Moon, Discussion/Spoiler Thread

[0neiros]

I Created this to discuss the movie among those who have seen in and want to talk about it and not ruin the other thread about it's Availability or lack thereof.

OK, I enjoyed this movie, it had a Silent Running feel to it, LOVED Gerty's Emoticons, and the fact that Gerty had more basic humanity than the corporate Execs. As for him only living 3 years ala Bladerunner, He always appeared to be dying from radiation sickness. What if they designed the Sheilding on the base to permit in just enough radiation to kill in 3 years, so going back to earth would eventually save him? Also at the end the guy calling him and imposter was some Limbaugh like talk show host.

 

[DARTH SABER]

I believe in the commentary it stated that the clones were genetically engineered to only last 3 years because that was the optimal amount of time a human could properly function (psychologically) in that type of secluded environment.
Once the sanity starts going, Sam would be more prone to making mistakes.

DS

 

[chewbaccadoll]

I believe in the commentary it stated that the clones were genetically engineered to only last 3 years because that was the optimal amount of time a human could properly function (psychologically) in that type of secluded environment.
Once the sanity starts going, Sam would be more prone to making mistakes.

DS

This was my understanding also.

 

[RICHIES ARMOR]

I thought that they were getting some form of "poisoning" from the food. The zoomed into show Sam 2's cup drinking from the water fountain. I thought mabe they were implying thats how they received some sort of slow dosing to shorten their life span.

Just my 2 cents.

Richie

 

[MattMunson]

The only thing that really threw me were the hallucinations. No explanation given. Was that just part of Sam Prime going nutty??

 

[Clutch]

Had to give some kind of excuse for crashing the buggy.

 

[Risu]

I would have liked to see a better excuse for his hallucinations, and I would have liked a better ending. The two lines of dubbed over dialogue at the end felt like a ripoff.

I didn't watch the commentary, but I thought it was possible that he was getting radiation sickness from something in the base, maybe from the stations that were blocking the signal.

 

[Birdie]

I took it to be that the clones had a limited lifespan built in, but it's definiteley open to interpretation. The opening informercial makes a big deal of how safe the radiation is, possibly a forewarning of the lies they were feeding to the clones.

I read somewhere (I think on IMDB) that Duncan Jones had suggested that the hallucinations were meant to imply some sort of psychic link with the original Sam.

I would like to think that the original Sam didn't know about the clones. Since they were based on the implanted memories and personality of the original, he didn't seem the sort of guy who would go along with such a horrible scheme.

 

[ItsThatGuy]

My thoughts from first viewing:
-I also thought that the clones just had a limited lifespan of three years. When the new one was activated they thought they had just arrived on the moon, and they thought they had three years until they were ready to go home. In reality they actually died after three years.
-The original Sam didn't know about the clones
-The hallucinations had to do with the limited lifespan (his body and mind were deteriorating).

 

[Funky]

-The hallucinations had to do with the limited lifespan (his body and mind were deteriorating).

^ This ^ :thumbsup

 

[IndyBlues]

I believe the original Sam was one of the creators of the project, so he used clones of himself. Some people don't trust others to do their job. Original Sam was a control freak, so cloning himself was the only option.
Mike

 

[Risu]

So that raises the question of whether or not his back story was all true. Sam Prime, who had been there for three years, was basically a nice guy, but as we saw with New Sam, he wasn't always a nice guy. So did the real Sam actually spend 3 years doing the job himself, or did he just invent the clones to do it for him? It seems to me if he had gone through the experience and changed as a person he wouldn't have had a part in the cloning.

 

[IndyBlues]

It seems to me if he had gone through the experience and changed as a person he wouldn't have had a part in the cloning.

