The Man Who Fell to Earth

R

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1h 58m

Sci-Fi

List

79%

71 Reviews

Tomatometer

69%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry), Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou (Candy Clark), a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.

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Critics Consensus

Filled with stunning imagery, The Man Who Fell to Earth is a calm, meditative film that profoundly explores our culture's values and desires.

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Audience Member

It's the late David Bowie's first feature film. Based on Walter Tevis' 1963 novel of the same name directed by Nicolas Roeg. Thomas Newton arrives on earth via space shuttle looking for viable sources of water. He uses his knowledge of advanced technology to make new innovative inventions for mankind. But the rest of world is hardly welcoming. The US government is concerned with his presence threatening national security. But he has help from lawyer Oliver Farnsworth to guide him and help him leave the planet once he has what he came for. Making a big corporate empire to amass millions of dollars is what he needs to succeed in his mission. Thomas also meets a girl Mary-Lou, a hotel clerk. A lot of earths atmospherics don't bode well with Thomas though, he has trouble riding in fast cars and moving elevators. Will he choose to stay or go back home? David Bowie does give off that alien-persona since he does have a certain androgynous look about him. Essentially he is playing himself to a degree. The movie acts as a melancholy work of sci-fi expressionism. It mostly echoes some of the most formative tales in Judeo-Christian mythology: Lucifer's fall from heaven, Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the betrayal and persecution of Jesus Christ. In fact, Roeg actually roots the plot even deeper in Western culture, invoking Greek mythology with a shot of the Renaissance painting Landscape With the Fall of Icarus-another man who fell to earth. These are stories of negative transformation, from a holy being into one that is doomed; their tragedy comes in tracing how the protagonist's hubris, divinity, or both give way to human frailty. The visuals are trippy, plenty of skin, and of course David Bowie more than carries the picture with his certain mannerisms and physicality. He's a foreigner on a strange new world struggling to adapt and survive. The movie just runs too long and the ending is kinda depressing to say the least. If you're willing to look past all that then the movie is a great debut showcase for the late artist. The 1970s cultures and values are spotlighted here big time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/19/24

Full Review

Montgomery M

Really just kind of boring. And when it wasn't boring it was just really horny. Bowie was great in it though

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/15/23

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Kelly K

My favorite movie of all time…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/31/23

Full Review

Shioka O

Odd and slow. This is for watching David Bowie in his prime. Maybe good while you're stoned, but I'm a sober type, so it was just quirk. Another cult film.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/07/22

Full Review

Jru K

1. David Bowie 2. those eyes 3. "we would have probably done the same thing to you" 4. even though I think I know what's happening, the feeling of time is off

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/03/22

Full Review

Sid L

Great scifi story about the human condition and all the beautiful mess that comes with it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/13/22

Full Review

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Nicolas Roeg

Director

David Bowie

Thomas Jerome Newton

Candy Clark

Mary-Lou

Buck Henry

Oliver Farnsworth

Rip Torn

Nathan Bryce

Bernie Casey

Peters

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Penelope Gilliatt

New Yorker

[Roeg's] great talent is for expressing pity for the fragmentary nature of modern life, but this film arouses no feeling for any figure in it.

Mar 4, 2024

Full Review

Adam Nayman

The Ringer

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.

Nov 26, 2018

Full Review

Kate Muir

Times (UK)

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.

Rated: 5/5

Sep 9, 2016

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

A pretentious puzzle. [Full review in Spanish]

Aug 11, 2023

Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

Roeg, a time-slipping editor who began as a cinematographer, knows red from blue, red sand from blue sky from green water from red blood, knows the difference between Bowie’s milk torso and Rip Torn’s fishbelly-white gut.

Rated: 10/10

Jun 2, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A key cult offering of its decade.

Rated: 3/4

May 13, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry), Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou (Candy Clark), a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.

Director: Nicolas Roeg
Producer: Si Litvinoff
Screenwriter: Paul Mayersberg, Walter Tevis
Distributor: Warner Home Vídeo, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Production Co: British Lion Film Corporation, Houtsnede Maatschappij N.V.
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 28, 1976, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 24, 2011
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $81.8K
Runtime: 1h 58m

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