'80s Class?: Black Moon Rising (1986)

 Am I content with him solely as the Writer here?  This is Black Moon Rising, a 1986 Action Film with a big name behind...the pen.  

John Carpenter wrote the Script, which is a big plus for me.  Unfortunately, that's all he did.  

He apparently has said that he's never seen the final result either.  To be fair, some people just say that to be curmudgeonly and Mr. Carpenter does occasionally indulge in said behavior.  

It's been 30+ years, he's *probably* watched it by now, right?  The Plot involves a heist, a super car, Linda Hamilton, Tommy Lee Jones and The Guy from the band Fear.  The latter of whom keeps showing up in Films at random too- what are the odds?!?  

Seriously, I can't name one song by the band, but I've seen him THREE TIMES now when I didn't expect to.  We also get Bubba Smith for like 2 Scenes, so enjoy a Police Academy connection too.  

Anyhow, the Plot hinges upon a few random coincidences, but otherwise feels like a solid Carpenter Story.  If you can picture Kurt Russell playing the Lead, it counts.  I can, can't you?  

An interesting bit of the Film involves how the finale (teased on the Poster below) feels right out of a Fast & Furious Film.  Curious yet?  

To find out how this all makes sense, read on...

A man- Tommy Lee Jones- is a Thief hired by the Government to steal some stuff to proof that some bad guys are bad.

You know it is a Carpenter(ish) Film when you get lots of text coming in as typed on a computer screen.  It was kind of his thing.

Somewhere else, some people have made a new supercar that is super-fast and super-impossible to drive.

Seriously, IRL the car made you sit in it prone way back and the reflective black glass wasn't able to be seen through.  Shockingly, no stunt drivers ate it doing the Film!

Linda Hamilton is here as a woman who just *happens* to be at a Restaurant that Jones and the people behind the Super Car (called Black Moon).

I have no words for that hair.  Just...wow.

Hamilton steals all of the cars at the Restaurant, including Black Moon.

The problem- Jones stashed the evidence (a computer tape) in said Car when the goons (lead by the Fear guy) go after him.  Whoops.

Jones does the only natural thing after his original attempt to catch up to Hamilton fails (when she escapes in Black Moon).

He finds her and seduces her using that...rugged...Tommy Lee Jones charm...

He makes a deal with the guys who made Black Moon to break into the big High Rise to get it back, which obviously benefits him directly too.

Unfortunately for Hamilton, her rocky relationship with her Boss- Robert Vaughn- ends when he reveals that he filmed her sleeping with Jones, presuming that she betrayed him.

Try not to think about a Tommy Lee Jones Sex Tape now...

The gang stage an Ocean's 3 (since their buddy William Sanderson was killed earlier) break-in, not aided by Jones having been beaten up the night before.

Synchronize your watches!

The Super Car that this Film is titled after finally plays a part again in the finale as Hamilton and Jones try to escape the building in it.

They end up driving into a car-sized elevator and in front of Robert Vaughn.  How do you escape?

Also is them going up in the Elevator the extent of the 'Black Moon Rising' Title's significance? 

Jones does the only natural thing- he crashes through the window (and Vaughn) to fly OUT OF THE BUILDING and into the one next door!!!!

So two people escape a high rise in a Super Car (because it contains a high tech gadget) by flying out a window and into another building, you say?  Gee, where did Fast & Furious 7 get their idea from?

It works, of course, and everyone lives happily ever after...except for the flattened Robert Vaughn.  The End.

A pretty fun, evenly-paced adventure.  The Plot- you have to steal back a Super Car to save the day- is simple enough.  One guy does for an ulterior motive.  One lady does it to get back at her Boss.  Also the other people help too, I guess.  The real draw here is seeing Jones playing a sardonic Hero about a Decade before he became associated with them.  There's definitely shades of his Men in Black Character here, albeit with a less dry wit.  His comebacks were allegedly ad-libs/off-of-the-cuff too.  That said, they do feel like dialog that you'd get from John Carpenter.  There's nothing quite as good as 'I'm here to kick ass and chew bubble gum...and I'm all out of bubble gum' admittedly.  It's a credit to him how well he comes off here, since Jones was apparently having a bit of a drinking problem at this point (according to Linda Hamilton, apparently).  You can see it with phoned in performances from Jan-Michael Vincent (especially in Xtro II), but not here.  The titular Black Moon looks kind of cool, but is extremely-not-practical (as noted).  If you only need to drive straight and never turn, this...is still a bad car, since you're uncomfortable and blind in it.  The pairing of Hamilton and Jones definitely helps make this work, aided by a strong Robert Vaughn performance.  If it could have avoided some obvious pitfalls (like making Hamilton useless in the finale), it could be a great Cult Classic.  As it is, Black Moon Rising is fun all the same, but with less depth.  Speaking of lacking depth, you have to love the generic as hell Art they give older Films on re-release, don't you?

Next time, I finally go back to cover a '70s Cult Classic with a recent Remake.  Does Blacula have some competition?  Stay tuned...