Wonderfully thought provoking. A really brilliant movie that shows what power a movie can have without it being cluttered with CGI and other effects. This movie takes place in a cabin, and is a 90 minute dialogue between a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychiater and some other people.
The main character tells his friends he has been alive for 14000 years. An interesting analytical debate follows with his collegues who try to figure out whether there could be truth to his story or whether he is simply crazy or on drugs. Our cro-magnon tells his friends that he will leave them, as he always does to hide the fact that he does not age.
A very interesting conversation ensues that touches on ancient culture, customs, what life must be like for the main character, wisdom, religion, faith, and the meaning of it all. It is a really good movie and it deserves to be seen, even though the acting isn't spectacular. It is simply a very interesting concept for which this movie is a good medium.
This is a truly unique movie. In an age where so much of the content of a film is dictated by special effects, well known acting leads and mega budgets, "The Man from Earth" sneaks in under the radar.
Writer Jerome Bixby was one of the writers on the Star Trek & Twilight Zone series.
It is truly one of those movies that makes you think and makes you believe in the power of a good story.
Rent, download, borrow or steal this movie, but see it, by all means!
Holy motherfucking shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO GREAT MOVIE! I was stuck in the movie the whole fucking time! This is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life!
This movie could have been much better than it was. Unfortunately, it seemed unduly focused on denouncing the basis of Christianity and the divinity of Jesus. Why must sci-fi writers always take such a dim and hostile view of God? Perhaps they just instinctively dislike any supernatural thing that they didn't cook up themselves.
Loved the premis of this film. Maybe too generous giving 5* rating but its so minimalistic purely a conversation in one room (a la 'an inspecor calls') with a bunch of colleagues that kept me gripped throughout the entire film, and a great subtle twist at the end. Goes to show hollywood doesn't need big budgets to make great films. You just need a good story good actors and a great script. Fantastic performances from Tony Todd and all other cast members!!
This film fascinated me. It was not an action-packed film that inspired awe, it was a simplistic film with a big heart and that is what made it so interesting.
From the original writer of the twilight zone comes this unique tale of the unknown. The movie starts as a group of friends get together as the principal character gets ready to move to pastures new. What starts off as a simple night becomes a step into the unknown as the principal character tells his friends an extraordinary secret. He is a Cro-Magnon being who has lived of thousands if not millions of years. But soon disbelief turns to anger and hatred as the friends finds what he?s saying hard to swallow. Is he really a being who has lived for more than a millennium or is he simply a great storyteller? You as the watcher are also drawn into the story and slowly you begin to believe what is being said even if the other characters in the film do not. The performances are strong and never boring as the whole truth is revealed and you get knocked for six. I mean how would you feel if your friend told you that he was?.. Well I leave that for you to find out. This and Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the Crystal skull are both along the same lines? It depends on what you believe. If you are sceptical then you won?t enjoy either of them but if you have some belief you will enjoy these films. There are lots of things we don?t know or understand but what if, just what if certain things were true. What if Roswell was true? What if what we were told wasn?t true actually was? What if the truth was kept away from us for decades on the sole purpose of that it would be too much for us?
However things take a twist when the truth is to be revealed John lies and keeps the truth a secret. Why? That?s because no-one would believe it that?s why.
But then the payoff comes and only the viewer finds out the real reason behind the story, none of the characters ever find out. Sadly I can?t tell you what it is, that you have to find out for yourself. I must say you should watch this film as after it you will feel enlightened. Tony Todd and William Katt shine in their performances as do David Lee Smith as the principal character John and John Billingsley which help draw the watcher into this story and then bring the startling revelation before your very eyes. Katt does well as the biker bound sceptical friend who believes that John is just plain nuts and Todd does a great job of being the friend who believes that it could be possible. The man from Earth is a light-hearted movie with a message: Don?t judge what you don?t understand.
My main complaint is with the production values. The dvd looked horrible on my 1080p.
A man tells his friends he's 14,000 years old at his going away party. Who can believe him? Why should he care?
Set in a single room, this movie could have been shot for a figure in the low $1000s.
While the movie was not mainstream, it offered a very intriguing story and good actors. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to be challenged in thought.
Excellent movie! Despite of all the script happening on 1 location, the intelligent dialogs keep you interested through all the movie to the point you don't even notice how much time has passes since the beginning. Highly recommended!
