Someone I know who thinks he knows everything because he is in academia said this film is terrible because it is a cliche alien visitor film. While the characters are cliche , the film can't be cliche,since its the second (or first depending upon how you count) alien invasion flick. A cliche isn't a cliche when its used for the first time!!
shareYou're right; academics often assume they have a monopoly on intellect, when their profession has as many fools and posers as any other. The person likely judges a film strictly from his/her own egocentric perspective and thus sees it's timeframe as irrelevant, whereas, in fact, cliches can only be determined by time.
shareI suspect he never watched a lot of these films as a boy, and just knows what he learned college. He is of the age when a lot of people went college to avoid the draft. Which tells you something!
shareYou are absolutely right (and such lame criticism is hardly confined to academics), but even a genuinely cliched movie can be good...witness, for one example, Casablanca. However, even after the space of nearly 60 years, one of the things that most stands out about The Man From Planet X is its unique and decidedly uncliched script and plot, with perhaps the most complex alien (in terms of character) ever written -- certainly quite unique for its era.
shareThough I didn't like this movie, I agree with your assessment of it. I guess the academic isn't familiar with the term "guilty pleasure". Heck, to an extent, Rocky and Star Wars are b-movies.
Yippee: "For king!"
Yappee: "For country!"
Yahooie: "And, most of all, for 10¢ an hour!"
Likely greatly admired as an example of what can be done on a limited budget by a skilled director. Have always admired many of the original Twilight Zone episodes and other "gem" sci-fi films for the same reason.
shareLikely greatly admired as an example of what can be done on a limited budget by a skilled director. Have always admired many of the original Twilight Zone episodes and other "gem" sci-fi films for the same reason.
Thanks also youroldpaljim for your subject post .