Then it kind of felt like that film The 7th Day with Arnie.
Like an idiot, I bothered to read the IMDB comments. Of the ones that weren't full marks (seriously? why?) the criticisms were silly. Let me address them:
Gerty could have run the base alone: Well maybe in the future people don't trust an AI to do everything alone? It's a large leap in trust. I would imagine there is future legislation to make sure a human operator is always there to pull the kill switch.
Gerty could have had a proper face: Well the uncanny valley suggests that people are creeped out the more realistic you make the appearence of a robot. A more complex face would make for some very creepy expressions that wouldn't work properly. I don't think Gerty, or any robot/computer could have human level emotions, so why try and let them express them? Emoticons are perfectly plausable and a good solution.
The moon base wouldn't be run alone: Well Gerty probably ran most of it. Sam seems more like the caretaker, fixing stuff that is broken. Probably another peice of red tape on future Earth. For all we know, there are laws to prevent computers from taking over any job, to keep humans in employment (it happens now in western factories that could clearly be fully robotisised). The fact that Sam is a clone is likely a loophole in said law.
Why a clone instead of real people?: Maybe there are health and safety type laws that have scaled back the amount of years human beings can work in space? It does have a huge effect on human health, after all. We know that the company had real people up there, and cloned the original Sam. Maybe Sam was uniquely skilled? Maybe he had a particular psychological profile that was required by some legislation? Maybe humans can no longer work in space, but clones (as a loophole) are the only option? In this day and age, robots would be controlled remotely. But the film is set in an unknown point in time - you have NO IDEA what the circumstances on Earth are... maybe remote links are no longer secure? Maybe there is a cyber based war being conducted across the world (it happens now. Even the LHC has been hacked).
Why so many clones?: Well maybe each manned trip to the moon has a cost of some type. Maybe there are taxes or extensive paperwork? Maybe you need some kind of government permission? At the end you see the humans have huge ships. So big they could easily deliver all the clones at once. So why not? If there is a penalty to multiple trips, why not bring a huge batch in one go? Maybe clones were due to be banned or restrictions to be put on their deployment, so the company used that opportunity to send as many as possible before that time passed?
But they have advanced cloning and thought implanting technology?!: Well we have no idea when the film is set (do we?) or what the situation is on earth. People will still need energy right?
Ultimately we know almost nothing about life on Earth. For all we know the population is in decline and risking real people is too high. You just don't know. This is the best aspect of the film IMO. You see a video feed of an office and a few houses, a few other people... a sound clip of a talk show... nothing else. You need to use your imagination people! Do people not have an imagination anymore?
