WATCH NOW
Take, for example, a film with a low budget. While it may seem like a constraint at first, it can sometimes be more effective than a higher budget because it propels directors to think outside the box. Creatively solving issues related to effects becomes a more practical option as there is limited money. Furthermore, a director only gets a handful of chances to set a shot which makes them deliberate carefully. Whenever practical and miniature effects are used, it always takes time and money which also results in a limited number of shots being set. Any place where refocusing the lens away from extravagant set pieces and onto character and story benefits the movie.
Philip Cook, the director, was able to update the model miniatures to CGI during his DVD release and SyFy channel re-release. Dubbed Outerworld, this version is accessible on Amazon Prime. Had I known this earlier? There is also the uncut version from 1987 which can be found easily on YouTube.
So, I went back and checked the space scenes with all the original miniatures that were done. The miniatures, although less polished and aged, blended well with the rest of the film. In contrast, the CGI just looks out of place and ages in a way that doesn’t suit the rest of the film.
Outerworld is to Beyond the Rising Moon as the Original Star Wars trilogy is to the Special Edition trilogy. (Note: That’s not Moon’s only connection to Star Wars: the new Outerworld shamelessly copies sound effects from the Star Wars prequels.) The only problem is that Philip Cook did not so much as scrape the barrel of artistry that the original Star Wars was, but the net effect is the same. It makes for rather a poor quality film at best which undermines the worldbuilding.
Philip Cook doesn’t seem to know how to properly cast and direct actors or even figure out how to write dialogue without word vomit revelation scenes, but he is able to construct a believable reality. He knows sci-fi (there are a handful of other science-fiction films referenced in Moon). The miniature work in this movie is fantastic when one considers that the budget for Beyond the Rising Moon was somewhere around seven to eight thousand dollars. And it’s certainly not a matter of simple craftsmanship; the tech’s designs (ships and buildings, etc) are all stunning.
This might be quite astonishing, but at one point I decided to interrupt the film because I wanted to explore the world this person created on such a low budget.
Certainly, the acting and dialogue leaves much to be desired. The two leads possess that certain charm one can only find in amateur actors performing in low-budget cult films. The story is heavily inspired by other works, and, as noted above, the first quarter of this movie consists of streams of utter dialogue information (An opening crawl or opening narration would have sufficed.) Thankfully, most people who give Moon a chance are genre lovers or cult movie aficionados and would find it much easier to overlook the issues.
Beyond the Rising Moon is admirable to me because of the effort it tried to accomplish, even if it did not succeed in some areas. Love shines through this entire film, from the awkward dialogue to the dozens of detailed miniatures that flourished throughout its runtime. If you are prepared to ignore glaring mistakes and appreciate a film for its merits, Beyond the Rising Moon is well worth the effort to hunt down and view.
To watch more movies like Beyond the Rising Moon (1987) visit 123Movies.
Also Watch for more movies like:
