Director: Nicolas Roeg. Stars: David Bowie, Rip Torn, Candy Clark, Buck Henry, Bernie Casey. 1976. UK. Sci-Fi/Drama. 139 mins.

Released on BluRay on 4th April 2011

Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) is a humanoid alien on earth who joins in with society in order to save his home planet and gain the ability to travel home. With every day that passes Newton becomes closer and closer to the humans in more ways than one and his lifestyle changes dramatically. (It’s a strange film to have to try and explain – probably best you just watch it yourself!)

I had always wanted to see ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ since I was much younger so getting the chance to review the film on BluRay was a real treat. I remember seeing images from the film and being intrigued by this strange looking thing. I wanted to know more. It looked very special and was clearly something to watch properly. By the time I finally got the film it was a pan & scan copy on VHS and I had already become a widescreen snob so I didn’t watch it. By the time I found it in widescreen, DVD had been invented so I skipped it again. I never managed to watch the film on DVD in the end but now I’m so glad I waited and finally got to experience the film for the first time in the wondrous glory of BluRay. So this review will be twofold. I will look at the film itself and then the presentation of this particular release.

Apart from films like ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Alien’, the 1970s was a time for weird and wonderful science fiction movies. ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ is no exception and quite possibly one of the strangest of them all (along with Tarkovskiy’s ‘Solaris’) but it is this strangeness that brings about a beautiful quality to both the story and the visual style. Even from the opening credits we know we are in for a very visual and exciting experience.

Basically everything about this film rocks. The acting is wonderful. Bowie is perfectly cast as the unusual alien. His ability to switch between the casual gentleman, slightly scared alien and eventually the twisted ‘human’ really brings the film into a dramatic sense of reality. The rest of the cast are also fantastic to watch. I found it especially fun to follow the exploits of Rip Torn.

The music is wonderful, as is to be expected (and also sounds really great here in this restored print). What I found most delightful about this film (apart from Bowie’s amazing hair style – which thanks to BluRay looks even more crazy than it ever would have done before) is the perfect direction from Nic Roeg and the beautiful cinematography from Anthony B. Richards, who re-teamed here after bringing us the equally visual ‘Don’t Look Now’ a few years earlier. The film simply looks fantastic. You can see the care and thought that went into each and every shot as it was created by these masters of motion pictures.

The BluRay image here is perfect. It is such a lovely looking film and the format really does it justice. The opening few shots are rather grainy, but that is to be expected as stock footage was used. The moment the film jumps into high quality is astounding and actually quite breathtaking. The beautiful cinematography, both in the country and in the city stand out in crisp, sharp and colourful detail here in High Definition.

Optimum has released this under their classics label and I think they should be very proud of what they have done. This year does mark the 35th Anniversary of the film and has been included in the BFI Nic Roeg retrospective in March so the release for this BluRay is perfectly timed for the fans. It will be wonderful to see what other films they include in their future catalogue for full digital restoration.

As strange and as long as the film is, I would definitely suggest you see it. If you have never seen it this is the perfect opportunity for you, and if you have seen it, the BluRay release would be the perfect excuse to go back and revisit a classic of 70s cinema. It is at times hard to follow but there are some great moments and the overall feeling is something quite unique.

The disc itself contains a few extra features. There is a collection of interviews with the key creative players behind the film. The interviews are quite interesting, in depth and lengthy. Watching them all will set you back over two hours. There is also a fantastic 20-minute documentary entitled ‘Watching The Alien’ which is a fabulous look back on the film. If you are a fan or just interested in hearing stories about the film then these extras are well worth a visit.

Russ Gomm

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