While I watch a lot of shows like 'Star Trek' and 'Stargate' they aren't really my ideal form of science fiction. I prefer programs that feature reasonably realistic space vehicles and spacesuits, something like the classic '2001 A Space Odyssey' - but including action and explosions so it isn't so bum-numbingly boring!
As a result the 1970s television series 'Space 1999' is nearly perfect for my tastes, whilst in the film world 'Moon Zero Two' is my firm favourite.

Part 2 - of the film review ...... Part 3 - Interview, Spacesuits and other bits of interest ......... Back to INDEX
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Made back in 1969 by the British horror specialists Hammer, this was their attempt to cash in on the publics new interest in space travel caused by the Apollo Moon landings. The film starred James Olson as a maverick space pilot caught up in murder and the illegal plans to crash-land an asteroid on the far side of the Moon. It was directed by Sir Roy Ward Baker and featured some excellent special effects by the renowned Les Bowie, however its hard to tell if the film was trying to be serious or is actually a spoof, especially after the opening three minute cartoon credit sequence featuring fighting astronauts!
This was one of the film studios most expensive projects and was billed as the first Space Western - unfortunately it wasn't a great success and Hammer went back to it's more normal horror business.

The SFX models seem to have disappeared after filming was completed and don't appear to have been used in any other production. However the spacesuits did turn up on numerous occasions, most notably The Double Decker's, Doctor Who and Space 1999 (see Page 3). Having already bought a Space 1999 spacesuit I was eager to add another prop to my collection and so when a Moon Zero Two helmet showed up on ebay I just had to have it.

The helmet had been damaged over the years but was easily repairable. Most of the inner lining was missing and the outside was battered, scratched and affected by the fact that numerous decorative bits had been glued on over the years.

The spacesuits on the film came in many different colours and this helmet being a dark orange colour seemed to suggest that it belonged to the supervisor at Farside Five (Joby Blanshard) who gets his head melted by a thruster jet at the end of the film. But it had been painted several times and so it was not really possible to tell which was the original studio filmed colour, orange, red or maybe one of the hero's light grey ones. However the visor frame was clearly yellow under its orange paintwork indicating that it was originally part of a different helmet, the villain Whitsun's - played by Dudley Foster.

Two screws released the visor, the metal collar was removed and the last remains of the rotten cloth lining were ripped out. Then the helmet could be rubbed over with wet & dry paper to get a clean smooth finish. The metal collar was also given the same treatment but with very fine abrasive paper and then rubbed over with metal polish.
Some minor holes were filled and then the helmet was sprayed with acrylic car paints. As I already have a yellow Space 1999 helmet and I wasn't too sure I liked the orange I decided to go for a red finish.

The interior was now relined using pieces of black velvet. Then blocks of sponge foam, wrapped in more velvet, were glued around the inside as padding to give a nice snug fit.

Finally the dirty scratched visor was carefully cleaned using soap, water and Brasso metal polish. Unfortunately there is one deep scratch but considering how old this item is I guess it's lucky to still be in one piece.

As a long time fan of this film I have collected more than a few photographs over the years, so I present them here with a general overview of the film for those of you who haven't seen it before - or wish to be reminded of this great classic. Most of the pictures are old publicity photographs, but also included are film frame enlargements from what appears to be an advert for the film and several unused SFX shots apparently rescued from the studio floor.
Also I recently received a collection of Black & White behind-the-scenes photographs taken by Neil Swan, who worked for many years with Les Bowie. These have generously been donated for use on this site by his brother James. Many thanks to him and the following people who have now contributed to this article.

With thanks to Martin Gainsford, Phil Rae, Mark Harris, Simon Greetham, Barry Hinchliffe
Martin Davison, Dennis Lowe, Neil Swan & James Swan (Nationalities - Born on Earth!)

CHORUS: Moon Zero Two..
Moon Zero Twoooo......

The film opens with down-on-their-luck astronauts Bill Kemp (James Olson) and Dmitri Karminski (Ori Levy) trying to raise some money by salvaging a broken communications satellite, in their private Moon ferry 'Moon Zero Two'.
This vessel features the dirty/used spacecraft look, popularised years later by Star Wars.

UNUSED SFX shot of the MZ2 featuring the hatchway open with miniature figure of astronaut Kemp. By now you notice that there are no stars visible in the SFX shots and in fact there aren't any in the entire movie.
This was actually stated clearly in the shooting script (but it could have also been adopted due to technical/budget restrictions) and makes the film seem more real, because you don't often see stars in real NASA space footage, due to the extreme brightness of the sun.

To say the Moon Zero 2 was heavily influenced by the real life Lunar landing vehicle would be a major understatement. At first glance (and second) the MZ2 model does look just like the real life Lunar Module; with differences being the addition of a midsection and the surface panels corrugated and orange paint detail finish.
There are however a lot of dimensional differences in these look-a-like sections; which means you would be hard pushed to turn a model kit of the Lunar Module into a good Moon Zero 2 replica.

