I wasn't exactly expecting a Carl Sagan or Bill Nye experience here. But a well done documentary about our views , expectations and fear about possible first contact with an alien civilization on a scientific and philosophical level seemed like a great idea.I'm a long time fan of science fiction and scientific documentaries in connection with such controversial themes can be incredibly interesting What I got was over an hour of bureaucrats, scientists and officials spouting very generic one-line sentences about a possible meeting with aliens and having fake monologue with the viewers like they were aliens. A monologue can be a very efficient way to transmit a message to the audience , I understand what the director was trying to do, but you must have some skills in acting and none of the persons in the movie were actors. So as a result it seemed increasingly forced and fake, actually it was downright embarrassing.
Most of the people in the interviews seem to be bored, uninterested or unsurprisingly somewhat embarrassed. Worse nothing they said was interesting and you have heard it all before in more entertaining and educational settings. Yes the director managed to make an noneducational and boring documentary focusing mainly on confused officials discussing the fine points of diplomatic protocols when encountering aliens, double whammy.
The whole thing lasted one hour and a half but felt like four, people around us were sighing loudly (And rightly so), some even smarter left as I should have.
Stay away from this travesty , and if you're interested in the subject I would recommend the excellent "Through the wormhole, How aliens think" (s4ep5) with Morgan Freeman.Even a descent episode of X-file will leave you feel more enlightened than "the Visit" with the added advantage of providing a bit of entertainment
Most of the people in the interviews seem to be bored, uninterested or unsurprisingly somewhat embarrassed. Worse nothing they said was interesting and you have heard it all before in more entertaining and educational settings. Yes the director managed to make an noneducational and boring documentary focusing mainly on confused officials discussing the fine points of diplomatic protocols when encountering aliens, double whammy.
The whole thing lasted one hour and a half but felt like four, people around us were sighing loudly (And rightly so), some even smarter left as I should have.
Stay away from this travesty , and if you're interested in the subject I would recommend the excellent "Through the wormhole, How aliens think" (s4ep5) with Morgan Freeman.Even a descent episode of X-file will leave you feel more enlightened than "the Visit" with the added advantage of providing a bit of entertainment