Exactly! He would have had a change of heart about the whole thing. Even if he started out as a hard ass, he would have seen how 3 long years would have effected him. Don't think he would have allowed anyone to go through that, even a clone of himself. Also the reason the dying Sam wanted the new Sam to return to earth, to not put him through such misery. Maybe escaped Sam should open up a can of whoop-ass on real Sam.:lol
Mike

 

[Birdie]

^ This ^ :thumbsup

Yeah, but it's the same actress playing the girl in the halluninations as we playing Sam's daughter at the end.

He (the clone) would not have known her at that age.

 

[MattMunson]

So that raises the question of whether or not his back story was all true. Sam Prime, who had been there for three years, was basically a nice guy, but as we saw with New Sam, he wasn't always a nice guy. So did the real Sam actually spend 3 years doing the job himself, or did he just invent the clones to do it for him? It seems to me if he had gone through the experience and changed as a person he wouldn't have had a part in the cloning.

I believe that is the reason they included the ping pong scene. Sam Prime kicked the new clones butt, thus demonstrating that change/character-evolution had taken place during the three years.

And while I cannot say this with certainty, I BELIEVE you heard Sam's voice in the background when Sam Prime called home and was talking to his daughter. So in going with an earlier comment, the original sam probably worked for Lunar, supplied the DNA and memory imprints for the clones, then went about his life.

 

[division 6]

I watched it with all the commentaries and bonus material.

3 years programed in.
The hallucinations were a sort of psychic link with the original Sam, like twins experience the same events although apart.

If you pay attention to the videos from home that are from when the Real Sam was there for 3 years.
He was having marital problems due to his aggressive nature.

Basically each clone wakes up with the same package of items (seen in the drawer with the stored clone), memories and gets the same videos from home to relive what the original Sam did.
How their personality evolves changes with each clone.

The clone we start with is #005 then #006 is woken up than the one the find in the storage that is later awakened is #007

The escape ship was just a prop to dispose of the dying clones and hide the storage facility of the station.

The one thing that did not make any sense is the rover hitting the back of the harvester and getting up ended and stopping the harvester.
The harvester was going away so it should not have been effected accept for some dents and scratched paint.

D6

 

[blipper]

I thought it enjoyable enough, and had much to commend it but wouldn't rate it the great movie many would make out.

Premise-wise, I couldn't quite buy that having hundreds of clones in situ, was economically or logistically preferable. In fact, why man the operation at all when they have such an AI that ably demonstrated critical thinking and physical interactivity. All it needed was a motorized skateboard and it would be good to go.

The choice of Spacey for the AI voice was strange also, I kept "seeing" him in his little booth, script in hand speaking into a mike. I would have preferred someone less recognisable in the role.

Overall I think the AI was mishandled, it soon became quite the helpful blabber-mouth with little nudging. Didn't the company think to install a "STFU" routine? If the company really is looking to fatten the profit margins why isn't the AI programmed with the necessary failsafes to take care of 'problem' clones instead of sending a three man team? I get the film makers were subverting the 2001 stereotype, but it was just too far the other extreme.

I found it odd too that Rockwell's character let the whole "yeh, sorry, we are still working on the live feed to Earth" thing slide for three long and lonely years. And surviving in a shuttle designed only for ore transit? hmmmm... not totally convinced.

I also found the soundtrack just a little too close to 2002's Solaris for liking.

An ok movie, and certainly more laudable than many more mainstream efforts, just would have like to have seen a more criticl pass at certain key elements of the plot.

 

[Kylash]

"If you pay attention to the videos from home that are from when the Real Sam was there for 3 years.
He was having marital problems due to his aggressive nature."

So did the original Sam actually get back to Earth then? Because I agree, when the same #5 is talking to the daughter over the live feed, you hear a real Sam over the background, like he was always on Earth since the beginning.

 

[Goonie]

Saw this on Duncan Jones' Wiki page:

Jones is currently planning a follow up film, which will serve as an epilogue to Moon. "Sam has agreed to do a little cameo in the next film," says Jones, who ultimately hopes to do three films in the Moon series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Jones

 

[CessnaDriver]

From what I gathered from the DVD and net, both films will take place on earth.