This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Moonhaven focuses on Bella Sway, a lunar cargo pilot and smuggler 100 years in the future who finds herself accused of a crime and marooned on Moonhaven, a utopian community set on a 500 square mile Garden of Eden built on the Moon to find solutions to the problems that will soon end civilization on Mother Earth.

For thoughts on Moonhaven: The Complete First Season, please check out my thoughts here.

Video Quality

The first season of Moonhaven comes to Blu-Ray with a gorgeous 1080p presentation that perfectly realizes this series in high definition as the visual feast that it is. The show features some very unique locations which are displayed with depth and robust clarity on this disc. Small features are readily visible within the uniforms and futuristic production design. Black levels are nice and deep without any major instance of crush or banding. Compression artifacts are completely circumvented during the viewing thanks to a solid encode.

The series brings out the deep colors from the landscapes and certain lighting situations which make a substantial impression. The bright daytime scenes along with moments at night handle fine detail equally as well. Skin tones and facial details are rendered flawlessly which brings a great bit of texture to the picture. RLJE Entertainment has delivered a really good presentation.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a dynamic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that handles this material with great precision. Dialogue stays planted in the front center channels for the most part and comes through clearly. Ambient activity is prominent when it is supposed to be as it spreads carefully throughout the rear channels to create a three-dimensional world. There is some weight to the low end, but action is not the primary focus of the narrative. The score establishes the mood of the series that properly saturates the room. This track never experiences any sonic anomalies throughout the season. The track does a great job of making sure neither sound effects nor the score ever overpowers important exchanges of dialogue. This track delivers on all fronts. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

There are no special features included in this set.

Final Thoughts

The first and only season of Moonhaven has a strong creative vision, but it is one that is not executed as well as it potentially could be. There is an imbalance between the philosophical musings and the background intrigue driving the narrative forward that makes for a languidly paced six episodes. While there are moments that truly impress, the series does not feel like it uses its brief runtime economically. The performances are pretty good all around with newcomer Emma McDonald serving as a standout. RLJE Entertainment and AMC have delivered a Blu-Ray with a grand A/V presentation but no supplemental features. We wish we could have seen this show refined with a sophomore season, but sci-fi fans who want a quick binge with a focus on actual science fiction tropes should get something out of this.

Moonhaven: The Complete First Season is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.