Morons from Outer Space

Morons from Outer Space

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mike Hodges
Written by Griff Rhys Jones
Mel Smith
Starring Griff Rhys Jones
Mel Smith
Joanne Pearce
Jimmy Nail
James B. Sikking
Edited by Peter Boyle
Distributed by Thorn EMI
Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • 29 March 1985 (1985-03-29)
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £5 million[1]
Box office £1.5 million (in UK)[1]

Morons from Outer Space is a 1985 comedy/science fiction film directed by Mike Hodges and stars Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith, Joanne Pearce, Jimmy Nail, and James B. Sikking.

Plot

The story begins on a small spaceship docking with a refueling station. On board are a group of four aliens, Bernard, Sandra, Desmond, and Julian. During a particularly tedious period of their stay at the station, the other three begin playing with the ship’s controls while Bernard is outside playing spaceball. They accidentally disconnect his part of the ship, leaving him stranded while they crash into a large blue planet close by (Earth).

The aliens become instant celebrities on arrival, despite being able to bring no great revelation or technical ability to the people of Earth (as is central to the plot of many "aliens on Earth" films). They find a manager (Jones) and become wealthy more or less overnight, packing fans in auditoriums just to see them. Meanwhile, Bernard arrives on Earth via other means of transport. Despite being by far the most intelligent of the group, Bernard is not afforded any celebrity, and is in fact condemned to vagrancy and a brief stint in mental hospital before reuniting with his fellow travellers near the end of the film. The others, fearing that the introduction of Bernard would lessen their popularity and celebrity, fail to mention that they had originally been travelling with a fourth.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and Betamax in 1986 and re-released in 1989.

It was released on DVD by MGM in 2001.

References

  1. 1 2 Alexander Walker, Icons in the Fire: The Rise and Fall of Practically Everyone in the British Film Industry 1984-2000, Orion Books, 2005 p35


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