Botschaft der Götter

"Botschaft der Götter" or, as it is written in the international version, "The Mysteries of the Gods" is a full length documentary portraying the ancient astronaut theories of Swiss-born researcher Erich von Däniken. The film is hosted and narrated by no less than William Shatner himself.

Everything from the Peruvian Crystal Skull to the megalith structures in the jungles of Southeast Asia is accepted as evidence for the Ancient Astronauts theory. Cave drawings, old legends, Biblical stories and even some psychic visions of late Jeane Dixon are understood as stone cold facts. Eric von Däniken's reputation was still quite unspoiled at the time so all the arguments (even the most far-fetched) are shown with a great confidence.

William Shatner is–as usual–overacting his part. With all the strange "scientific" people, long shots, enthusiastic Shatner and eerie 70's synthesizer music this amazing documentary was from the day one destined to become a cult classic.

Sideplitting fun as William Shatner doffs his Captain Kirk uniform for a suede shirt with a big collar + bell bottoms and heads out onto the road with a film crew of six to explore mankind's mysteries. Shatner's enthusiasm for the material is boundless in energy. You will either be swept up in the marvel of it all or laughing yourself silly, in either event its grand entertainment that actually beat crewmate Leonard Nimoy's far more dignified "In Seach Of ..." out of the pop culture refuse chute by a year or two.

Seriously though, this was a West German produced quasi-documentary cashing in on the Ancient Astronauts fad of the 1970s ala Erich Von Daniken's ridiculous books of a similar name, who was thoughtfully given a screen credit. The film even boasts a very listenable electronic musical score by "Winnetou" composer Peter Thomas & is fast paced enough for the attention deficit disabled. Then again just watching William Shatner gaze into the empty sockets of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull while theorizing on the influence of ancient space mariners on human development is worth the effort needed to obtain a copy -- This baby is way out of print, and probably for a good reason.

An additional curious footnote is found in the presence of paranormal phenomenon guru William Dennis Hauck, one of the leaders of the Modern Alchemy movement, who served as a technical consultant and even gives an on screen interview to Shatner in front of a radio telescope they couldn't get the keys for. Hauck wrote up a sort of memoir of his experiences working with Shatner in his 1989 trash expose "Captain Quirk", which paints an unflattering portrait of the actor as a raving narcissist who actually believed he was an alien contactee at one point. Fun reading, you can find a copy for a dollar on Amazon.

I think Shatner is in fabulous form, raising the material from mere proto new age crap into a sort of kitschy exploration of the marvelous quirks that make humanity such a fascinating life form. Only humans would have thought to scrape the top layer of iron oxide rich soil of the Nazca plain away to expose the brighter soil underneath and make pictures best appreciated from overhead. And only humans could read anything more into it than people just making pictures in the sand.

Without someone like William Shatner as our host the proceedings would wear thin, but his enthusiasm for the phenomenon and his own search for an answer to his own alleged contact experience carries it like Sigourney Weaver carrying an ALIEN movie. If it was anybody else we'd be tempted to take it seriously, and the whole thing would be a dreadful bore. I watch not because of the paranormal angle, but because its a William Shatner film from his lost years of the 1970s with Krautrock electronic disco space music. Plus, his shirts all have big wide collars, and he wears matching bell bottoms! And he gets all intense -- sometimes *really* intense -- about UFOs, crystal skulls, native costumes that look like space suits (my favorite part!), drawings of proposed NASA projects that were never made, lost pyramids overgrown by jungles, space aliens, and ESP!

In other words, I've been looking for garbage like this my whole life.

5/10

William Shatner investigates the unexplained phenomena of UFOs and historical alien intervention. While its true that nowadays it is only Donald Trump supporters and people from Bonnybridge who believe UFOs are alien spacecraft, this nevertheless still works well as a fun historical artefact. Much of the material covered also appeared in 'Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Word' such as the Nazca lines, the crystal skulls, the giant balls of Costa Rica, the giant figures on the landscape in England and South America, as well as plenty of stuff on UFOs. Despite much of its sometimes dubious content, like 70's Bigfoot documentaries, its still an earnest and entertaining look back at weird stuff.

In the Pre-"X-Files","Ancient Aliens" Inclusion to the "Pop-Culture" Exponential Explosion of the Public's Fascination with said Subjects, these Things were Common.

Ever Since Erich Von Daniken's Blockbuster Paradigm Challenging Book "Chariots of the Gods" (1968) was Released Skeptics Scorned and Followers Pointed Fingers to the Many "Unsolved Mysteries".

Von Daniken's Mega-Selling Book was Followed by a Documentary of the Same Name in 1970, Managing to Garner an Academy Award Nomination.

The Flood-Gates for Dozens of "Paranormal" Films of theType, Like This One.

They were Produced on the Cheap.

Usually Adding a "Name" like Rod Serling, Leonard Nemoy, to Aid in the Sizzle, like This one's Shatner.

Similar in Tone, Style, and Biases, the Movies were Diverse in Category but Unrelenting in Formula.

Everything from Ancient Astronauts, UFO's, Psychic Phenomena, ESP, Noah's Ark, The Bermuda Triangle, etc., were Given a Platform.

The Counter-Culture's Use of Mind-Altering Experimentation seemed to Open a Portal that was Used Prolifically by "Enquiring Minds" in the 70's.

It Changed the Perception about Our History, Educational Orthodoxy, and just Plain Curiosity.

About What Passes as Fact and What is a "Best Guess" or simply Dodging Profound Unanswered Questions about Anomalies.

William Shatner Hosts this Particular Picture with Sincere Inquiry and Forward March to Varying Locations and "Expert Guests".

This is Tricky and here there are 2 On Screen Interviews that were Embarrassing Miss-Steps.

It can Divert Serious Inquiries with Close to "Crack-Pot" Status.

You will Know who They Are when You See Them. Jeanne Dixon.

This is Ammunition for Debunkers and Doubters, or Worse that are Always at the Ready to Hurl Ridicule.

Worth a Watch.