The space shots were photographed using the same type of technique that was later used to greater effect in Space: 1999. The model was attached to a support pipe protruding through a black velvet background and then all the movement was created by moving the camera backwards and forwards, not the model. (It's easier to keep the heavy camera stable)

Right; Jack Wallis at work with the hero model.

First view of the Moons surface and we can see the landing site in the distance with the Hydroponics domes. Then we pan right to see a small model of the MZ2 approaching with the Moon Arrival Centre in the foreground. Much of the city, including hotel and bar, is built into a rock face.

* Recent widescreen presentations of the film result in the spacecraft being cropped off the top of the screen - which rather ruins the whole point of the shot.

Below left; Kit West setting up a camera shot. Below; miniature of the hydroponics plant.

Below; Len and Mike Collins work on the Hotel and Moonscape model. Below Right; Nick Allder sets up a camera position.

It's strange that a film company would make a fictional spaceship look so much like the real thing, its almost as if they modified a display model of an early Lunar Module design instead of building a prop from scratch. This very close design resemblance might explain why we hardly ever see the front of the vehicle clearly during the film or in publicity photographs.

But then again this film has a spaceship that you didn't see at all!
The Moon Express
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As Kemp flies his ship into land he is warned to keep out of the way of the Moon Express, a top-of-the-line passenger ship operated by 'Pan Am' - except in the script it was supposed to be the 'United Nations Airways' and that was how it was filmed.

In this rare UNUSED SFX shot we can see the Moon Express docked at the landing site with a small scale MZ2 model in the foreground. Here the Express model is outfitted with 'United Nations' markings, as it is in the photographs above.

*The spaceship docking a couple of hundred feet above the lunar surface is, in my opinion, a little bit silly!

The Special Effects team spent a great deal of time on this sequence, but then the script changed and suddenly it was the 'Pan Am Moon Express'. This was probably just an attempt to raise money for the films production, by inserting a bit of advertising. As a result a re-shoot was then in order, pictures below are from this model shoot, with Neil Swan centre. There is only one docking tower, the '2' marks the second of three ports in the top section.

Unfortunately after all this work every shot of the Moon Express was then cut from the final movie - although the spacecraft can still be seen in one scene (in the righthand corner of the frame) when MZ2 first blasts off to visit the asteroid. *The design appears to be based on the inflatable Rogallo wing concept that was originally intended for the Gemini capsule, so that it would have controlled descent into land. (info Barry Hinchliffe)

Kemp and his co-pilot, Karminski, enter the Moonport with the salvaged satellite and try to get it passed an over-zealous customs official (Leo Britt). Enter the rich and powerful Mr J.J. (100%) Hubbard (Warren Mitchell) and friends (Amber Dean Smith & Simone Silvera). Also arriving on the scene is Miss Clementine Taplin (a pre-Space 1999 Catherina Von Schell) looking for her brother Wally. Hubbard's entourage passes through the Arrival centre bumping into Kemps old Space Captain friend (Neil McCallum) who wants Bill to rejoin the Corporation as a passenger pilot. Meanwhile Clementine wants to meet Bill to know if he's seen her brother - but the big news is that Otto von Bech had just died in a spacewreck.

* The suitcase's on display in the reception area appear to be product placement for Panther Luggage, they are also mentioned in the publicity documents.
* The customs declaration is apparently just a standard 1969 United Kingdom document with 'Lunar Customs & Excise' printed on the top.

Everyone gets on board the Monorail, for the trip across the lunar surface to Mooncity.

The monorail moonscape was approximately 30 feet long, built on tables from carved polystyrene blocks covered in cement dust.
Picture right; the scale of the model interior can be worked out by the Revill Lunar Lander model kit parts on either side of the lower frame.

This is an effective little sequence with model landscapes rear-projected into the live-action set windows, which together with the reflection of the actors is again very realistic - as Olson ponders if man should have ever come to the Moon.
'We're all foreigners here, we always will be'

Bill isn't too interested in Clem, or her problem, and after a brief tour of the Space Centre he explains that her brothers mine is on the far side of the Moon (which takes about 6 days by moon-bug convoy, or twenty minutes in his ship) and then he dumps her at a boutique, where the assistant (Chrissie Shrimpton) offers to sell her a Jupiter-Jump-Suit. He then quickly walks off because he has a rendezvous with his girlfriend Liz Murphy (Adrienne Corri)- who also happens to be an agent for the United Nations Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately she has very bad news for his future employment prospects - as following Otto's crash he has only a matter of days to fully service or replace his rust-bucket space ferry, or she will have to ground him for safety reason's.
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Upset by this bad turn of events Bill heads to the bar, at the Moon Hotel, where he finds a semi-drunk Dmitri drinking a toast to his old dead comrade Captain Otto. He tries to order his favourite 'Double Moonflower' but is informed by the barman that this week's theme is Latin America, so he will have to make do with an old-fashioned Pampas Punch.

*The barman, Len, is played by Sam Kydd who a few years later would appear on 'The Double Deckers' TV series wearing a Moon Zero Two spacesuit (See page 3). A slight blooper occurs as Olson almost knocks over his chair whilst sitting down and the supposedly drunk Levey instantly grabs it.

