Rating: 
Summary: Alien Visitor
Review: Something piqued my interest about this film and I screened it only a few days after I got it. Sorry to say it left a bit to be desired. The story revolves around a 30 something Australian surveyor working mostly in the outback who is visited one night by a lovely woman who turns out to be an alien. She's not certain where she is, and when she finds out it's Earth, she's pretty ticked off. Seems we're considered the scum of the universe by the rest of the galactic brotherhood because of our supposed neglect for our planet. As a result she's really upset she was sent here for her assignment (whatever THAT is). She's always on him about something, but since he's a decent sort, they do manage to strike up a relationship (complete with ground rules) for at least a short period of time. As she has the ability to manipulte space and the way we perceive the flow of time, she proceeds to zoom him to different parts of the planet (though they mostly seem like different parts of Australia) to show him how our neglect for the planet is causing it to get sick in various ways. As they break off the relationship and she heads back home, he realizes she was right and begins a campaign to get us all to see the error of our ways and save the planet. He's successful to the point he becomes a folk hero. The main problem with this movie is its simplemindedness. She's on him for all the things we're doing wrong and he offers not one argument. He doesn't mention Green Peace or the EPA or any of the other organizations doing wonderful things to make people aware of the problems and come up with solutions. It's as though he's saying that she's right, lock, stock and barrel. I kept wanting for him to put her in her place with a few common sense observations. Sure, her people can have her zipping around the universe at the blink of an eye. It takes everything we have just to send a few people to our nearest satelite. Give us a few years. We'll get there. That most of the movie consists of them having conversations (mostly one-sided) in different locations, there isn't a lot going on here. Things move slowly and I kept wanting more to happen. But it doesn't. This is a well intentioned movie but the the filmakers didn't seem to realize that stories rely on friction to keep things going and there just wasn't any here. You don't get much more than this rather likeable guy getting trashed for a good hour and a half.
Rating: 
Summary: Alien Visitor
Review: This is a thoughtful film, that, in addition to the communication between the man and the woman, uses the beautiful Australian outback to emphasize the message. Yes, it has a strong environmental message, and at the end, an excellent speech is given about man's coming together to fight wars to right perceived wrongs, but as we continue to despoil the earth....we have yet to come together to "fight the war" to right the wrong that is being done to our own habitat: the earth. The photography is great. Makes one want to go to Australia.
Rating: 
Summary: worthless, save for the unintended comedy in pretension
Review: What can I say, this movie is so good because of the way it shows humanity at both its unconciously worse and its highest potential. The centre of the story is a slowly building romance between an alien woman who sees earth as nothing more than a planet slowly commiting suicide, and a man who thinks things are pretty nice. This film is a deep ecology showpiece, because it suggests that another life is possible besides the heavy industrialised one we have accepted as a default. I definitely ramped up my bicycle riding after watching. The jusxtaposition of the highway scenes over against the natural world is particularly powerful. If you are looking for Star Trek you will be dissapointed, but if you are open to being taken on a world tour from a slightly different perspective then you are in for a treat.
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