Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs

The "documentary" starts out hopeful with a more or less an objective view at UFO sightings and events around them, but as the movie progresses it becomes more and more of a pseudo-scientific documentary. The interviewer starts asking Dan all kinds of speculative questions like "what would you do if you could move back in time?". This may be acceptable for the discovery channel, but in a movie that wants to be taken seriously (and it seems it does) this completely undermines all credibility. The last line of the "interview" (i had the feeling the questions and answers were recorded separately) is something along the lines of "Thank you for this interview Dan, I really think you're one of the greatest minds of our time". How can you say that to an actor/performer, because that's how Dan describes himself in the movie as well, who has no scientific basis for his speculative stories? I found it a very disappointing documentary with way too many repeats of the same footage an way too much speculation for it to be taken seriously.

I particularly liked Sereda's work on the NASA UFO phenomena and this was really my main reason for obtaining it. I think having Dan Ackroyd in it is good for publicity and will pull in a few more waverers whereas the more ardent information seeker will take pretty much anything novel in the field when it comes out.

I don't know much about what Dan has been up to acting wise since Ghostbusters - but obviously a lot of what he has been doing revolves round detailed research UFOs and anti-gravity technologies as he is surprisingly well up on all the current evidence and philosophy in the field. A bit I found interesting was when Dan was on the phone to Britney Spears and some kind of M.I.B. agency materialized.

Although it's a pretty steady and uneventful interview style, the dialogs between the two and the occasional clip thrown in make the video more than watchable and unlike the vast majority of TV junk UFO/Alien genre programs we're fed - 'Unplugged...' really delivers an informative summary of just what could be going on and more importantly how we should begin DEALING with the situation.

In the 21st century we cannot go on treating this field as a side show or joke - whether out of fear or ridicule we need to grow up as a species, eradicate secrecy and expose the massive black budget spends. This DVD is well worth the time and expense whether you are new to the subject or a seasoned guru of all things alien.

More on the UFO phenomena and how it relates to Omega-Point issues at http://www.utopiated.net

I've seen dozens of UFO documentaries and this one is decidedly middle of the pack. Set up as an interview with Dan Aykroyd about UFO's this is often wanders off from Dan to other people such as Gordon Cooper who also tell their stories about UFO's.The spoken material presented is for the most part pretty good and interesting, and had this been an audio presentation this would have rated higher, however the visuals and how they are arranged are something else entirely. First off Aykroyd looks uncomfortable, on some level it seems as though he doesn't want to be there and the result is its not fun to watch. Secondly the filmmakers use the same footage over and over and over again under the comments made by the various talking heads. By the time ten minutes have passed we've seen several shots five or six times, give me the person speaking not the same Mexican sightings. Worst of all the film the film repeatedly uses some of the footage of Billy Meier's UFO sightings. It is spectacular stuff but since most people seem to feel that Meier was hoaxing all his pictures and videos its inclusion makes it hard to take the rest of the material seriously. Visuals aside there are some nifty tales told and if you can listen to this video rather than watch it its a rather intriguing way to play a mind stretching what if game.

Now, I would never dis Dan Akroyd, the man is a comedic genius. But, whoever made this movie is dumb as a rock. David Serada comes across as a total moron and asks Akroyd totally inept questions. Seriously, if you had a sit down interview, would you ask Dan Akroyd who he would meet if he traveled back in time? The production value is rock bottom with CGI that looks straight outta 1996. Serada's narrations is boring and his monotone drawl gets old REAL quick. Akroyd comes across as being very smart (as he obviously is, this must have been a slight lapse in clarity) and a perfect gentlemen. The makers of the film, however come across as complete morons. If you completely and totally believe aliens are already here, good for you. As a filmmaker, you should try to get people to believe by preparing a well put together film, which this most definitely isn't. But, if Serada and co., were smart, rational people, they wouldn't have made such a terrible film.

What can one say about the UFO scene? There have been times I have been intrigued enough re the phenomenon to read books on the subject and even attend the odd meeting, but in the end it seemed to be a case of death by boredom. Nothing seems to really happen - I personally have never seen a UFO, though I would like to.

I remember writing once to a prominent public figure (Philip) who is a hardcore commentator on significant world events on radio and in the print media(and who is about as far as one can imagine from the likes of David Letterman et al). He daily (it seems) rubs shoulders with leading politicians, scientists, philosophers, artists of all persuasions from countries all around the world. I sent him an article from The Times (London) re a couple of British Airway pilots who had seen a strange triangular craft zip down the side of their commercial airliner - literally "out of this world". it took a great deal of courage for the pilots to make this report. Anyway Philip kindly and politely explained to me how he was in almost daily contact with leading scientists etc. and if there were even a hint that Earth was in some way in contact with ET, they would be shouting it from the rooftops. He also went on to say how the motivation for UFO pronouncements was usually fun or profit. Some people just enjoyed fooling others while others saw it as a chance to make a buck (though a rather hard way to so do, I would have thought).

My wife's mother, who is a very level headed person who successfully raised 8 children, says she saw a UFO during WWII - "like a silvery plate", it apparently hovered for a time before departing at speed. She and I are unfortunately unable to communicate directly due to language so I could not question her directly on this.

I suppose it is a bit like ghosts - there have been so many reports of them over the years it must be true...

As to the film itself, some of the material was interesting. I found the method of presentation irritating, like most current science shows, where unless you keep the audience entertained with gimmicky text and psychedelic presentation, you fear they will lose interest. Ackroyd's presentation was polished and coherent (of course he is an actor) - much of what he said made sense. His closing grin at the end when the interviewer praised him as one of the "greatest minds in the world" tells me he (Dan) didn't take that too seriously.

UFO sightings captured on films or video always remind me of words from the movie Hellboy: Why is is that footage of UFOs, the Yeti, Hellboy... are always blurry and indistinct? Some of the video of vague silvery blobs looks remarkably like a 747 viewed front-on and seen at a great distance through heat haze.

The presentation in the film was repetitious not particularly inspired or comprehensive, and its gaudy irritating manner implied many in the the audience could not think for themselves. Some of the STS footage was interesting though, as was testimony from prominent figures like astronaut Cooper and politician Hellyer. Of course they might be sincerely deluded.

I remain open on the subject of UFOs. With the proliferation of cam-corders with powerful optical zoom lenses, I would expect (if the phenomenon is real) to see significantly better quality footage in the years to come (Yeah, let's bring 'em down to the White House lawn). Nobody seems to really be in charge on Planet Earth so maybe it's time for a helping hand...