IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Steineded How sad is this?

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

mkrohne I must repeat the old cliche that the original story by Walter Tevis was much better than this film. In the story, Mr. Newton is a tragic figure who fails in his task, not entirely his fault. That's not entirely clear here. The film is confused, full of plot holes and inconsistencies and poorly directed. Production values seem to be on a par with 1970s television shows and not the best of those either. Though I normally agree with the approach of "show, don't tell", I believe this film would have benefitted from some explanation. Instead, it focuses on scattered details from the original story without knitting them together in any reasonable fashion. There is some solid acting here and it is a treat to see Bowie on screen. However, poor direction, an apparent lack of vision and chaotic editing don't help the story or the performances at all. The inept use of stock footage doesn't help as it often seems grossly out of place and seems to have little to do with the story. The same can be said of the soundtrack, which seems to rely on musical cliches. I saw this film when it was released and after all this time was curious to watch it again. In between I read the Tevis story and found that to be wonderful. Viewing this film a second time was disappointing. My criteria and expectations have grown in the 40 years that have passed. Sadly, this film did not age well. I don't think it even stands up against the better films of its era. I still watched all of it because I was a big Bowie fan. He never disappoints. He and the cast deserved better direction and a stronger vision, as did the story itself.

jc-osms I like Nicolas Roeg's films although I don't claim to always "get" or enjoy every minute of them. They're always fantastically shot in a crisp, realistic style, he often pushes back the boundaries, particularly with the censors, and they frequently have scenes which stick long in the memory. However, they often seem to have just as many longueurs, with off-beat characters and non-linear narratives. Maybe I'm the problem...Anyway David Bowie here plays a part which seemed to haunt him for years to come, in the aftermath of the film alone, he used images from the movie for two of his album covers, a 12-inch single sleeve while it also seems to inspire tracks on his "Station To Station", "Low" and "Scary Monsters" albums not to mention the famous "Ashes To Ashes" video. Bowie was at an artistic peak musically although off stage he was hopelessly hooked on cocaine, in fact just watch the contemporary BBC Arena documentary on him, "Cracked Actor" and he looks here as if he's just walked on-set from there. So can he act then...?Well if there was one part he was born to play, it was this one, the alien misfit who conquers the world, but to be honest, while he certainly has a presence, you wouldn't say he was extended much. Looks great though.The film stop-starts its way on his space invader odyssey, as he leaves his family life on Mars (or wherever it is) to start inventing items which quickly become society's new fashion must-haves. He picks up, (or rather she does him) an adoring if simplistic hotel chambermaid and garners a back-up team to make him a vast fortune, his target being to amass enough funds to build a spaceship to take him back home. But something happens on his way to heaven as unsurprisingly, he's abducted by government officials, where he's subjected to excruciating tests which wouldn't be out of place in an animal cruelty lab. Resistance however is futile and the mysterious Mr Newton by the end is a washed-up drunk, still resigning himself to his earth bound fate. In one of the film's most telling lines, he forgives his captor-torturer, as he admits his own race would gave treated a visiting earthling in the exact same way.There's solid back-up to Bowie's central role with a variety of convincingly portrayed stock characters. Roeg pushes the permissive button pretty far here with more than a smattering of nudity in the sex scenes, not ignoring the fact that males frequently get naked too when being intimate. I would still say there were too many scenes which for me played like Bowie's own cut-up method for lyrics at around this time, by which I mean I found them puzzling, strange and unconnected. And why no Bowie soundtrack?Still, an interesting if confounding movie, as strangely addictive in its way as television is to Newton.

WakenPayne I quite like David Bowie. I enjoy his music and to me made the best transition between singer and actor, even if people remember him more for his singing. I decided to watch this mainly because... It's the closest thing we'll ever get to a movie of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars (I know it's based on a separate novel but it really is still the closest thing). My problem is that the plot has no focus, as a result it REALLY drags. What should be a movie about Bowie trying to get water to his planet isn't revealed for a while and even then the downfalls of him falling to addiction doesn't really happen and it's more enterprising, love interests and weird sequences. I expected Bowie to be weird but I really don't want to see that going in. As I may have pointed out Bowie does do a good performance (everyone else is serviceable), the cinematography at times can get really striking and outright beautiful and the old man make-up on Rip Torn at the end is like looking at him today. I'd say maybe someone would like this but it really is not for me.

RaoulGonzo Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth is a bit of a trippy viewing experience full of layered themes of isolation and loneliness excellently portrayed through main star David Bowie's performance to which he later re-counted was the perfect role as to what he was experiencing personally at that time in his life (The Thin White Duke era) . The film aims high in terms of its ideas but doesn't always hit the target, it ends up being a mixed bag.It's a not so complex plot and one we have seen many times before and since, An Alien Thomas Jerome Newton (Bowie) falls into earth in order to gather what he needs (in this case water) to collect and bring it back in order to save his dying planet (Which remains unnamed). We end up with a film that seems to go nowhere further in terms of plot which I think is the intention. Newton after establishing his plan to get what he needs to get back home hooks up with a passive alcoholic named Mary-Lou (Candy Clark) which leads him on a path of alcohol abuse and internal corruption. It is this theme which is the focal point of the movie.There is a rather grainy look to the film with dated effects which only add to the charm of the movie. The soundtrack is odd at times has I nice beat of jazz score at the beginning and moves on to campy soft porn vibe during the also camp love/sex scenes which is off-putting. Nothing From Bowie himself but after listening again to his album Low (which has tracks rejected for the film soundtrack utilized in the album) it inspired me to watch it.It is well acted for the most part although the perfect role in his first outing on the big screen for Bowie, you couldn't think of anyone else possibly playing this part as naturally as he does his elegant and sexual nature really adds to the film. There is also a role for Rip Torn who gives a good performance as a science professor who's life seems to be stale and bored with his sexual exploits with students. Candy Clark is possibly the weakest point in terms of acting although she does a decent job portraying a damaged soul dependent on drink and Newton, it's her more hysterical scenes that get slightly irritating.Roeg goes for an evocative style in terms of his direction it's like he's out to shock with soft porn sex scenes featuring male and female full frontal nudity. The pacing is a bit dis-jointed with some unnecessary and confusing scenes that lead nowhere and at a running time of over 2 hours its slightly overlong. Some of the dialog only adds to the confusion but I think it makes it more intriguing.A role that's made for bowie in a tale of corruption of an innocent mind through drink and an unforgiving environment. It has its ups and downs with plotting and editing all over the place, A strange one that I would certainly watch again it takes you out of your comfort zone in a good way.