Feels mostly aimless and pointless
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Man Who Fell to Earth
Chronic_Johnson — 5 years ago(November 02, 2020 12:22 AM)
For a long time this movie just doesn't seem to know where its going. Something is definitely a bit off on the writing side of things. At times it just seemed like an excuse to put David Bowie in a movie as an alien.
Some memorable effects, passable acting, awful pacing, vague story.
It sort of seems to be trying to make a point near the end but it just fails for me.
Also, the director deciding not to go with some of the music Bowie was working on with Brian Eno was a big mistake. I don't really remember the soundtrack to this movie, and I think the songs that can be found on the 2nd half of Bowie's album "Low" would have worked very well.
4/10. -
Platonic_Caveman — 5 years ago(November 04, 2020 04:48 AM)
I agree. As a major Bowie fan this was a huge disappointment. His alien was listless.
And you make a crucial point. A Bowie/Eno musical score could have saved it.
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Platonic_Caveman — 5 years ago(November 04, 2020 06:15 AM)
Very interesting. It sounds like the lost score was either the more non-commercial B-Side of the album Low; or, it was new material never released.
In the 70's Bowie was evidently not appreciated as the visionary he turned out to be.
If the score was new material, hopefully it can now be released.
Initially, Bowie planned to record the soundtrack once shooting wrapped. However, like his alien counterpart, Bowie was waylaid by earthly matters (namely, working on his Young Americans follow up, Station to Station). Ultimately, Bowie produced five (or six, depending on who you ask) disparate tracks, which, in Roeg’s estimation, were unusable.
There are those who believe Bowie’s score resides (sneakily) on the decidedly more cinematic second side of Bowie’s album Low. There are rumors that Bowie’s soundtrack lives in a studio vault. Others simply don’t believe it exists.
Whatever the case, the story behind The Man Who Fell to Earth‘s score is almost as enigmatic as Roeg’s film. For a deeper dive into Bowie’s involvement in the film’s soundtrack and the direction Roeg ultimately took, we recommend the following video essay.
https://filmschoolrejects.com/man-who-fell-to-earth-soundtrack/
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Chronic_Johnson — 5 years ago(November 04, 2020 06:34 AM)
Considering it's been a few years since his death, if he had unreleased music lying around, it'll probably get released for a quick buck.
I lean a bit more towards the music being the stuff on the 2nd half of "Low". I remember hearing somewhere that the music was changed up a bit, and that's what we got on "Low".
Perhaps it was Eno's contributions that made up a lot of those changes. In which case, I could imagine Bowie's original versions were maybe missing something at the time, and maybe that's why it wasn't quite good enough for the director (other than the fact that the director wanted country "twang" for the soundtrack, which is fine, but you can always have both). -
Platonic_Caveman — 5 years ago(November 05, 2020 05:02 AM)
Well I think we both degree that the director did not turn out a good product. His decisions were bad all around. He was working with one of the most innovative musical talents of his time. Yet he preferred a "country twang" to a score by Bowie or Eno? The director screwed up.
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MovieManCin2 — 5 years ago(November 05, 2020 10:09 AM)
Agreed. The ending was abrupt, and very weak! And I never quite understood why they threw poor Buck Henry through the window.
MAGA! FAFO!
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder. 
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Chronic_Johnson — 5 years ago(November 05, 2020 10:44 PM)
I've somewhat forgotten that part of the movie, but I seem to recall he was having 2nd thoughts about what he was doing, and he may have been about to do or say something that ultimately got him killed.
I've seen this movie on a few people's lists on this website for favourite movie of the year that it came out.
I'd be interested in hearing what worked for them. -
MovieManCin2 — 5 years ago(November 06, 2020 04:47 AM)
I would too.
According to the Synopsis on IMDb, Farnsworth
(Buck Henry)
was killed by corporate hit men because he refused to sell World Enterprises, the company which he built with Bowie from his nine patents. That doesn't make any sense to me.
BTW, I remember one of the gadgets he had. It was basically a digital camera. So that was prophetic.
MAGA! FAFO! Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder.