ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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How many science fiction movies are there with titles that start with "The Man . . . "?

Well, All Sci-Fi's alphabetical indexs for movies from 1900 to 2000 list twenty-one movies that start with "The Man . . . "

Mighty popular way to name a movie, eh?

Below are three of the twenty-one movies. So, click on the titles and say hello to "The Men"! One of them falls to Earth, the second has a golden gun, and the third one has two heads!
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The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)




The key to understanding this film is to understand the title; it doesn't refer to the fact that the alien (David Bowie) crashlands on Earth, it refers to his 25 year descent from a proud and noble alien to a broken, ersatz human, alcoholic and destitute.

*----*----*----*----SPOILER ALERT----*----*----*----*

After arriving on Earth, Bowie wears a disguise to hide his hairless body and cat-like eyes from the greedy Earthlings to whom he peddles technological wonders, amassing a vast fortune which he plans to use in the building of a spaceship so he can return to his family on a dying, waterless world.

But as the years roll by, the ruthless men who profit from his superior knowledge finally realize who he really is, and they plot to prevent this Golden Goose from ever leaving Earth. Eventually he is reduced to serving as the subject of countless medical tests, a mere guinea pig for the curious doctors.

The once-proud alien ends up a desert hermit, plagued by memories of his distant home and family, tortured by the knowledge that he'll die on this alien world, Earth.

Director Nicholas Roeg's strange and beautifully photographed film isn't intended to glorify aliens but to humble mankind. Bowie is excellent, establishing his character as much by what he doesn't say as by what he does.

Candy Clark is the girl who betrays him by falling prey to her own human greed, hating herself for it afterwards. Buck Henry, Rip Torn, and Claudia Jennings co-star.

Screenplay by Paul Mayersberg. Bowie wrote and recorded several songs for the film, but none of them were used.
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The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)



Roger Moore's second crack at the role of the legendary James Bond is actually further off the mark than his first try, though the fault doesn't lie entirely with Moore.

Christopher Lee is too Shakespearean for a Bond-film villain, Britt Ekland is too scrawny for a Bond-girl heroine, and Clifton James (again playing Sheriff J. W. Pepper) is almost too red-necked for "Smokey and the Bandit", much less a James Bond movie.

The story centers around the efforts of a million-dollar hit man (Lee) to acquire a priceless micro-chip to be used in his solar-powered laser cannon. There's a reasonable amount of action, most of which is set in the Orient, but nothing as memorable as the previous film's speedboat chase, even though this one has a speedboat chase as well.

The climax is a lackluster, one-on-one showdown between Moore and Lee on the villain's tiny island stronghold. Bond fans felt cheated by the lack of a big battle scene (an oversight which was handsomely corrected in the next Bond outing).

The title theme by British Pop star Lulu is considerably more Bond-like than Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" theme, but it wasn't as successful on the music charts.

The casting of Herve Villechaize as Christopher Lee's valet/henchman was a bad idea; instead of an exciting fight between Bond and an Oddjob-like henchman, the film concludes with Roger chasing Herve around a bedroom and tieing up the little pest in a net!

Directed by Bond-film veteran Guy Hamilton, which is something of a surprise, in view of the movie's faults. Moore's next Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me" was a big swing back in the right direction.
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The Man with 2 Heads (1972)

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Not to be confused with "The Thing With Two Heads", which it doesn't resemble and isn't supposed to.

Also not to be confused with a Jekyll/Hyde variation, which it doesn't resemble, even though it is supposed to!

Research scientist Dennis DeMarne experiments with a formula and turns himself into the evil Mr. Blood. Poorly written, directed, and photographed — all by the same guy, Andy Milligan.

Milligan even picked an inappropriate title. And yes, the poster sucks. Impressive ineptness

Also starring Julia Stratton, Jacqueline Lawrence, and Berwick Kaler — God help them.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)