Glitterball

This was the sort of film that us kids used to watch at Saturday Morning Pictures but by the time this film was made, I was long out of short trousers and making my own home.

Watching this film now, this reminds me of that other scared alien film ET, although this was made a few years before Mr Spielberg - and one would imagine with a much smaller budget. The pace of this film though does not allow any weepiness and there is not a wasted minute in this Boys Own style adventure. The fairly short film is about a small scared alien, in the form of a small ball, befriended by two boys who help it in trying to find its way back to its mothership. On the way there is the unscrupulous (and hapless) local crook and the authorities trying to track it down.

A couple of familiar faces from the past crop up - Ron Pember as the crook and Derek Deadman as the ice cream van driver. There is also an uncredited appearance by Linda Robson as the cashier. Special mention must be made of the special effects, especially in the supermarket and taken all round, the film is an entertaining hour of family viewing.

Two lads (one a lonely RAF brat) encounter a very small, spherical alien stranded on Earth and help him return him home with 5p crisps and 500 000 volts of electricity. They become the good pals as well.

Good to see these charming, modest British made films being shown in the satellite / cable channels. Or released on DVD. A few familiar faces are there - notably Ron Pember, Derek Deadman and Linda 'Birds of a Fevtha' Robson - which only adds to the experience.

And who at that age didn't want to have a cool gang hut, tree house or den like that to hang around in?!

Wonderful children's film from the 70s which supposedly inspired Steven Spielberg to make ET. It's an innocent view of kids versus the adult baddies.

Thank you Talking Pictures UK for showing this.

A marvelous film about the secret life of children who are all too often forgotten and left to their own devices in the day-to-day activities of adults and what happens when another boring Saturday is suddenly made not-so-boring with the discovery of a mysterious little alien being with unusual powers, who is scared, hungry and very lost.

Hilarious and fast paced adventure from a child's eye view, with exciting chases, escapes and pratfalls. General chaos and havoc are wreaked on a small town as the Army and an evildoer gangster independently seek to capture the alien for their own purposes and collide with a group of children who have joined forces to help the little alien-who only wants to return home.

It's about being very small in a big scary world, and the power of friendship and trust. Highest recommendation.

I remember this film only vaguely, but it's with an eye of yearning. I don't wish to see it again, because I'm sure I'll be disappointed and angry at my memory for deluding me. But with a retrospective eye it was a thoroughly enjoyable children's sci-fi flick. Alien creatures (that look suspiciously like pinballs) come to earth and all hell breaks loose! I especially remember the way these little creatures ran amok at the supermarket!