Paul Andrews Black Moon Rising starts in Nevada in Las Vegas where professional thief for hire Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) is on a job for the US Government, Quint has been hired to break into the Dollar Corporation headquarters & steal certain tax records on a tape that will implicate the company in tax evasion & other criminal activities. Quint breaks into the Dollar Corporation building but sets off the alarms, Quint manages to steal the tape & escape but head of security Marvin Ringer (Lee Ving) & his guards are hot on his tail. Needing to get back to Los Angeles to deliver the tape Quint stops off at a gas station & hides the tape inside a futuristic car capable of speeds in excess of 300mph called the Black Moon that is being driven to Los Angeles to show potential investors, however things become complicated when the Black moon is stolen by car thief Nina (Linda Hamilton) who works for mobster Ed Ryland (Robert Vaughn). On the run from his Government employers, Marvin & his men Quint must get the car & tape back the hard way...Directed by Harley Cokliss this supposed hi-tech action thriller was probably made because of screenwriter John Carpenter's new found success with films such as Halloween (1978) & The Fog (1980), Black Moon Rising was in fact Carpenter's first script that he ever sold but it remained unmade until he had several hits under his belt & although the finished film apparently has little resemblance to his original script (Qunit was going to be a Vietnam Vet for instance) he also takes an executive producer credit here as well. Although often billed as a hi-tech thriller & even named after the hi-tech car the Black Moon the script surprisingly ignores the super futuristic car for the majority & has it sit idly in Ryland's compound doing absolutely nothing until the final fifteen minutes. Between the start & end it's a fairly plodding thriller as Quint plans a daring raid on Ryland's tower's to steal the car back as well as the subplot about the race to get the stolen tape back & an expected blossoming romance between leading man Tommy Lee Jones & leading lady Linda Hamilton. At almost 100 minutes long the pace is decent enough & there are a few entertaining set-pieces but the lack of Black Moon super car action doesn't help, also the script is rather predictable with all the heroes & villains identified early on. There aren't any twist's or turns or major revelations the way the plot unfolds & for a thriller that is sort of lazy. The character's are alright, Quint is a likable enough hero although strangely he never gets to meet the main villain Ryland. A few poorly written subplots muddy things a bit, the associate that Ryland has killed, the car stealing racket goes nowhere, the two tower's & Ryland's plans are briefly mentioned but never developed neither are Quint's relationship to Marvin or Iron John & the death of the deaf guy is barely mentioned again after it happened.Maybe the popularity of the TV series Knight Rider (1982-1986) also helped get Black Moon Rising into production & made, the sleek looking black car isn't a million miles off Kitt in appearance although I don't get why it doesn't have any doors & any driver's & passenger's have to climb in through a hole in the roof! Also it has a turbo mode that makes flames shoot from the exhaust, would flames shooting from the exhaust really make any practical difference in terms of speed? Or maybe the makers just thought it looked cool. The Black Moon car is very 80's actually & quite angular & clumsy looking with a red 'go faster' stripe that runs right around it's body. There are a few decent action set-pieces including a car chase through Los Angeles, a scene in which Quint uses a rope to get from one high rise tower to another from the roof, various other car stunts & some good fights & brawl's. There's not much violence & the sex scene is quite tame.Probably shot on a fairly decent budget the production values are nice enough, the special effects are good as is the stunt work. The acting is alright too, apparently Jeff Bridges, Don Johnson, Tom Berenger & Richard Dean Anderson were all considered for the leading role that eventually went to Oscar winning actor Tommy Lee Jones who at the time was an unknown. Fresh from The Terminator (1984) Linda Hamilton puts in a good performance here actually.Black Moon Rising is an entertaining enough way to pass 100 odd minutes, it looks a little dated & the lack of action involving the Black Moon car is surprising but it has it moments without ever being brilliant.

ccthemovieman-1 Tommy Lee Jones in a love scene??!! Yikes: what a scary thought. It happened maybe only once on film in his illustrious career. This is that film. With Linda Hamilton, too! I guess this is another version of her TV show, "Beauty and The Beast."Okay, I don't mean to be that nasty because Jones is a terrific actor and usually a lot of fun to watch, especially when he's chasing bad guys.This film really had a Class B-type of feel to it despite the presence of those two actors, along with Robert Vaughn and Richard Jaekel....and a very cool car called "Black Moon."The best thing about the movie was that it was fast-moving, meaning it was interesting enough not to get bored. Other than that, it's an ordinary heist tale that isn't too memorable.

Scarecrow-88 Robert Vaughn portrays Ed Ryland, one of those meglomaniacal crooks who runs an underground organization where his crew steals high priced cars and sells them on the black market. Linda Hamilton plays Nina, his head runner of the operation. Richard Jaeckel is Earl, one of three who have created a uniquely shaped and very fast state-of-the-art car which can go to speeds up to 325 miles per hour(it also runs on hydrogen from water). Earl and crew are at a meeting to pitch the unique car to Italian buyers when it is stolen by Nina and her crew, among many vehicles in the lot. Tommy Lee Jones is the star of the film as superstar thief, paid by the government to retrieve a cassette with important information the federal government doesn't want out to the public(Bubba Smith is the secret agent Johnson who threatens Jones if he doesn't give the tape to him). Jones plays Quint, who has an arch rival in Marvin Ringer(Lee Ving), both after the same cassette. Ringer has a bevy of cronies behind him to help in the dirty work and they try several times to kill him(often viciously beating him or shooting at him). In a scene to keep the cassette from Ringer, Quint places it in the pocket of the Black Moon vehicle..owned by Earl! So Quint isn't able to deliver the cassette to Johnson and is given 72 hours to find that tape and give it to him. The deck is stacked against Quint, for he must get inside Ryland's secure, well guarded compound, retrieve the hidden cassette, fend off constant attack from Ringer, and convince the Black Moon crew to help him. It's a lot to handle, but soon Quint winds up falling head over heels for Nina and the story takes on a whole new path. The film is quickly paced and fun despite asking the viewer to accept a lot of hogwash about cars that can drive a quick speeds through endless traffic, a man who can cross from one building to another on a rope hanging on one prong on a hook, and one man seemingly able to do many psychical things after being beaten heinously. The film has a ridiculous ending car chase which has the Black Moon going from one window off a building and into another windowed building. The film does have good leads who take the film a long way. Jones is always fun to watch, and is believable in his role. I liked Hamilton as well. Ving is really over-the-top bad in this film playing the heavy REALLY heavy.

TSMChicago Great film that takes me back to the '80s in a good way.I agree with the positive reviews already posted and fondly remember "Black Moon Rising" projected on the giant screen at the Virgina Theater in Champaign, IL. The car chase scenes are tremendous and they don't trash the Dodge Daytona Turbo. I was driving the same car at the time and it has always been my favorite vehicle.Considering the participation of John Carpenter and Roger Corman it really is a "good little film" as everyone seem to call it. New World released several of these small gems in the '80s. "The Philadelphia Experiment" and "Eddie and the Cruisers" come to mind. Small budgets, great stories and terrific acting in films that actually improve with age.Any film with Tommy Lee Jones is worth a look and Linda Hamilton is always a looker. Check it out.