Looking for something to watch last night, I came across the new Showtime series, The Man Who Fell To Earth. I thought the previews looked pretty good and the original in 1976 starring David Bowie was pretty decent. I might be a bit biased though because I'm a Bowie fan. I will admit though, I was a bit reluctant because I'm tired of Hollywood taking old movies and destroying the franchise with a crap product only to earn billions of dollars from a gullible public who just wanted another chapter of their favorite story. So far, that was not the case with this new reboot.
Source: IMDB screenshot.
The first episode is about an hour long. Just like the original it starts out with our alien protagonist landing on Earth. Honestly, they don't give up much in the first episode. The alien played by Chiwetel Ejiofor crashes into an oil field in New Mexico. Shenanigans ensue as a naked alien wanders around the desert looking for people for his mission. That's really all we get... He's on a mission.
Source: Showtime Screenshot
The acting is good, the special effects were great. The story is warm and funny in parts and more serious in other parts. The only thing we get is that our planet and his planet are both in some sort of danger.
That's the basic plot without many spoilers. The alien has arrived looking for a way to save his planet. He gets himself in a bit of trouble as he stumbles around the desert and tries to find out what his orders are. He's also looking for a scientist that is supposed to help him.
Honestly, the first episode doesn't give you much. It literally set the basic plot and nothing more. The acting was good. The storyline is good and it did build throughout the episode. It does look like its going to be much different from the 1976 original and I'm really good with that. I always thought this would be a better movie for modern cinema. Special effects have come such a long way since 1976. I'm happy to report right off the bat, that so far this reboot seems like it could be better than the original! The storyline is there, and effects have come such a long way since the 70s. This piece of cinema was way ahead of it's time in 1976. Seems like perfect subject matter for todays high powered effects teams!
I'm really looking forward to seeing the new direction they take this series in. I think it's going to end up being much different from the original. At least that's the vibe I got from the first episode. I suspect there will be some "environmental propaganda" peppered into future scenarios. At least the first episode hints towards those types of messages. I'm OK with that when the propaganda fits the storyline! So far, it all seems like a perfect fit. I'm looking forward to seeing future episodes and seeing how the story progresses.
I'll post a follow up when the season ends!
I liked the original, saw this remake into a series and kind of passed on it. Thanks for watching it, I may take a gander at it myself now. (Also a Bowie Fan)
So far the series hasn't been bad. We'll have to see what future episodes bring.
I'd be interested to see this, but not seen it on services we have yet. The original movie was very strange. We saw the musical 'sequel' Lazarus the same day as the concert with Bowie musicians a year after his death.
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The original was really strange for sure. Definitely light years ahead of its time too. Episode 1 was pretty standard sci-fi stuff so far. It definitely doesn't start as strange as the original.
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Just not convinced....the FIlm was classic and weird but love it! Time shall tell...
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I'm looking forward to see how future episodes progress. Fingers crossed.
I am a Bowie fan, too! And I also believe that Hollywood makes too many remakes of good old movies, usually destroying them in the process.
But I will give a chance to these series, based on your review.
Good post.
Cheers!
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought if you give it a watch!
I'd be interested in watching this but I'm not subscribing to another service, nope.
I bounce around from service to service as they offer deals. I got Showtime for I think like $4 a month for 3 months. I'll cancel that when the offer ends then look for the next good deal. Probably CBS next because of the new season of Picard! I'll binge that, then cancel and look for something else. It also seems to keep my supplied with good content doing it this way. I keep Amazon Prime because free shipping plus the streaming service. Then I'll usually have one other streaming service I subscribe to. My Netflix account is shared. 🤣
That's the smart thing to do! We got Prime and currently Netflix, for a while it was Hulu, I think? But we don't watch that much so it would take us too long to get through a series definitely not within a freebie - LOL
Yeah, I've been watching far too much TV lately. I'm sure I'll stop once the nice weather gets here.
Thanks for your review!
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