SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Jesse Boland Nice little movie. Felt so much like a Dr. Who episode, you know those ones where the Dr. isn't there? Good solid story. Great job on the special effects. I thought going into this that it was a low budget one camera little movie, but this is a serious film with a really sweet story, and great chemistry between the leads as they grow to know, and love each other. Solid cast of villains, or simply people in the world around Joe that is for you to decide, or discover. A great deal of though, and effort obviously went into the design and feel of all of the space "toys", and gadgets. Cinematography was simple, and never over the top, no swooping crane shots, or fast close-ups. My number 1 favorite thing about this movie is that at no time do you hear That creaking gate sound effect that everyone uses since the 60's, sorry now that you know, you will always hear it too. You will enjoy this movie however.

malcolm-mcewen As one or two other reviewers note this is a very Anglo-Irish movie. So whilst there are parallels with K-Pax, Earthbound has three things K-pax doesn't have.. Comedy, Romance and Ray Guns! Joe, like so many today, is delusional.. he escapes the pointless boring reality of modern life by living in a fantasy; one in which he believes himself to be the hero son of the planet Zalaxon. Sent here to Earth whilst a battle between Good and Evil is raging on his home world. The delusion having been planted some 15 years earlier into Joe's 11 year old head by his dying father. Joe has then hung onto the fantasy and in doing so isolated himself from the World.When Maria comes into his life Joe realises a 'contingency' plan: he must 'mate' with a human. However when he then decides to share with Maria the truth about his identity she turns to a former boyfriend, the psychiatrist Richard Webb for Help.The delusion is then attacked and shattered forcing Joe to confront the truth (as perceived by others) and to accept that perhaps his father lied to him. The ray guns and memory wipes don't work and the hologram of his father that has been guiding him stops appearing..Joe falls onto the only thing left that is real in his life: his job but when his promotion turns out to be nothing more than two jobs for the wage of one he resigns (inferred).Then events begin to take over... the ray guns begin to work, the hologram it seems was jammed and Maria, who is now pregnant is Kidnapped by Bounty hunters who intend to use Joe's unborn child as a sacrifice.With the help of Maria's sister and a tracking device (sat nav) Joe locates the bounty hunters space ship and begins a rescue... one he is able to complete on entering the atmosphere of Zaxalon where the lower gravity gives him super human strength.After defeating Webb, Joe rescues Maria and the pair drop down to the planet in the escape pod.... to live happily ever after...If only my delusion was as good as Joe's reality.... then my life would be an 8 out of 10 rather than Earthbound which is a great Comedy, Romance Sci-Fi that doesn't need OTT James Cameron style special effects to make it enjoyable...

mattpromo EARTHBOUND (2012 - Ireland) Raindance Film Festival review by Matthew SoloOn these little islands that sit somewhere off the coast of mainland Europe and a long way from mainstream America, we do things quite differently. Our comedies are different, our romantic films are different, and when we combine the two, the results are often quirky, usually touching and invariably funny – to us at least. EARTHBOUND is exactly that combination of results. Now before I go any further, we are not talking Four Weddings here, our feet are firmly strapped to the ground of low budget independent cinema. However, throwing science fiction into the mix, this film is a charming and ambitious debut by Alan Brennan. Made in Ireland and shot in a mere 20 days, EARTHBOUND never sets any false pretences of what you can expect. It's easy to empathise with Joe (Rafe Spall), who is convinced he's an alien from the planet Zalaxon. And we sympathise with Maria (Jenn Murray), his super cute girlfriend who breaks the news to him that his intergalactic fantasies are nothing but just that. And the supporting cast is equally strong, including David Morrissey who was attracted to the project by the story.The special effects are obviously constrained by budget, but you don't care! The whole film works due to the interplay between the leads and the humour of the storyline. The script really is fun and the cast deliver it well. It's not often you get to see an independent sci-fi film that embraces comedy and romance as well (if at all for that matter), but EARTHBOUND is an easy to watch excursion through all three. It's also not often I laugh out loud in the cinema, but I found myself not alone in doing so. Hearing the director and cast talk about their adventures making the film, you can see their comic chemistry in action and wonder when they'll be back. Let's hope it's not too many light years away.

JvH48 I saw this film at the Imagine film festival 2013 in Amsterdam. Though advertising itself as a festival for SF/horror/fantasy, this was one out of a meager set of three movies truthfully labeled as SciFi. Our main character (Joe) heard from this father that he is the last surviving member of the royal family of planet Zalaxon, exiled many many years ago because of a hostile occupation force. To prevent extinction Joe has to find a compatible partner, produce some offspring before it is too late, and eventually return to Zalaxon when the time is ripe. In the beginning of the film, we see him on the lookout for worm holes that appear on sparse moments, possibly carrying a missile from his home planet to bring him back to his roots.A parallel plot ingredient is the romance interwoven in the story. Joe carries a device with him that allows him to measure "compatibility" when a candidate woman comes close. He is a certified nerd, not going out much, always busy with computing time tables for worm holes to appear, and has otherwise little interest in socializing. Also, while working in a comic book shop with an exclusively male clientèle, chances are very slim that he'll meet the right woman ever. Yet, one day Maria appears in the shop, bringing a box of things she found while cleaning out the attic. We see that his compatibility meter shows an exceptionally high value. It forces him to arrange a real date for the first time in his life. And he takes a lot of trouble to prevent the relationship from faltering. As a result, we have "moving" music on various moments, some of the time crescendo to clarify the point (we got it already).The scenario is built very well, letting us viewers continuously in doubt whether Joe's story is indeed true or just imagination. He only communicates with his father by means of a hologram. Though explicitly forbidden to let others know of his background, he finally decides to present Marian to his father. Alas, precisely at that moment, the hologram does not appear (we know Maria inadvertently removed an essential part of the device). Moreover, the planet Zalaxon cannot be found on star charts, plus it being the name of a medicinal drug that Maria found in Joe's medication closet. None of those observations improve the credibility of his story.For the larger part of the running time we see relatively limited use of gadgets, except for the last ten minutes where it really has the looks of a SciFi movie. But still, are we seeing a true voyage home, or is it all just Joe's imagination?? I consider this uncertainty to be the real beauty of the story, leaving us behind with doubts about aliens and life on other planets. That is A Good Thing for the SciFi lover in particular, and for the average viewer in general.All in all, I can recommend this movie for SciFi fans and also for the rest of the family. The mix of SciFi and a love story makes it acceptable for a broad audience. The "moving" music may exaggerate a bit from time to time, but not to the extent of being annoying. The festival visitors gave this film a 7.54 score for the audience award.