Just watched this film for the first time since I was a kid and surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
However, I noticed several plot holes but the most significant one (unless I missed something somewhere) was: why was he there?
My understanding was that he was travelling to earth, crash landed then spent the whole film travelling to the original landing point so that he could go home. So why was he there?
He arrived to make contact with Earth. But, after arriving and being shot down, plus other things he saw, he decided that it wasn't a good idea to make first contact with Earth, and decided to leave again.
shareYou missed something:
When he's hitching a ride with the cook, he's asked about his "line of work." He replies, "I make maps."
He's here as a mapmaker for his planet, studying Earth. He's also possibly studying the people (he doesn't deny it when the SETI guy asks, "Are you some kind of anthropologist?")
I'm glad the movie doesn't specify beyond that. One thing this movie does exceedingly well is make the alien character seem like an alien. Part of that is achieved by not learning much about him or his planet.
He is there just checking out the humans...it says so in the movie....Shermin says "so is that why you're here? Just checking us out" Ok I know that's not the exact quote but you get the idea...
shareThe movie begins with the Voyager encountering a planet that received its invitation, and sent someone out to see how our civilization was coming along, now that we had gotten to the point of sending out friendly invitations on anodized gold disks.. Unfortunately, on entering our atmosphere he found out we weren't so friendly after all when we shot him down and caused him to land off course. When he calls his people to come pick him up, he tells them something to the effect that his observation craft was destroyed. When he meets his first couple of humans, he starts with "Greetings," just like on the Voyager disk. When they drill into his observation craft they find the actual Voyager invitation disk. When he hitches a ride with the night cook, he says he makes maps. When he describes his mission to the SETI scientist, he confirms that his planet has visited before and found our species unique among many.
shareHe was just scouting us and observing.
shareNo, Voyager was picked up by a spaceship, not a planet. Voyager wouldn't see an exoplanet for many thousands of years.
What was the real significance of Voyager, anyway, if they had already been coming to Earth?
Ah, but they hadn't been here for a very long time. Voyager was a wakeup call to them.
"Hey, remember species 8943? The one we last checked in on 5862 blarks ago? Well, they've matured enough to the point where they're sending probes out into space asking us to come visit them. We're off!"
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
Correct.
The "planet" which Voyager makes contact with is actually the spacecraft which picks Starman up at the end.
Glasgow's FOREMOST authority Italics = irony. Infer the opposite please.
Maybe they had no plans to visit Earth until happening upon Voyager. Perhaps they were just buzzing through our solar system on the way to some pleasure planet when they pickup up Voyager.
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.share
Why is it a plot hole that his reason for coming to Earth is left ambiguous?
shareBecause they were invited. That was what the initial opening sequence was illustrating. Voyager sent out invitations in multiple languages and also they had the gold anodized album and other items that were sent.
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