Review Archives

1 | 2 | 3

Today's Date is:

The Man Who Fell to Earth - Special Edition

Watching "The Man Who Fell to Earth" is like trying to solve one of those cube puzzles: only a select few are going to get it, while the others will just sit there, befuddled by its mysteries. I acknowledge the fact that the film has a deeply-rooted cult fan base, and yes, there are instances where the film appears to be well-made and even thought-provoking. But somewhere during the proceedings, director Nicolas Roeg and screenwriter Paul Mayersberg completely lost my interest, turning for me what could have potentially been an enthralling science fiction film into a love-it-or-hate-it, style-over-substance bore with absolutely nothing of any value. The plot is taken from the source novel by Walter Tevis, unread by me. It focuses on an alien visitor to Earth, a tall, sylph-like, red-haired man who goes by the name of Thomas Newton (David Bowie, in the role that brought his acting career to Hollywood's attention).

The basic gist of the story focuses on his plans to transport a necessary supply of water from Earth back to his own dying home planet; in order to accomplish this, he becomes a highly-successful and well-known businessman, busying himself buying up corporations like Kodak to increase his wealth in order that he can finally build a machine to return home. He has two partners at his service, one Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry), who handles the business angle of the corporation like mergers and take-overs, and Nathan Bryce (Rip Torn), a college professor who harbors a deep lust for his coeds, which later changes when he starts working on Newton's return vessel. Newton also has a love interest in Mary-Lou (Candy Clark), who seems completely oblivious to the strangeness of her live-in lover.

The central theme in all of these proceedings is a warning against things like large corporations and wealth and power. Once Newton acquires these things, his life becomes a constant wallow in loneliness, despair, and uncertainty. Now, for those of you who simply cannont live without the film, these elements present themselves on a more psychological manner; they require thought and dissection in order to be fully comprehended. Now, if you're someone like me, and are positive you will never again spend two hours of your life on something so completely worthless, then the theme presents itself through the boredom that you yourself experience in watching the film. For one thing, the film goes absolutely nowhere with its jump-and-jump-again approach to storytelling. Roeg's movement from one scene to another, and usually from one story to another simultaneously, did absolutely nothing for me in terms of bringing to light the various underlying mysteries that the plot seemingly withheld from view. It takes forever to learn the reasons for Newton's presence on Earth, and by the time they are revealed, I was past the point of giving a damn. His stylistic flourishes that permeate much of the proceedings are bloated and mind-numbing, without ever adding anything to the experience except for a sense of dizziness and nausea.

We care nothing for these characters, nor are the performers much to admire; even Bowie, with his far-off gazes and wandering mind, looks lost in the material. And if ever there was a film that could turn people off to sex, then "The Man Who Fell to Earth" scores a four-star rating in my book. Scenes of intimacy and sexual gratification are shown in a most deplorable and truly digusting manner; whether or not this is the intention of the filmmakers is beyond me, but for me, it did nothing to bring me into the events of the story. There is a scene near the end of the film in which Mary-Lou and Thomas proceed to have gratuitous sex while shooting off a revolver full of blanks; now you tell me what the hell that is supposed to signify.

Oh wait, I know: NOTHING! Jeff Shannon of Amazon.com states that the movie is "definitely not for every taste;" he's damn right it's not. I'm beginning to wonder who takes pleasure in watching such a film as this, aside from sadists and those who feel that giving praise to movies they hate gives their ego a boost during group discussions. I'm sure none of my comments will sway the opinions of anyone out there who got something out of "The Man Who Fell to Earth;" in fact, I'm probably going to receive some hate mail for this one. Bring it on, folks; I hated this movie with my entire living essence, and lucky for me, considering the near-comatose state the film left me in, I lived to tell about it.

The 2.35:1 image for "The Man Who Fell to Earth" has been fully restored by Anchor Bay from original negative materials, and looks just fine. Although the colors are limited in their resilience, this is the way the film is intended to look, and with this in mind, hues are very nicely done without bleeding or marring. The exterior daytime scenes exhibit a clean, noise-free appearance, while interior scenes with poor light are heavy on the grain and age blemishes. Contrast is very good, with solid blacks and good shadow delineation, while edges are sharp with only some minor halos present.

All things considered, this is a very good transfer. The DTS and Dolby audio tracks, however, are a different story. Both are encoded for extended surround play (DTS-ES and Dolby 5.1 EX), but that's pretty much beside the point, as much of the surround engagement is limited to the score. Much of the track remains confined in the front and center channels, and the placement of the effects and dialogue is downright awkward. For one thing, it basically sounds like they took the original track and just recorded it into each channel. Dialogue spills from the center channel into the fronts, while many of the sound effects retain a harsh quality with some tearing present. Overall, the track deserves some credit because of its age, but it doesn't really make a strong impression.