a real slave, and I was rooting for her from the start. I didn't like the fact that the antagonists are pure blackguards – they never waver nor question their own motives – they are driven by profit and refuse to give an inch. I can't say there are any surprises in this video, except that it's better than you might expect, and I'd like to see what it would look like with a decent budget and top grade actors.

I saw this on TV as Outerworld. The special effects seem dated, but were actually decent for a 1987 low-budget movie. The story involves an "artificial human" engineered for "corporate warfare" including stealing, killing and seducing. However, Pentan (Tracy Davis) decides she is tired of killing for the corporation's profit, and wants to be free. She obtains information very important to her employer, but doesn't turn it over. The rest would be spoilers.

This was apparently Ms. Davis' first big role, and she was apparently out of the business eight years later. She is well-suited for this character, and has a striking appearance, in a good way. Later roles were as "sales clerk" and "store manager" which is too bad; I would have enjoyed seeing her in something substantial.

I happen to like miniature F/X when done well and while this movie sort of tips its hand that you're looking at miniatures, I liked the overall visual feel. I think some of the F/X were probably handled with very early CG mixed in (if anyone knows I'd be interested to know). There are some decent "dog fights" between the spaceships and a few good action sequences.

Overall, where the movie's lower budget showed through in my mind, was with the audio and acting. The one thing that can'e be chalked up to it having been done over 20 years ago is the acting. At times it just screams "B-movie!", but as another reviewer said, that adds to the charm. If you like older sci-fi and movies with their own stylized atmosphere, you'll probably enjoy this film.