{"id":433742,"date":"2022-04-19T03:05:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T00:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/"},"modified":"2022-04-19T03:05:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T00:05:34","slug":"18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"#18 Things We Learned from Roland Emmerich&#8217;s &#8216;Moonfall&#8217; Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a326b7d0c9ec\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a326b7d0c9ec\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/#%E2%80%9C18_Things_We_Learned_from_Roland_Emmerichs_%E2%80%98Moonfall_Commentary%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;18 Things We Learned from Roland Emmerich&#8217;s &#8216;Moonfall&#8217; Commentary&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/#Moonfall_2022\" >Moonfall (2022)<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/#Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\" >Best in Context-Free Commentary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/#Final_Thoughts_on_the_Moonfall_Commentary\" >Final Thoughts on the Moonfall Commentary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/18-things-we-learned-from-roland-emmerichs-moonfall-commentary\/#Recommended_Reading\" >Recommended Reading<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C18_Things_We_Learned_from_Roland_Emmerichs_%E2%80%98Moonfall_Commentary%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;18 Things We Learned from Roland Emmerich&#8217;s &#8216;Moonfall&#8217; Commentary&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-media \">\n                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/moonfall.jpg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Moonfall\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/moonfall.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/moonfall-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\">Lionsgate<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>        <!-- START BYLINE --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\">\n            By\u00a0Rob Hunter\u00a0\u00b7 Published on April 18th, 2022\n            <\/div>\n<p>        <!-- END BYLINE --><\/p>\n<p>        <i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Welcome to\u00a0<\/i><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Commentary Commentary,<\/i><\/b><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits Roland Emmerich\u2019s Moonfall through its commentary<\/i>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Roland Emmerich<\/strong>\u2018s filmography has seen its fair share of ups (<em>The Patriot<\/em>, 2000; <em>White House Down<\/em>, 2013) and downs (<em>Anonymous<\/em>, 2011; <em>Stonewall<\/em>, 2015), but the meat of it all has been epic disaster films including <em>Independence Day<\/em> (1996), <em>The Day After Tomorrow<\/em> (2004), <em>2012<\/em> (2009), and more. His latest plays into that expected niche, but filming a big disaster-filled action movie during Covid lockdowns might not have been the best choice.<\/p>\n<p>To be clear, I\u2019m a fan of <em>Moonfall<\/em> as it\u2019s a dumb pile of fun, but <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> audiences didn\u2019t quite agree. It\u2019s on home video now, though, meaning viewers have a second chance to enjoy themselves. The disc includes a few special features including a commentary track, so of course I gave it a listen. Keep reading to see what I heard on the <em>Moonfall<\/em> commentary.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Moonfall_2022\"><\/span>Moonfall (2022)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Commentators: Roland Emmerich (director\/co-writer\/producer), <strong>Harald Kloser<\/strong> (co-writer\/producer\/co-composer)<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>1.<\/strong> They intercut their studio logos with archived footage of the Apollo 11 mission, something they\u2019re able to do as they \u201chave control\u201d of their films, because those logos are always \u201cso boring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong> Co-writer <strong>Spenser Cohen<\/strong> brought words to the film, but he\u2019s also the nephew of Toto\u2019s David Paich which made securing the rights to \u201cAfrica\u201d much easier and cheaper. One of the band members put up an initial stink as they thought Brian Harper (<strong>Patrick Wilson<\/strong>) was making fun of the song by singing it out of tune.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong> The weightlessness was created in various ways including cables, cranes, and more, all hidden by angles and digital trickery. Similarly, the glass in the astronauts\u2019 helmets is usually CG.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong> The early sequence featuring Harper\u2019s family packing up and loading a moving truck while we see his grilling by government officials was a reshoot added after initial filming had wr<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed. \u201cPeople really didn\u2019t understand what happened after the space accident,\u201d so these exposition scenes are meant to answer those questions that otherwise didn\u2019t come clear until later in the film.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.<\/strong> The original <em>Moonfall<\/em> script featured a male co-lead character named Aaron Fowler, but they changed it to Jocinda Fowler (<strong>Halle Berry<\/strong>). They initially named her Erin, but the legal department squashed it as there\u2019s actually an Erin Fowler in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6.<\/strong> Stanley Tucci was originally cast as Tom Lopez, but Covid restrictions saw Canada shut down air traffic from the UK which meant he couldn\u2019t get into the country. They turned to Berry and her management team for help, and they came back with <strong>Michael Pe\u00f1a<\/strong>. Of course, his passport had expired\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>7.<\/strong> They researched what would happen if the moon actually fell onto\/into the Earth, so yes, <em>Moonfall<\/em> is based on hard <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.<\/strong> The character of KC Houseman (<strong>John Bradley<\/strong>) verbally fellates Elon Musk several times throughout, but the film\u2019s officially licensed automobile partner is Lexus. Curious.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9.