Moontrap

Moontrap (1989)

Image From IMDB

I’m a simple man, all I need to enjoy a movie is Bruce Campbell running around on the moon surrounded by delightful little miniatures and matte paintings. If you want to throw in Chekov, killer robots, and ancient spaceships as well then all the better. Moontrap really does have everything a person could ask for, alongside some questionable science.

Moontrap is about astronauts Jason (Walter Koening) and Ray (Bruce Campbell) who while on a routine shuttle mission discover an ancient ship that not only carries within it a human being from thousands of years ago, but also unbeknownst to them a killer robot from the moon. After dispatching of the killer robot back on Earth, they head to the moon to destroy the rest of them… at least I think that’s what the plot was in the end.

Oh… and they invented some kind of inflatable moon cabin so Chekov could have sex which was damn nice of them.

Outside of Bruce Campbell the biggest selling point for Moontrap for me was the effects. I loved them. All the different robots that could barely move. The constant long shots because you couldn’t do anything with them. The matte paintings for the ships. The little miniature rover on the moon zooming around like a toy car. Absolutely adorable. There’s a lot of fun to be had with the effects.

The backstory itself is kind of cool as well with the whole ancient human civilisation battling robots on the moon, but we don’t really learn anything about that other than we think it’s what happened. At least, that was my interpretation, i’m still not sure.

Bruce was kind of game, but Walter was playing the charming charismatic leading man so the dynamic between them felt kind of odd as they were doing each other’s role. Honestly, I think that added to the fun, but I can see why some people would be disappointed with the arrangement. Clearly someone got the casting muddled along the way and no-one sought to correct it.

But, as mentioned… we have LOADS of miniatures (i’ve never seen so many) Robot fights. Tits and shootouts. Inflatable moon bases (so we can see more tits) Alien space crafts. Massively explosive landers. Did I mention the adorably cute delightful little toy rover bombing around the powdery moon… because it’s definitely worth mentioning again.

Moontrap is a fine example of eighties sci-fi that either had its budget cut or never had one to begin with and tried anyway. High concept with limited ability to deliver. I always have a soft spot for these type of movies. It would make a fantastic pulp novel, but as it is, it’s a fun movie for some, and probably unwatchable for others. But I’m in the former camp… mostly because of the Rover, and Bruce in Space!