The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
79%RT Audience Score: 69%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Filled with stunning imagery, The Man Who Fell to Earth is a calm, meditative film that profoundly explores our culture’s values and desires
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a trippy, mind-bending journey that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about aliens and humanity. With David Bowie’s otherworldly performance and Nicholas Roeg’s visionary direction, this movie is a must-see for anyone who wants to escape reality for a little while. Sure, it’s a bit weird and esoteric, but that’s what makes it so great. So grab some popcorn, sit back, and let yourself be transported to another world. Just don’t forget to come back to Earth when it’s over!
Production Company(ies)
Charles Chaplin Productions,
Distributor
Warner Home Vídeo, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
1976
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39:1
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Runtime:1h 58m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 28, 1976 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 27, 2005
Genre(s)
Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
starring David Bowie, Candy Clark, Buck Henry, Rip Torn, Bernie Casey, Jackson D Kane, directed by Nicolas Roeg, written by Paul Mayersberg, Walter Tevis, sci-fi, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Adam Nayman, Kate Muir, Peter Bradshaw, Tom Huddleston, Jay Cocks, David Gritten, Richard Corliss, Tom Cassidy, Armond White, David Lamble, David A Nardozzi, Jacoba Atlas, produced by Michael Deeley, Barry Spikings, R-rated, alien, water, inventions, lawyer, government, love, materialism, mass media, spiritual emptiness, society, culture, gender-bending, Ziggy Stardust, loneliness, xenophobic tendencies, stunning visual imagery, satire, corporate politics, melancholy, muddled, style, cult classic, Warner Home Vídeo, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Candy Clark – Mary-Lou
Buck Henry – Oliver Farnsworth
Rip Torn – Nathan Bryce
Bernie Casey – Peters
Jackson D. Kane – Professor Canutti
Director(s)
Nicolas Roeg
Writer(s)
Paul Mayersberg, Walter Tevis
Producer(s)
Michael Deeley, Barry Spikings
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (12)
As a meditation on encroaching spiritual emptiness, set in a society hypnotized by materialism and mass media-Roeg’s film is so rich and lucid that it could be an essay.
November 26, 2018
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
The real story is less about the sci-fi and more about the weirdness on Earth, a woozy dream of greed and alcohol and betrayal, as the gentle Newton is preyed upon by hucksters and the American government.
September 9, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A freaky, compelling concept album of a film.
September 8, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
There are moments here that approach the sublime.
September 5, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Tom Huddleston
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Roeg’s exuberance and invention are compromised here by a yarn that carries dank traces of Twilight Zone.
January 13, 2016
Jay Cocks
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
One has to say this for The Man Who Fell to Earth: such a bold, imaginative work would never get made in today’s fettered, cautious film industry, either here or in America. Roeg’s work may have its faults – but its ambition is beyond reproach.
January 13, 2016
David Gritten
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The Man Who Fell to Earth winds up looking like a Carnaby Street commercial for alienation.
June 22, 2022
Richard Corliss
New Times (magazine)
A movie to be experienced and interpreted rather than understood, The Man Who Fell to Earth might be frustrating for some. But when caught in the right mood at the right time, it transports you to another world that delivers rich rewards.
January 5, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Tom Cassidy
Common Sense Media
Nicholas Roeg has a daring, original gift as a director that he can’t yet fully control; when, if ever, he gets that control, one will be able to call it style.
June 30, 2021
Armond White
Ann Arbor Sun
Virtually every aspect of David Bowie’s gender-bending Ziggy Stardust persona acquires heightened significance as he plays an alien from a water-depleted planet desperate to save his dying species.
June 10, 2020
David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
Directed by Nicholas Roeg, it is a needlessly symbolic, over-intelligent production that is just too complicated and esoteric to be easily digested.
May 26, 2020
David A. Nardozzi
Philadelphia Gay News
What must be applauded in The Man Who Fell to F.arth is the visual imagination of Nicholas Roeg and his uncompromising vision.
October 31, 2019
Jacoba Atlas
Los Angeles Free Press…
Plot
An alien named Thomas Jerome Newton comes to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. He uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions, but his entire plan is threatened when he is intercepted by the U.S. government.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Man Who Fell to Earth stars the iconic musician David Bowie in the lead role.
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