Movie: In the mid-1990s, UFO fetishists and conspiracy fanatics had only one motto: "The truth is out there somewhere". The cult series "The X-Files", which coined this motto, created an alien boom in film and television, culminating when British Ray Santilli leaked to the media a tape showing the allegedly real autopsy of an alien that crashed in Roswell in 1947. This tape, which gave broadcasters around the world dream ratings, now has its own film devoted to it, revealing the "truth" about the autopsy film, its making and its makers. After ten years of silence, Ray (Declan Donelly) and his best friend Gary Shoefield (Anthony McPartlin) set out to tell a documentary filmmaker (Bill Pullman) the whole story for the first time, clearing their tarnished reputations.
They recount how, on a trip to the US, the original film was leaked to them by a former military cameraman (Harry Dean Stanton), with only Ray having actually seen the film, before they bought the highly explosive flick for their life savings. Back in England, however, the friends discovered that oxygen had almost completely corroded the film, rendering it useless. But Ray doesn't see this as a reason to give up on the dream of immense wealth just yet. Using his memories of what he saw in America, Ray and Gary, with the help of some friends, recreate the autopsy and offer the fake tape to the worldwide press - with consequences they could never have imagined even in their wildest dreams. But it's not long before fame becomes a curse for Gary and especially for Ray...
Inspired by true events, this film is particularly surprising in that it mixes fact and fiction so well and entertainingly that the viewer is not only happy to be hoodwinked by the protagonists. The explanations the film delivers also sound plausible enough to rekindle the speculation that has surrounded the autopsy flick since it first aired. Did this ominous film Ray claims to have seen in America really exist, or is the re-enacted autopsy pure fiction? For all those who want to believe in the veracity of the tape, the film does not thereby remove all illusions, and those who have always doubted its authenticity will find new fodder for their doubts here. The story itself is told loosely and with dry British humor, lacking in many places the necessary bite that would have made "Alien Autopsy" the stuff of cult comedy among Alien fans. Only one moment of the film could really pull that off: the reenactment of the Alien atopsy. Without question the comedic highlight of the film, this scene is convincing with many small, pleasingly unobtrusive gags and an originality that the film sadly lacks in many other moments.
The two leads, who as Ant & Dec have dominated Britain's matt screens for many years and also scored a hit or two in the British charts, cut a convincing figure in their cinema debut. The two don't let themselves be upstaged by top-class supporting actors like Harry Dean Stanton or England's best stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr. In general, the cast is very well chosen, right down to the supporting roles. Together with the amusing story they make "Alien Autopsy" a nice little comedy, which never exhausts its full potential, but still provides consistently good entertainment - and that is guaranteed not a hoax.
Who wants to see the real Ray and Gary, should definitely let the DVD run until the end of the credits. Then the two give namely still another important information to the truth content of the film preis!
Picture and sound: Viewers should not be deterred by the rather poor picture quality at the beginning, was shot here but deliberately in documentary style. When the story then goes back to the 90s, the image becomes (deliberately) a bit more grainy and the colors slightly alienated, but this does nothing to change the fact that in the end there is a very clean, sharp picture without major flaws. The sound is decently mixed, with only the music and very occasional sound effects like tire squeals providing a bit of spaciousness. Good!
Extras:There are some nice extras to be discovered here. Starting off is an audio commentary by director Jonny Campbell, who goes in depth on all aspects of the filming, from the sets to the lighting, the cast and the shoot in los Angeles. Campbell may not be the most engaging narrator, but in terms of content, the commentary provides some really interesting facts that are worth listening to.
Continue with a nearly 30-minute making of, hosted by the main actors, known in England as Ant & Dec. As such, this documentary is also heavily influenced by the humor of the two actors and hosts, who will incidentally be hosting the American version of "Bets That.?", which at times can really only be appreciated by fans of the two. Nevertheless: the documentary shot for British TV (so don't be surprised if Ant & Dec at the beginning pompously announce 45 minutes of Making of - 15 minutes went for advertising during the TV broadcast!) offers quite a few amusing Behind the Scenes moments and interview snippets worth seeing, besides a bit too many film clips.
Continues with 12 cut scenes with a total running time of just under 23 minutes. Among them is a completely removed subplot that focuses more on the friends' breakup in the second half of the film. This long sequence was cut because it strays too far from the Alien Autopsy and veers too much into the dramatic, so not at all in keeping with the film's inherently upbeat tone. Taken on its own, the scene is absolutely worth watching and is thus an absolute asset to the DVD.
Nearly 2 minutes of more or less funny outtakes as well as a nearly 42-second-long alternative beginning round out the decent bonus program.
Conclusion:"Alien Autopsy" is nowhere near as biting as the flick could have been, but overall all UFO fanatics and conspiracy theorists are offered nice entertainment of the British kind. Technically the DVD is fine and the bonus material is entertaining. Therefore there is nothing to complain about on this DVD. Recommendable!
Original title: Alien Autopsy
Director: Jonny Campbell
Number of Discs: 1
Languages: English, Spanish, German (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles:German, English, Spanish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish
Image Format:16:9 (1.85:1)
Extras: Audio Commentary, Making of, Cut Scenes, Alternate Beginning, Missed Scenes
FSK: Ages 12+
Length: approx. 92 min.
Regional code: 2
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