2007’s The Man from Earth is a micro-budget film with an intriguing premise that proves good sci fi does not have to rely on special effects.
WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
What Is It?
A university professor, John Oldman, is departing from his job and he gathers several of his most trusted colleagues to tell them that he has lived since the days of Cro-Magnon man, 14,000 years ago. (Not a spoiler, that is spelled out in the trailer.) Some are intrigued by his claim while others find it ludicrous, and the movie documents their conversations–and knock-down, drag-out arguments–over one night’s time.
Cast: David Lee Smith, John Billingsley, Tony Todd, William Katt, Ellen Crawford, Richard Riehle
Crew: Richard Schenkman (Director), Jerome Bixby (Writer)
Original Release: 2007
Legacy:
This minimalist movie delivers an intriguing and rather grand story on a tiny budget and proves that good science fiction does not have to rely on special effects.
A Closer Look:
You may not believe it if you have not seen the film, but The Man from Earth delivers an excellent science fiction, nay speculative fiction, with absolutely no special effects and it involves nothing more than people sitting around and talking. The script for this film came from the late Jerome Bixby who has notable experience as a science fiction writer, penning many short stories in the genre and also having written several Star Trek: TOS episodes (“Requiem for Methuselah”, “Day of the Dove”, “By Any Other Name”, “Mirror, Mirror”), and one of his short stories was adapted into the infamous “It’s a Good Life” Twilight Zone episode. Thus, this movie has some pedigree from a veteran of the genre who knew how to write science fiction in the days when writers could not always rely on special effects to carry the story.
The premise for The Man from Earth is simple: several people sitting around and debating whether one person’s claim to longevity can be believed. That’s it. No monsters, aliens, space travel, time machines, explosions, or any of the other standards that you would expect from a Science Fiction movie. Just talking and the back-and-forth exchange of ideas, theories, and speculations.
Sound like a snooze fest? That’s exactly what it’s not. The movie grabs you almost right away with its intriguing premise, and while you may be skeptical about that at first, it still draws you in. That’s exactly the way the other characters in the movie feel, and they help propel the action forward as they mirror the viewer’s inner conflicts over John Oldman’s claims that he has lived over fourteen millennia. The top-notch cast aids in keeping the movie lively as well (which includes many familiar faces, more on that below), and they go along with John’s ‘what-if’ scenario at first because they believe they are indulging him as he works out the concept of a potential novel. As the night progresses, some start to become more invested in his assertion while others get impatient with his line of reasoning. Then, the movie throws us a curve
(WARNING!!! Spoilers to follow)
After some questioning, John reveals that he was an important person from history, and his revelation and its implications turn this into a completely different movie. The Man from Earth starts out as a “what-if” discourse on the implications of a person who had lived through all of human history. The revelation, however, makes us rethink the past and perhaps even our very core beliefs. This curve ball is a bit jarring and may turn some viewers off from the movie. I have to admit that I had some difficulty digesting it at first. But the more I thought about it, this turn of events really raised the movie to the next level and caused it to resonate with me for several days and ponder its implications. And you can’t ask much more than that from a science fiction movie, or any genre for that matter.
This movie succeeds primarily with the ideas it puts forth which cause the viewer to think long and hard about their perception of history. And it does this by way of an excellent script and a superb cast, and without a special effects crew in site. Sure, there are plenty of blockbusters that assault the theaters on a regular basis, and we will all go and enjoy the escapist entertainment they provide, exploding on the screens with the latest special effects technology. But if you want an excellent science fiction movie that lives and dies by its story, script, and actors then be sure to plop The Man from Earth into your DVD player or pull it up on streaming after you return from the theater.
The Story Continues:
2017 saw the release of The Man from Earth: Holocene which is a direct continuation from the first move. John–now taking the surname Young–has moved on to a different college where he is teaching theology. Several of his students become very attached to him, but he tries to keep his distance. They start doing some research on him and discover that he previously went by the name John Oldman. They also come across a book written by Dr. Art Jenkins–one of the people who participated in the events of the first film–in which he recounts the conversations of that evening. He has since become discredited because he claims this fantastic story is true and is living the life of a recluse. The students contact him, and together they plan on forcing John to reveal the truth of who he is.
Richard Schenkman returns as the director of the film, and he wrote the screenplay along with Jerome Bixby’s son Emerson. It does not have the impact of the first movie, but it is a decent continuation and also suggests that John may be finally starting to age. The film gets off to kind of a shaky start, but it does lead to a very interesting philosophical debate between John and one of his students that makes it worth your time to watch the full movie. It also hints at a continuation, and more films may be on the way.
Should It Be Rebooted?
No. The original film stands out as a science fiction classic, even if it has not received the recognition it deserves. There is no point in a reboot because the movie did it right the first time and counts as one of the few nearly flawless examples of film-making. Any attempt by Hollywood to redo the film would probably pile on CGI while possibly turning it into an action flick, and we don’t need that. The sequel was originally planned as a TV series, and a crowd-funding campaign was launched to fund that. It did not reach its goal, but it eventually morphed into The Man from Earth: Holocene. More movies are planned and that may be the best way to keep this property going, possibly introducing other immortals living on the planet. (And they could have these grand battles with swords and cut each other’s heads off and . . . wait . . . that’s another franchise . . .)
Interesting Facts:
This was the last work by Jerome Bixby and he dictated the final pages of the script to his son Emerson from his deathbed.
The entire film was shot with two Panasonic DVX100 camcorders and there were no deleted scenes. The budget for the film was only $200K.
Genre Connections: David Lee Smith appeared in one episode of Star Trek: Voyager. John Billingsley played Dr. Phlox throughout the entire run of Star Trek: Enterprise. William Katt starred in the 1980s series The Greatest American Hero and has voiced characters in several of the DC animated shows. Tony Todd played Kurn in TNG and DS9 and also had a guest appearance on Voyager and The Orville (and those are just a few of his sci fi TV roles). Richard Riehle had guest starring roles on TNG, Voyager, and Enterprise. William Katt and John Billingsley returned for The Man from Earth: Holocene along with David Lee Smith, and Michael Dorn (Worf from TNG and DS9) appeared in that movie as did Brittany Curran (The Magicians).
Where Can You Watch It?
The movie has been released on DVD and Blu-ray. It is available for streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video and you can watch it for free (with ads) on Tubi TV (the sequel is available there as well).
