The studio also made some much less frequent forays in Science Fiction; most notably and successfully with the Quatermass tetralogy. Such notability and success was not acheived with another their Sci Fi offerings: Moon Zero Two.
In Hammer's horror output the films usually manage to transcend the very obvious lack of budget by treating the subject matter with charm and authenticity. Moon Zero Two unfortunately fails to rise above its financial constraints. It was billed at the first Sci Fi Western featuring many familiar themes from Western films such as claim jumping, six guns, a sheriff, bar fights and a female lead called Clementine. To this unpromising concept is added amazingly bad production values and frankly bizarre casting. The visual effects were by Les Bowie who, demonstrating the infinite possibilities of redemption, went on to win an Oscar for his work on Superman in 1978.
Despite being putatively set in May 2021 the titual spacecraft, Moon Zero Two, looks almost exactly like the Apollo LEM used by Armstrong and Aldrin to land on the moon only a few months before Moon Zero Two debuted to bemused audiences in cinemas. Science Fiction fails if it does not offer imaginative speculation and, despite the fanciful rendering on the film's poster, there was no speculation here. The film's maker merely offered what people had seen in reality only a few months previously.
The protagonist of Moon Zero Two, Bill Kemp, is played with a certain rigidity by James Olson. With an eye on lucrative transatlantic revenue Hammer obviously posed the question: "Who is the cheapest American we can get?" and got Olson as their answer. Bernard Bresslaw, more traditionally known for being Sid James' permanently confused sidekick in the Carry On films, managed to squeeze in an unlikely turn as hired goon in Moon Zero Two in between Carry On Camping and Carry On Up The Jungle. The outstanding performance is, as might be expected, by Warren Mitchell who plays avaricious inter-planetary hyper-capitalist J.J. "One Hundred Percent" Hubbard. Moon Zero Two is commended to you solely on that basis.