I liked this movie but the presentation could have been less dramatic which was due to the music playing.But the characters who meet John are so near to life and the conversation they make does go to all directions criticising a lot of things or seeing life in a new way.The ending was perfect.It was like if you do know the truth of lives it may be life taking
A conversation in a group where a guy confesses that he is 14,000 years old and tells about his life. Very fascinating and great acting all through the cast.
This movie was not quite what I had first expected. Altough it falls within the realm of sci-fi, it wasn't exactly the kind of movie I'm used to getting. For one thing, it didn't have as much as a single action scene, and the whole movie played out in one single room, with the dialogue being the only factor to drive the plot forward. Therefore, it was not without misgivings that I sat down and watched this.
To my great surprise, however, it was actually a quite intriguing and unique experience. The conversations between the characters were good and fascinating enough for the movie to work, and altough it felt more like a lecture than a movie, it did present a lot of food for thought. So if you take it for what it is, it's actually fairly enjoyable, even though I always prefer some good action over 90 minutes of pure dialogue.
My name is Eric D. Wilkinson and I am the producer of a small independent film called Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth.
I am sending you this email after realizing that our website has had nearly 23,000 hits in the last 12 days, much of it coming from your website. In addition, our trailer, both on the www.manfromearth.com site and other sites like YouTube, MySpace and AOL has been watched nearly 20,000 times AND what's most impressive is our ranking on IMDb went from being the 11,235th most popular movie, to the 5th most popular movie in 2 weeks (we are also the #1 independent film on IMDb & the #1 science fiction film on IMDb). How did this all happen? Two words: Torrent / File Sharing sites (well, four words and a slash).
More specifically, RLSLOG.net. Our independent movie had next to no advertising budget and very little going for it until somebody ripped one of the DVD screeners and put the movie online for all to download. After that happened, people were watching it and started posting mostly all positive reviews on IMDb, Amazon and other places. Most of the feedback from everyone who has downloaded The Man From Earth has been overwhelmingly positive. People like our movie and are talking about it, all thanks to piracy on the net!
Am I upset? surprisingly no. Thanks to everyone who has downloaded this torrrent and watched the film, our awareness level is through the roof. For that I say, THANK YOU!
What you guys have done here is nothing short of amazing. In the future, I will not complain about file sharing. YOU HAVE HELPED PUT THIS LITTLE MOVIE ON THE MAP!!!! When I make my next picture, I just may upload the movie on the net myself!"
Also the Director, Richard Schenkman gives his backup that both of the men have 'discussed the matter quite extensively before reaching out to the download community.' But their whole idea behind going public was to pull a Radiohead to reach out to the online community and say, 'If you downloaded this movie and liked it, please buy the DVD; and if you can't buy the DVD where you live, please send us some money'.
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This movie seems to be at first rather boring when u read about the plot but luckly i followed the great reviews from it and i had a wonderful time watching it. Its one of the simplest flick i ever seen and it have a story that blows u away. A man is revealing for his friends that he is 14 000 years old.. great history talking and nice dialogues makes u engage of short 80 mins , i wanted more but it had a nice ending so i was satisfied :) Don't miss this movie , u won't regret it. Enjoy..
Nice discussions and pretty mindstimulating, but somewhat thin. Interesting though to see how people can react when they hear about things they can't understand.
A pretty good idea for a movie and it was interesting throughout. I was just expecting a twist or something to finish it off but the ending was kind of lame.
This film was probably a fascinating piece of sci-fi writing, but as a movie it was a pretty weak effort. From the cinematography to the acting - this was a non-budget sci-fi channel original movie. Sub-career actors giving hammy performances - often skating the line of annoying.
I have to admit that the basic story here is very interesting and thought provoking. I can't say it was perfectly written, but this is science fiction. I think this would work good as a play. I'd also like to see this re-done with a better cast and director.
In the end though - there was nothing here that gave me chills or touched me in some special way or gave me any sort of epiphany like it seems to have done for so many others... At best it held my attention until the end.
It's very much average and mediocre - it will end up being the sort of thing people will reference in speculative conversations with their friends to help them feel smarter. It will end up being shown to high school and college students by that hip and cool teacher. It's very accessible and gently challenges religion, so it's perfect for that.
I've definitely seen better science fiction movies - with or without action or special effects.
MCT:September 7, 2008
MCT:September 5, 2008
MCT:August 27, 2008
MCT:August 27, 2008
MCT:August 20, 2008
MCT:April 7, 2008
MCT:February 4, 2008
