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[tab title="Movie Review"]

Black Moon Rising (1986)

Tommy Lee Jones needs that funny looking little car!

Tommy Lee Jones IS Sam Quint.  He is a former thief, but now he is on a mission for the FBI.  And as the movie opens, he is standing front and center of a coffee machine, is in a gas station.  His Cherokee Chief is parked outside.  He is dressed in all black and takes a sip from a very small Styrofoam cup.  He has just accepted a mission to retrieve a disc belonging to The Lucky Dollar Corporation.  The cashier is waiting for him to pay.  It is a fairly humorous moment.

"this fun (but silly) slice of science fiction could only have crawled out from the 1980s"


And then a disheveled young man, looking all sorts of desperate, busts in with a gun.  He demands the money in the cashier.  And, with a sigh and a slight roll of the eyes, Jones starts telling the goon how he already fucked up the robbery.  It is a brief exchange as Tommy Lee Jones quickly recounts this idiot’s fatal mistakes.  And then the now sweating would-be criminal darts for the door.  What does Tommy Lee Jones do?  He goes back to drinking his coffee and then tells us that the boy has issues.

That’s the beginning of the ultra-awesome, ultra-1980s’ Black Moon Rising.  Thankfully, Kino Lorber Studio Classics recognizes that this film is classic B-movie fair and, with a brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original 35mm interpositive, the film is fully deserving of their attention. {googleads}

Directed by Harley Cokliss and written by THE John Carpenter, this science fiction gem is a sweet, sweet ride inside a model slick-ass vehicle called Black Moon.  Yes, it is another vehicle-minded flick, which is based upon the Wingho Concordia II, along the lines of Blue Thunder, Airwolf, Knight Rider, Street Hawk, and so on.  As a plus, the film also stars Bubba Smith, Linda Hamilton, Robert Vaughn, Keenan Wynn, Lee Ving, and Richard Jaeckel.  Proof enough that this fun (but silly) slice of science fiction could only have crawled out from the 1980s. 

Black Moon is a badass vehicle.  Clearing a desert floor at 325 mph, this sports car runs on water and man does it ever cook.  And, as Tommy Lee Jones fears for his life, he shoves the stolen disc in the car at another gas station outside of Las Vegas.  Retrieving the disc, as he is now followed by dangerous members of the company he stole the data from AND a woman who knows her way around the bad ass vehicle, what transpires is a hyped, super-sonic chase through Vegas as Sam Quint discovers that he has no choice but to deal with this high-tech auto thief (Hamilton) and somehow win her trust in order to get the disc back and MAYBE even the car. Black Moon Rising (1986)

Trouble is that she has tucked it away from all eyes inside a two building skyscraper complex and the corporation’s goons are getting really, really pissed.  Good thing then that Quint is A MAN OF ACTION because he’s going back to what he does best: stealing things from impossible locations!

Slick and competent (even if highly unbelievable), Black Moon Rising is all sorts of Aqua Net hair-styled fun!  Get your Members Only jackets ready!  It’s time to hitch a ride in this experimental car thanks to Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

4/5 beers

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Black Moon Rising (1986)

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray
- May 21, 2019
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: LPCM 2.0; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

If the 2K restoration isn’t enough to get you buy this blast from the past, then maybe the Uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo audio and alternative 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack will because, hell, that electronic score from composer Lalo Schifrin is WORTH every penny. 

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • There is an EXCELLENT commentary provided by Film Historian Lee Gambin, the author of Hell Hath No Fury Like Her: The Making of Christine as he discusses more than Carpenter’s history with cars.

Special Features:

This feature is LOADED!  Fans of this fun flick will love the interviews with Harley Cokeliss, Douglas Curtis, Lalo Schifrin, Troy Howarth (who discusses Carpenter’s screenplay career, the alternative footage, and an archival documentary.

  • Black Moon Ascending: Interview with director Harley Cokeliss
  • Thief in The Night: Producing Black Moon Rising: Interview with producer Douglas Curtis
  • Sound of Speed: Composing Black Moon Rising - Interview with composer Lalo Schifrin and film music historian Daniel Schweiger
  • Carpenter’s Craft: A video essay on co-writer John Carpenter’s screenwriting career by author and critic Troy Howarth
  • Making Black Moon Rising: An archival documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage and cast and crew interviews
  • Alternative Hong Kong version scenes, a presentation of selected scenes from the Hong Kong theatrical version with a different score and sound effects
  • Reversible Art
  • Radio Spots
  • Theatrical Trailer

Blu-ray Rating:

  Movie 4/5 stars
  Video  3/5 stars
  Audio 3/5 stars
  Extras 4/5 stars

Overall Blu-ray Experience

3.5/5 stars

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Black Moon Rising (1986)

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
100 mins
Director
: Harley Cokeliss
Writer:
John Carpenter
Cast:
Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton, Robert Vaughn
Genre
: Action | Thriller
Tagline:
From the mind of John Carpenter comes the towering adventure that thunders across Los Angeles and explodes 30 stories above it!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Hello. I'll take the keys to the Rolls Royce, the Excalibur, the Aston Martin, and the two Mercedes."
Theatrical Distributor:
New World Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date:
January 10, 1986
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
May 21, 2019
Synopsis: When master thief Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive, Blown Away, The Park Is Mine) is hired by the government to steal top-secret data from a crime organization, he hides the stolen data in the experimental supercar, The Black Moon. But when the car is then stolen by high-tech auto thief Nina (Linda Hamilton, The Terminator), Quint must pull off the most daring heist of all: break into an impenetrable skyscraper and steal it back. With time running out and all sides closing in, Quint and Nina take The Black Moon on one final ride towards a shattering climax of sky-high suspense.

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[tab title="Art"]

Black Moon Rising (1986)

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