Despite being a very indie and relatively low-budget production, there are some noteworthy names involved here. Robert O'Reilly should be very familiar to any fan of contemporary 'Star Trek,' and Kurt Fuller has more than made the rounds; George Buck Flower is no stranger to genre flicks, and among still others, I recognize Gretchen Palmer, too. Though the comparative lack of resources is readily evident, it seems to me that the filmmakers made the most of what they had: the production design and art direction are fairly decent, such as they are, and the costume design - though one might cynically presume that maybe someone had connections to borrow sets and other materials from another project. I actually quite like Michael Sherwood's original score, lending tinges of flavor or even atmosphere despite its second-tier themes, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a measure of joy from the cheeky, fleeting use of a Type O Negative song. The special effects may be a tad outdated, but I'm not inclined to make a major fuss about this if more substantial facets are done well.
In Paolo Mazzucato's direction (seemingly his only full-length feature in that capacity), and Jesse Weathington's cinematography, one can especially discern the lesser financing and or capabilities of 'Moonbase.' Yet none of this is to say that the film is bad; on the contrary, so long as one can engage with it on its level, I think this is pretty fun! The dialogue is sometimes a little tasteless in its humor, but suitable otherwise; characters are nothing special, but fine for what the picture needs. The narrative and scene writing are nothing remarkable, yet duly capable, and sufficient to keep the interest of anyone who approaches the movie honestly. There are welcome moments throughout that show glimmers of more significant wit. If anything, I think the writing team just tried to include too much, and the end result would have benefited from omitting at least one element and tightening the whole. Did we really need an aspect of personal conflict, and meager world-building and background, on top of a dangerous secret, and the primary plot point that propels the action? All these ideas are swell in and of themselves; put them together all in one work, and this comes across as a little imbalanced and overfull, and subsequently a smidgen scattered, and each constituent part maybe gets less attention than it fully deserves.
That's the real problem here, in my opinion, and even at that, I don't think it's so critical a fault as to dampen the overall value. Moreover, it's not something that hasn't also plagued much bigger productions. I take no issue with the cast or their acting; moments of action, violence, and stunts are executed well. Despite apparent limitations of one nature or another, I think this is ably made from a technical standpoint, and all those behind the scenes turned in good work as much as they were able to. The writing is rather solid, more than not, and in combination with the hard work of everyone else involved, built for plentiful entertainment. Truthfully, while there's no mistaking that 'Moonbase' is a step or two removed from major studio fare, I think it's much better and more worthy than it has gotten credit for in the past twenty-five years. Yes, there are some discrete faults in the writing - but in my estimation, none so severe as to override suspension of disbelief. When all is said and done I had a really great time watching this, and I'm genuinely unsure why it's otherwise seemingly been received so poorly. I'm not saying that it's something to go out of your way to see, but if you can get on board with relatively low-grade projects, then as far as I'm concerned 'Moonbase' is a sci-fi action romp that's plainly enjoyable, and well worth checking out.
