Morons from Outer Space

In director Mike Hodges's only openly comedic film to date, Anlgo-American pop culture of the '70s and early '80s is mercilessly lampooned. From "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) to David Bowie as the avatar of Ziggy Stardust, nothing escapes a satirical mauling by Hodges and writers/actors Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith. On the surface, much of the humor appears to be at the level of Benny Hill, but it is actually much more subtle in its subtext, addressing the mindlessness of celebrity worship, the nature of friendship, the willful self-delusion that can arise from one's own expectations, and the fleetingness of fame. With satire more subtle than seen in similar, American films of the same period (e.g., "This is Spinal Tap" (1984)), "Morons from Outer Space" may not be to everyone's taste. I will be the first to admit that British humor is an acquired taste for many of us non-Brits, but I found this film far funnier than many recent American comedies that have received rave reviews ("Meet the Parents" (2000), "Something about Mary" (1998), "Analyze This" (1999), etc.). Any viewer willing to expend the effort to actually concentrate on what is going on and being said in the film will be amply rewarded. The most difficult part of viewing this movie is finding it, a problem with many of Hodges's works. Rating: 7/10.

Goodness knows here are many worse, and dumber, comedies out there, but its truly a shame that Smith and Jones didn't put this script through some more refinement, and hired a veteran comedy director (one who has a sense of timing), before blowing their chance at international fame. The main problem with the film is it tries to do to many things and use too many comedic styles at once. On one hand it tries to satirize our celebrity focused culture, while on another it tries to send up the conventions of science fiction films (and films in general)a la the Zuckers. At the same time that its trying to juggle those concepts, its also trying telling a story that could have been inherently funny on its own, without the distractions of the slapstick and the parodies. The idea that the first aliens to openly visit Earth are here by accident simply because they're too stupid to pilot, let alone understand the workings of, their rented spacecraft had great potential, but the movie is too distracted by everything else it tries to do for it to work. Despite its problems, there are some genuine laughs to be had here, and its well worth a watch.

Morons from Outer Space is ridiculous. The humour, at first glance, is very low-brow. Look beneath the surface, and the movie is rife with satire and irony. The characters are absurd, but believable in the context of their world. The real triumph of the film are the subtlety of much of the gags. It takes familiar themes of human life and extrapolates them to their most ridiculous conclusion. It is extremely silly, but I never tire of watching it.

In some ways, Morons From outer Space can be seen as being way ahead of its time, an uncannily prophetic attack on the celebrity culture that has become so prevalent today, where unexceptional members of the public are catapulted to superstar status by the media; this doesn't change the fact that the film is utter garbage, the film's primary gag—that not all alien life-forms are intelligent—stretched incredibly thin over an hour and a half.

Unlike their fellow Not The Nine O'Clock News comedian, rubber-faced Rowan Atkinson, tubby Mel Smith and dour Griff Rhys Jones completely fail to make their particular brand of humour work on the big screen, the result being a disaster of galactic proportions. The problems with the film are numerous—poor choice of director, lame spoofery of other movies, Jimmy Nail—but perhaps the biggest mistake of all is that Smith and Jones, who worked so well together on the telly, remain separated for most of the running time, their unique chemistry sorely lacking.

Yes I did like this film, so what about it? It's well written and better than any Hollywood rubbish crappy comedy about Aliens invading earth, (with the exception of MARS ATTACKS!)the humour is subtley handled by the cast, especially, Jimmy Nail, turning in his best performance as one of the "Moron" aliens, in Auf Wiedersen Pet, I thought he was just irritating and over-rated, but here he almost steals the show. Paul Bown and Joanne Pearce also far well, as the dim-wit and dizzy blonde repectively. James B. Sikking is wonderfully dry in his slightly underused role and Dinsdale Landen has many a good line, with his rolling monotenous, authority, sing-song voice. The two stars; Smith and Jones also do well, especially Mel who wanders around the film looking for someone to believe that he is the fourth alien when, as he describes them; "So-called friends" leave him destitute while they enjoy a life of Fame, Fortune and Luxury. The sequence where he finally bumps into them at the end is quite moving and underplayed, with a subtle message regarding people you either know or who are your "so-called friends". Griff does O.K, but his role is slightly wasted, he appears only to but at the brunt of the joke or pamper to the aliens constant needs. All in all, it really is O.K and the film runs at a good pace, what's wrong with Aliens being out there who are thick, other aliens on their planet (peculiarly named:BLOB)could be highly intelligent but these unfortunately are the ones we meet. Favourite Moment: When told they are played with the chess set, one glance sees them not actually playing the game in the normal way, but having one holding the board and hitting the chess pieces which come their way.