Surviving original prop's

Right; the bar room dancers are first seen wearing white leotards and these black & white helmets. They are constructed on a wire head frame and then covered with a black vinyl material sewn on in sections. The appendages sprouting from the helmets are simply coat-hanger wire, that are then wrapped in black cotton and again the end sections are simply clear sections of both thin plastic and vinyl. The helmet is decorated with black plastic discs which are sewn onto the helmet and is lined with a simple black material. The helmets were made by Berman & Nathans.
Picture & info courtesy of Simon Greetham
Modelled by Jill.

Trying to enjoy his terrible drink, which tastes like distilled rocket fuel, Kemp is interrupted by a rather large hard-man called Harry (Bernard Bresslaw), who wants him to visit Mr Hubbard. Not really thrilled by the idea he turns it down, but when a gun is produced he decides to play along.
*B&W picture above; Harry's massive frame towers over Bill in the first shot, but in the next Olson's chair is perched on a wooden box to lift him up into a better position for the camera.
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Kemp arrives to find Hubbard playing 'Moonopoly' with his entourage, one of whom is Whitsun (Dudley Foster) who begins to show Bill a film recording of an asteroid - although Kemp is far more interested in the bottle of Scotch on the table, and much happier to have a decent drink in his hand. It turns out that Hubbard was getting Otto von Bech to divert the asteroid to a crash site on the far side of the Moon - but with Otto now dead he needs Kemp and his ship. The asteroid turns out to be 6000 tons of a 'Ceramic crystalline form of corundum aluminium oxide' - SAPPHIRE!

Kemp is hesitant to commit a crime, but with all the careful planning, the offer of a brand new spaceship and the threat of being grounded now hanging over him, he has little choice and agrees to help. The next day he loads up and prepares for the first trip to the asteroid with Harry and Whitsun as passengers.

* In the departure lounge several drink dispensers feature close-up on screen and yet they are just typical 1970's versions with no apparent dressing to disguise them. A strange anomaly in an otherwise impressive set. More product placement maybe?
* In the shooting script and novel there is a scene in 'Joe Mercers Scrapyard', where Kemp goes to buy the three engines (four in the book) needed for the job. The engines are from his old 'Mars Explorer' ship. The scenes were probably cut for budget savings, a pity really as they do help to flesh out the story.

With Liz Murphy, his policewoman girlfriend, now on the prowl Bill explains that the three old rocket engines being loaded into his ship are just for testing purposes and part of the improvements she wants him to get. In reality they are to be used to manoeuvre the asteroid. The ship blasts off.
* On the above right photograph the support tube, that also supplies gas for the rocket engine effect, can be seen in this SFX out-take.
* The Launch Pad is extremely small, at less than twice the diameter of the ship it doesn't give much spare room for a pilot to land on!

The party arrive and set up the three engines, that will power the asteroid into close orbit around the far side of the Moon - and then down to the surface.
* Ooops! When Kemp crawls down to attach cables to Engine 2 the footage is flopped, with all the visible writing in reverse.
* As the MZ2 model approach's the asteroid the top section is in a different position to normal, with the front inline with the hatch instead of over a leg.
* One slightly poor special effect is the use of a matte painting to represent the top flightdeck section of the spacecraft, as only the more simple shaped middle and lower sections were built full-size on stage. This painting is a little dark and vague and simply doesn't register on screen that well - however on the widescreen film versions this part usually gets cropped off anyway.

Kemp stays behind on the asteroid to fire off the three engines manually. As these engines come from his old Mars ship he is well aware that 'Engine 3' has a fault in its start-up circuits. Only by 'thumping it' will the engine fire up correctly - which then sets the scene for the films climax. When the engines do fire up Bill is almost dragged away by the safety line, but he manages to cut it with seconds to spare.

* Oops! During the sequence the stuntman's support wires can be briefly seen in close-up shots, whilst the safety line isn't actually seen to be taut!
*One of the more noticeable continuity errors in the film is that the model asteroid doesn't really resemble the full size prop!
* James Olson always liked to keep fit by jogging around London's Hyde Park, or to the film studio itself. But he stopped during the production of this film when he found that the effort of wearing the heavy rubber spacesuits, and sweating in them under the hot studio lights, was already keeping him trim.
* Oddly the whole asteroid sequence appears to be set in the dark blackness of deep space only for the final SFX shot to then show the Moon very close by, as if they are only in a rather high orbit. It makes no sense that we haven't seen the Moon during any other shot! ..

'Are you alright Bill, are you walking home or do you want a lift. The bar shuts soon and we need to get to.....'

Part 2 - of the film review

Part 3 - Interview, Spacesuits and other bits

Back to INDEX

SOLO: I'm in space and .. crazy Earthbound, Stand aside of me ..... in orbit, Hold on tight and we shall ride................

Moon Zero Two Copyright Hammer Film Productions & Warner Bros-Seven Arts
No infringment of copyright is intended. This site is a non-profit making fan interest only.

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