The plot is mildly reminiscent of the 1980 Zucker Brothers airline disaster parody Airplane! The problem is that Killing Moon wasn't made as a comedy.
Much like Airplane!, Killing Moon has all the typical 1970s airline movie disaster cliches (pilots sick/unable to fly, a hatch opens while in flight depressurizing the plane, passengers are all sick, plane is diverted, etc.). However, Airplane! Was made close enough to those 1970s airline disaster movies to be effective. Killing Moon was made twenty years after those disaster flicks had peaked, so all the cliches are beyond stale here.
In addition to all the staid airline disaster cliches, Killing Moon also has a viral infection subplot chock full of THOSE cliches (impossibly fast-spreading infection, limited amount of medicine, passengers actually drawing straws to see who gets a dose), too.
The vast amount of the flick takes place in a cheap airplane interior set, with a dozen or so quick scenes taking place in a cheap control center set. The star power for Killing Moon consists of Penelope Ann Miller, the Smoking Man from the X Files and...Daniel Baldwin, none of whom are on the plane during the flight, all three of whom appear to have spent maybe a total of two days on set. Penelope Ann Miller does actually try to actually emote and act. Daniel Baldwin doesn't, mostly because he can't.
In terms of the action, about 95% of Killing Moon consists of people either standing or sitting and speaking trite dialogue to one another. Outside of Baldwin, Miller and The Smoking Man, the rest of the Killing Moon cast (who get far more screen time than the three stars) are people one is unlikely to have ever heard of. Their collective acting is mundanely average.
Having said all that, I won't go on to say that Killing Moon is "the worst movie ever" or any such hyperbole. It's not an enjoyable or memorable "so bad it's good" flick. It just plods along to no effect one way or the other. Like, a watchable hammy b-movie will engage the viewer with ineptitude. Killing Moon is just a boring, predictable, forgettable slogging grind to watch.
Much like Airplane!, Killing Moon has all the typical 1970s airline movie disaster cliches (pilots sick/unable to fly, a hatch opens while in flight depressurizing the plane, passengers are all sick, plane is diverted, etc.). However, Airplane! Was made close enough to those 1970s airline disaster movies to be effective. Killing Moon was made twenty years after those disaster flicks had peaked, so all the cliches are beyond stale here.
In addition to all the staid airline disaster cliches, Killing Moon also has a viral infection subplot chock full of THOSE cliches (impossibly fast-spreading infection, limited amount of medicine, passengers actually drawing straws to see who gets a dose), too.
The vast amount of the flick takes place in a cheap airplane interior set, with a dozen or so quick scenes taking place in a cheap control center set. The star power for Killing Moon consists of Penelope Ann Miller, the Smoking Man from the X Files and...Daniel Baldwin, none of whom are on the plane during the flight, all three of whom appear to have spent maybe a total of two days on set. Penelope Ann Miller does actually try to actually emote and act. Daniel Baldwin doesn't, mostly because he can't.
In terms of the action, about 95% of Killing Moon consists of people either standing or sitting and speaking trite dialogue to one another. Outside of Baldwin, Miller and The Smoking Man, the rest of the Killing Moon cast (who get far more screen time than the three stars) are people one is unlikely to have ever heard of. Their collective acting is mundanely average.
Having said all that, I won't go on to say that Killing Moon is "the worst movie ever" or any such hyperbole. It's not an enjoyable or memorable "so bad it's good" flick. It just plods along to no effect one way or the other. Like, a watchable hammy b-movie will engage the viewer with ineptitude. Killing Moon is just a boring, predictable, forgettable slogging grind to watch.