Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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155 of 160 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "Alien" looking better than ever, October 28, 2005
It was an odd year. 1976 saw the release of Logan's Run with its occasionally heavy handed parable about the youth culture, Ralph Bakshi's Wizards gathered steam at the box office and included a trailer for some movie called Star Wars. Along came Nicolas Roeg with his arthouse science fiction epic and totally mystified everyone. David Bowie is perfect as the alien in this classic science fiction film. He's left his arid, dying planet and come to Earth in hopes that some of "his" inventions could create enough capital so that he can take resources from our planet to save his.
Unfortunately, Bowie's character pretends to be human all too well--he's sucked into the very flaws that cripple humanity. He becomes a victim of our culture rather than master of it. Roeg's film is fragmented and spooky (particularly the scene where Candy Clark discovers that Bowie's character has various attachments to make him seem human). The visually unsettling photography and editing help bring an edge to the film. Roeg manages to fuse science fiction to his European art sensibilities very well. In fact, Man is probably Roeg's most powerful film outside of Don't Look Now his gothic take on the horror film.
I'll get to the point about the difference between the excellent Anchor Bay release and the Criterion release. Both studios had released this film for the first time (there was a previous Fox-Lorber bare bones edition). The Criterion edition looks sharper with better clarity and richer color than the Anchor Bay edition. Detail is better on the Criterion edition and there appears that the Anchor Bay release wasn't digitally restored as the colors are a bit muted and faded in some sequences. Both feature the full length European cut that Roeg intended for the US market as well. The 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound mix for the Anchor Bay is superior to the 2.0 original soundtrack on the Criterion. The entire sound system is used nicely but keep in mind this was never meant to sound as aggressive as the 5.1 ES (or 6.1) releases of more recent movies.
As to the extras, both have excellent extras. The Anchor Bay features a short documentary "Watching the Alien" (a great play on words related to one of Bowie's songs as well as the film), the original theatrical trailer, TV spots, talent bios, a good poster and still gallery as well as Paul Mayersberg's original screenplay in DVD-ROM format. All of these are great extras to be sure and are included on the second disc which allows for a higher bit rate for the movie and, hence, very good video as well. A note about the packaging--Anchor Bay's edition of the movie was fine but came in a very flimsy case with a slip over sleeve. When you took that off the movie and extras disc were held by flimsy plastic holder. The exterior had an image from the original poster and there was a short booklet included as well discussing the film. While normally I could care less about packaging it does bug me when it's as poorly designed as this one which seems like a compromise between an Amray (hard plastic) and snapcase (what Warner used until recently for all their releases). It doesn't stand up to wear and tear well and the discs could potential fall out.
Criterion's transfer is a new, restored high definition digital transfer supervised by Roeg (which explains the color corrections compared to the Anchor Bay edition which was pulled from restored negatives but done three years before). The audio commentary isn't new but is from 1992 (I believe it may be the same one on the original Criterion laserdisc release) and features Roeg and star David Bowie recorded together and Buck Henry recorded on his own. The commentary track is exceptional but that will only matter if commentary tracks are important to you. Some folks never listen to them and never take more than a cursory look at the extras. The second disc includes excellent audio interviews with May Routh who designed the costumes and production designer Brian Eatwell. There's another audio interview with author Walter Tevis recorded in 1984 in which Tevis discusses his novel and the film. There's some great stills, behind-the-scenes photos dominate these and were taken by David James. This section features an introduction by James. The trailers are included as is Tevis' original novel. Finally there's a 28 page critical essay by Graham Fuller about the film and an appreciation of novelist Tevis by another novelist Jack Matthews. Criterion's packaging has the movie in a hard Amray two disc holder and, in turn, within a cardboard cover that houses the movie and the novel. It's very nice and will stand up a better to wear and tear.
Both versions have their strong points. If you purchased the Anchor Bay edition and are satisfied with the exceptional transfer, then you may not want to purchase this new set. The crisper, sharper images and richer colors for the Criterion is the strong selling point while the audio 5.1 on the Anchor Bay has nice presence and sounds better than the audio mix for the Criterion edition. The extras for both are quite good although the commentary track gives the Criterion edition the edge in my mind. The image quality and color are better on the Criterion Edition of "Man" but the Anchor Bay remixed sound has the edge for audio. If you don't have the Anchor Bay or are looking to upgrade to a better looking picture, the Criterion is the stronger of the two. Criterion wins by a nose due to the extra featurettes and audio commentary as well as the Roeg supervised transfer.
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51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ILLEGAL ALIEN?, March 12, 2003
A thin, pale, androgynous David Bowie is THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH -- Special Edition (Anchor Bay), a two-disc set of Nicolas Roeg's film. Previously available on DVD, this widescreen (enhanced for 16x9 TVs) edition looks sharper, the clean DTS surround sound is THX approved and there's a new, interesting 24 minute featurette, "Watching the Alien." Slow moving and beautifully photographed, this movie adaptation is faithful in theme to Walter Tevis's novel. An alien being, disguised as a human, comes to earth to seek a way to save his home planet from turning into an arid wasteland. He funds this project by designing inventions worth gazillions and becomes bigger than Bill Gates. Unfortunately, he also becomes contaminated by our earthly ways and sinks into a mystical malaise of depression and alcohol. A sweet and chirpy Candy Clark lures him into an affair that, strangely, doesn't help. This hypnotic and provocative film long ago achieved cult status. More than anything, it's a visual meditation about an outsider, stymied by material success, who is on a journey back to a home that cannot in fact be reached. (Hey, who can't relate to that?) Fully restored and uncensored (there's full frontal nudity), this new digital transfer is from original materials. Recommended.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great film, lousy package, February 23, 1999
By A Customer
Let me begin by saying this is one of the greatest studies of lonliness and alienation on film that exists today. The sadness inherent in each scene is brilliant and devastating. The viewer is drained by the end. That is, if you're receptive to it. Those expecting a sci-fi blow out will be very upset. This does to a sci-fi story what Interview with the Vampire did with the monster movie format. It uses sci fi as a foundation to create something entirely different. Sure its confusing, but it is not beyond comprehension, nor does it dumb down for the audience. That said, this DVD does it no justice whatsoever. Sure, its widescreen, but there is no chapter index, no trailer, no production notes, and no booklet on the inside of the box. The only extra is a difficult to read filmography. And what happened to the voice over by Bowie and Roeg that exists on the old laserdisc edition? I have a feeling that a real company will put this out on DVD with all the extras eventually, and those of us who bought this sorry edition because they love the film will be ripped off. Is there no justice?
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