I have been fascinated with this movie ever since I saw it over 30 years ago. I consider it to be in the top 5 of sci-fi
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Man Who Fell to Earth
gavbrown01 — 17 years ago(January 30, 2009 02:59 AM)
I have been fascinated with this movie ever since I saw it over 30 years ago. I consider it to be in the top 5 of sci-fi movies ever made. Why?
-It's a great sci-fi story: A man appears in the desert one day, walking to civilization. In short order he becomes the head of a scientifically advanced corporation. He seems to have a mission to build a spaceship. Is he an alien? We see flashes of a seeming alien culture. Are these his memories? What is his purpose? Although the special effects are not flashy, they are entirely appropriate to adult tone of the movie - they work.
-It's a great mystery: Nothing is explicitly stated, we learn almost everything through inference. Everything is there which you need to know, but you have to pay attention.
-It's a great love story: the Earth girl who falls in love with him is one of the most touching characters I've seen. At the same time attracted to him personally and repelled by his alienness, she retreats into alcoholism at times, but always comes back to her Tommy.
-It's got pathos: the ultimate reason the story works is the main character, Tommy. Played by David Bowie, in the role of a lifetime, the alien character is a man in love who is on a rescue mission to save the one he loves. Trapped in a world of aliens, he struggles mightily to build the spaceship to save his family, but ultimately fails because he is discovered and caught by the government. He is not so alien that he can't relate to human beings: he does have human friends, and even a measure of human love. -
kingofthecastle — 17 years ago(February 19, 2009 08:28 AM)
I enjouyed reading your comments. It has actually been 33 years since I last saw the movie, but it was unforgettable for me. I would be interested to know what you think of my concept of this movie. I have thought that it is a suggested biography of who Howard Hughes was. The whole desert setting and beng captured in a Las Vegas hotel. I will need to get a copy of this and watch it again. It has been too long.
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cabal-16 — 17 years ago(March 23, 2009 01:05 PM)
there are a few people in history who just are outstanding by the pure talent and abilities they have, they can be compared well as aliens, leonardo, einstein, hughes,the name newton really seems like a chosen pick to this idea
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dropdown1 — 17 years ago(March 27, 2009 06:53 PM)
wonderful analysis of the filmI'm going re-watch it.
As another member pointed out, it works amazing well as both an alien/sci-fi story and as a Howard Hughes/troubled genius allegory. Keep in mind, Bowie's character doesn't start seeing his "alien family" until he starts drinking.
Check out Theresa Russell's comments on the Criterion DVD to "Bad Timing" when she talks about how alienated Nic Roeg felt after the success of "Walkabout" and "Don't Look Now" in UK. He went from being a "nobody" to the director everyone wanted a piece of. -
gavbrown01 — 15 years ago(July 11, 2010 08:11 AM)
I saw the Leonardo DiCaprio HH flix and of course everyone has some concept of him as the strange recluse who died with a lot of weird habits. Not sure I connect him to this movie, tho I see why others might see parallels.
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nephihaha — 14 years ago(August 14, 2011 02:15 PM)
Definite parallel with Howard Hughes, although it was really autobiographical Walter Tevis who wrote the novel based it on a childhood full of illness (after a move from San Francisco to Kentucky) followed by an adulthood of alcoholism.
It's not "sci-fi", it's SF! -
DukeTogo1300 — 16 years ago(August 20, 2009 07:24 PM)
It is quite possible to like both. I do, and you should too. Everyone should like the
exact
same list of movies.My favorites:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur7568922/lists -
gavbrown01 — 15 years ago(July 11, 2010 08:06 AM)
I am bad! I posted this a year and a half ago and never came back to participate in any follow-up conversation which I obviously could have had. I'm going to spend more time on imdb following up with my posts. Thanks for the nice comments. I'll add two things to the conversation: I read Stanislaw Lem's Solaris and have seen both the Soviet-era (70s) movie version of it and the Clooney version - neither came close to the power of the book, I thought, which in my estimation was a rumination on the nature of intelligence (was the planet intelligent or some kind of natural phenomenon? or perhaps, something more deep). 2) I just posted on the discussion board for the movie Hackers, another of my favs.
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rgcustomer — 14 years ago(August 07, 2011 05:49 PM)
I also enjoyed what they did with some of the shots. For example, early on when Newton is looking out over a city, we tilt up and look at the Orion constellation, which then starts falling and transforming into fireworks. It's a beautiful picture.
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nephihaha — 14 years ago(August 14, 2011 02:12 PM)
It's about corruption Newton is more or less a fallen angel, who is destroyed by humanity, rather than a fallen angel setting out to destroy humanity, like Satan.
It's also a brutal satire on big business, and hypocrisy of capitalism.
It's not "sci-fi", it's SF!