L'Homme cosmique

Poster tagline: OUT OF THIS UNIVERSE!  IS IT TRUE?  ARE CREATURES FROM SPACE WATCHING US NOW? ___ This rather lifeless film is a long-forgotten clone of the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, only much cheaper. Those who are into visuals will be disappointed. For the most part, this is a tedious dialogue-based film, which makes do with a cast of only eight and plays out in two locations – a small valley somewhere in Bronson Canyon and a nearby tourist lodge where scientists and a few military men have taken quarters to investigate a mysterious white alien sphere suspended a meter above the ground. There are really no special effects (the sphere’s suspended from a wire) and the only effects sequences show us the alien, played by John Carradine, as he passes through twice, once as a black silhouette (with the aid of a simple camera dissolve) and then in human form with a gestapo-style overcoat, fedora and thick glasses. During his two short appearances, he looks exactly like Max von Sydow’s hitman in Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor :o), only with slightly messianic abilities, seeing as he heals a kid’s paralysis. I wasn’t offended by this film, nor do its ridiculous aspects make me laugh; come to think of it, there is nothing really bad about it. It’s just that this film is awfully bland and does not in any way hold the viewer’s interest. I’m not surprised to find that the only copy was lost in the 1960s and only re-appeared twenty years later when a VHS version was marketed. Even the DVD edition was limited and can be found today on Amazon for 250 pounds apiece. On DVD!  That’s what I call a bargain!!! :o))) (25/03/2020)

Oublié à juste titre, ce film de science-fiction constitue une réplique facile du plus réussi Le Jour où la Terre s'arrêta. La seule force de traction du film est, à peu de chose près, John Carradine, qu’on n’apercevra pourtant que quelques minutes à l’écran. À certains moments, les dialogues des autres acteurs sont bêtes à en pleurer. Quant au meilleur effet spécial du film, c’est une sphère en lévitation. Une imitation de deuxième zone. (31/05/2018)