Must See Movie...

As Good As It Gets

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Saw this turkey in the theater when it came out, not long after "Star Wars", and it quickly became a "MST3" with audience participation. The tag line for this bomb was "Why did they come"? When a cast member said that line in the film, my buddy stood up and shouted "Why did WE come?" which had the whole theater doubled over with laughter. The only redeeming factors for this film were the sexy female aliens in skimpy costumes and the unintentional laughs. Well, that and the theater was still offering real butter (not butter-flavored vegetable oil) on the popcorn. If you intend to watch this movie, gather some like-minded friends and prepare them for making snippy comments about it. Adult beverages will probably help.

I saw this film once on afternoon television in the late 70's . I've never seen it screened, rented or sold since. It seems to have sank into obscurity. I remember being disturbed in parts, so as bad as it may be, it could be provocative for ten year old latch key children, home alone in the late 70's. One interesting thing to note, reading the plot summary offered at IMDb, I've seen some of the same elements in UFO abduction lore & accounts. There are some who believe that there has been an extraterrestrial culture occupying the bowels of the Earth for some time, a federation of races I believe, that use this symbol of the winged serpent as their identifying mark. Some believe that this federation ultimately does want control of the Earth and humanity, and will reveal themselves following some type of cosmic or nuclear calamity on the Earth. Also, the ability to exert remote and irresistible control of the human brain through superior technology is a theme I've read frequently in reports, as well as this film's attention to the commonly reported telepathic ability of the ET's. I mention this because it seems like most cinema avoids some of the more fantastic elements of abduction accounts, and concentrates on other elements to the point of cliché. X-files hit on a lot of themes one can find in the reports, to be sure. I'd like to see this movie again, for nostalgia's sake. Sadly this isn't the UFO lore Epic I want. I'd like to see some talented writer/director do for modern abduction accounts what Spielberg did in Close Encounters with Project Bluebook reports. Some of the stuff they predict/report is genuinely terrifying, like, the apocalypse of mankind. The stakes don't get any higher. Perfect for Hollywood. A rich vein for creative exploration and sadly this little low budget film is about as close as it gets at the moment.

It was poopoo then, it Has to be poo poo now. Christopher Lee as a RamaTut Alien, bad F/X saucers, stuff right outta those goofy 'The Outer Space Connection/Chariots of the Gods' '70s UFO crap flix, etc. Even has Helen Shaver, a fat guy on a tractor, a cute brunette Alien nude chick and the Man from Uncle w/ his 9 buck Calculator saving the day. Def. one for the ages. Where were Tom Servo and Cro when ya needed them?* maybe. Real bad.

Rumor has it that Vaughn was misled about what a rotten film this would be. Well, I'm sure it would be convenient for him if that were true, but I suspect he had some idea what he was in for if he read the script. Can't blame that on him, though. This dreadful attempt to catch the extraordinary wave of sf enthusiasm splashed up by Star Wars (a phenomenon that is hard to imagine today, if only because everyone now seems to love science fiction movies) lacks even the so-bad-it's-good charm of Plan 9 or Robot Monster. The saucer models are painfully amateurish, the robot is... well... painfully amateurish, and the dialog really, actually, sounds like the actors were asked to make it up as they went along (and did a painfully amateurish job of it).This is the kind of film that begs for lampooning in a review, but I'm sort of hoping not enough people have, or will have, seen it to make it worth the effort. So I'll leave the lampoon on the deck and just tell you straight and prosaic: This is a bad movie. You won't like it. It is not entertaining and has no good parts. Do absolutely anything else with your time instead of watching it. Why are you still even reading this? There is nothing you could possibly do to further waste your time than devote another millisecond to anything connected with this movie, including reading more of this review. Go away. Really. Now.