<\/strong> They initially asked Bradley to use an American accent, but after giving his own British accent a try they realized that was the better, more charming choice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10.<\/strong> <em>Moonfall<\/em> was shot in sixty-one days, with two added later for reshoots.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11.<\/strong> Roeg Sutherland is one of the film\u2019s financiers, and they gave him a quick call to see if his father, Donald Sutherland, would take a small part in the film. The younger Sutherland initially thought they wanted to use his dad\u2019s house in Montreal for shooting to which the answer was a hard no. \u201cHe apparently has the most beautiful house in all of Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>12.<\/strong> The character of Ziggy (<strong>Ryan Bommarito<\/strong>) has been part of several of Emmerich\u2019s scripts but has never reached the screen until now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>13.<\/strong> They had to make a lot of specific script choices to ensure that a space shuttle crew of Harper, Fowler, and Houseman was \u201crealistic.\u201d As a point of comparison, he joins Ben Affleck in wondering why they didn\u2019t just train astronauts to drill in <em>Armageddon<\/em> (1998).<\/p>\n<p><strong>14.<\/strong> Emmerich points out around the one hour mark the numerous (and obvious) scenes that are just actors working against an LED screen. \u201cThat\u2019s how you shoot modern films, and most of the time the extras in the background are CG.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>15.<\/strong> They had a real astronaut on set during production as an advisor, and on occasion he would approach Emmerich and say \u201chey guys, I mean that\u2019s not really possible.\u201d They told him to roll with it as it\u2019s just a movie.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16.<\/strong> They were talking about how to introduce the moon as a character and how it would first communicate with Harper. \u201cThe moon will speak to our characters through something that they\u2019re completely emotionally involved with, so we decided this communication will go through their own thoughts about their family\u2026 and this is something we thought was pretty cool.\u201d You know who else thought this was cool? James Cameron, back in 1989, with <em>The Abyss<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17.<\/strong> They refer to post-action part of a film finale as \u201cthe mop-up\u201d because you have to \u201cmop up all the feelings, and bring everything together.\u201d It was difficult here as they wanted to bring all their characters together for hugs and smiles, but \u201cit was such a coincidence\u201d if the astronauts somehow landed back on Earth where their families were. So they gave them a chopper ride.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18.<\/strong> <em>Moonfall<\/em> originally ended with the survivors looking up at the new moon, but an editor suggested they add more Houseman. It makes the people happy, and it offers them the chance to tease a sequel that will never happen.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\"><\/span>Best in Context-Free Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote\">\u201cWe\u2019re making the interesting choice to make everything look cooler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes a long, long time to shoot people in weightlessness situations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook out for Elon references!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re in a dilemma which is always great for a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it makes it realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is Roland at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had to do a little compromising here and there on the real science.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is uncharted territory when you\u2019re inside the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere\u2019s one of our best jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes it really matter if it\u2019s evolution or creation?\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts_on_the_Moonfall_Commentary\"><\/span>Final Thoughts on the Moonfall Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">While I standby my assertion that <em>Moonfall<\/em> is good, dumb, goofy fun, this commentary track is a slog. Emmerichand Kloser spend the bulk of their time talking about what\u2019s on the screen \u2014 what a character is doing, why the character is doing it, what the character will face next, etc. The pair also clarifies obvious themes, the need for character arcs, how humor works to relieve tension, and more, and it is snoozeville. We do get some anecdotes and amusing observations, but it\u2019s hardly a commentary I\u2019d recommend as worth a listen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Read more Commentary Commentary from the archives.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Topics: Commentary Commentary, Moonfall, Roland Emmerich<br \/>\n        <!-- AUTHOR BOX --><\/p>\n<div class=\"gray-bg p-4 border small mb-5\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center text-md-center\">\n<div class=\"col-md-2\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dca6f7118e64ea9aa6ef4f60221cfe7e?s=96&amp;d=mm&amp;r=x\" class=\"circle img-fluid\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\">\n            Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he&#8217;s so damn young. He&#8217;s our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists &#8216;Broadcast <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a>&#8217; as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FakeRobHunter\">@FakeRobHunter<\/a>.        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>        <!-- START RECOMMENDED READING 1 --><\/p>\n<section class=\"recommended py-5\">\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Recommended_Reading\"><\/span>Recommended Reading<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/section>\n<p>                <!-- END RECOMMENDED READING --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits Roland Emmerich\u2019s Moonfall through its commentary. Roland Emmerich\u2018s filmography has seen its&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":433743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/moonfall.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-433742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}