I try not to beat up on films that are so obviously products of their time and cultural sensibilities. So I'll try to be fair to this one, because there are things to like about it.As other reviewers have noted, there's a weird tonal "split" in the screen play, and whether it actually works or not depends on your tastes and sensibilities. For me, it didn't work. Apparently Hammer didn't really understand Westerns (they were a British film studio, after all), or "hard" Science Fiction (at least if it didn't have a horror element like "X The Unknown), and here they tried to combine two genres they didn't do well. The results were disjointed and somewhat cheesy in a way they didn't intend. I give them (and the director) credit for trying something different from their usual run of horror and drama.Still, there are glimmers of a good and interesting movie under the kitsch. It does have a sense of humor and sometimes an actor will deliver a pretty good line that's mildly funny. James Olson (apparentlyfresh off "Andromeda Strain") does as good a job as the screenplay will let him, and his performance holds the film together even as it jitters around trying to decide what shtick or tone to adopt next.My biggest problem: the soundtrack. I understand that a lot of reviewers liked it, and that's fine. I liked about 30% of it.But if this screenplay is trying to be a Sci Fi/Western, the soundtrack seems to think it is supposed to be swinging James Bond era John Barry,only with the volume and the drama turned up to 11 and the singers having vocal orgasms. (Check out the title song as the credits roll an entirely unfunny animated cartoon sequence that seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the movie).It would crank up at the oddest times, like when a vehicle was leaving a hanger to go out to the Moon surface. OK, I got it, we're having an ADVENTURE...but if it's "Sci Fi", something a little bleaker and more ominous would be better; and if it's a Western, you'd want twanging guitars and majestic brass and a sense of historic grandeur. But again, once in a while things would calm down and we'd get something actually cool and echoey, something appropriate to being, you know, on the surface of THE MOON.One GREAT line, delivered by a minor character: "No one dies slowly on the Moon." The actor pulled it off perfectly. Plus one star just for that.In summary: "Moon Zero Two" doesn't hold up well, but there's enough "good" in it to leave some room for enjoyment. You may well like it better than I did.

It was around this period that the Hammer film studio started to try other film genres, probably because audiences were declining for their period horror movies. "Moon Zero Two" was radically different than anything Hammer had done before, and it would be nice to report it was a solid effort, but for the most part it's not. The main reason why it fails is the script. It has the one-two punch of not only taking forever to get going, but once it gets going it doesn't progress at an acceptable speed. The movie is dull and slow moving. It's not a total waste of time - the idea of making a western in a future space environment was a new idea at the time, and occasionally this radical update of an old genre shows something a little interesting. And the props, sets, and special effects are pretty good by 1969 standards. All the same, most viewers will probably fall asleep before the end. If you want to see a movie that's more or less a western out in space, you'd be much better off watching the Sean Connery movie "Outland". It's not a great movie, but it's a heck of a lot better than "Moon Zero Two".

Having kindly been given a DVD of John Boorman's Excalibur by a friend,I was pleasantly surprised to discover a bonus DVD in the box of a movie called Moon Zero Two.Searching online for details about the title,I was thrilled to learn that this film is Hammer studio's only attempt at a "Space Western",which led to me getting hold of my space boots and Cowboy hat to take a trip to Hammer's Western moon.The plot:Ever since having made his mark on history by being the first man to ever land on Mars,William H. Kemp has seen his life slowly slide,going from fame and fortune to hanging around a salon bar on the moon having one too many drinks. With feeling largely disgusted by how the commercial company (Space Corruption) want to leave space exploration behind to instead focus on commercial travel.Kemp decides to take the job of being an intergalactic scrap metal collector.Returning to the moon salon after doing his recent round of picking up scrap parts from rusted space ships and starlight's,Kemp runs into a newly arrived billionaire,who gives him the tantalising offer of helping him to reach an asteroid entirely made of sapphire. View on the film:Opaning the movie with a charming animated credits scene and an extremely catchy title track sung by Julie Driscoll,director Roy "A Night To Remember" Ward Baker does fairly well at keeping the Western side of the film to always be a noticeable feature,from funny shoot outs (featuring a terrific Bernard Bresslaw) to everyone getting drunk in the moon's salon on cheap (drinkable!) rocket fuel whist being surrounded by dancing girls.Along with the western elements,Baker also makes the Sci- Fi setting wonderfully faulty,by focusing on how often the machines of the future constantly break down and also shows the characters dislike for some of the main technological changes (due to whiskey being $35 a shot,all of the crew put up with drinking a rocket fuel alternative.) Whilst Baker does very good at keep the Sci-Fi and Western elements constantly changing places,the screenplay/story (by Michael Carreras,Gavin Lyall,Frank Hardman and Martin Davison) disappointingly never reaches the level of excitement that it promises,with Kemp's come down from his past fame and initial excitement on going to the asteroid,weirdly feeling rather ordinary,and lacking most of the thrills that could have sent this shining movie off into a bright (sun) moonset.

I saw Moon Zero Two in a theater as a little kid in 1970. Time passes, but I always remembered bits and pieces of the story, especially, a bar fight, a moon rover and a shootout on the surface of the moon.After decades, the movie is finally available and proves to be much better than I thought.James Olson, not the most charismatic of actors projects a certain dignity, suggesting Neil Armstrong. Appropriate considering the character he portrays is the first man on Mars.The story involving a very unusual asteroid is well done. Only the outdated 60s inspired wardrobe and music gives the production a camp flavor which the story is not. Produced a few years later without these over the top trapping, Moon Zero Two could have been a substantial hit.This is one of those rare films that satisfied both my childhood memories and adult expectations.