''Alien Adventure'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

slapstick comedy Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

format released in 1999 by nWave Pictures, written and directed by Ben Stassen. The movie was rated G (or the local equivalent) in most countries. It was the first fully digital feature-length film produced for a large-screen format.

Plot

An extraterrestrial

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of ...

species, the Glegoliths, are wandering through space in search of a new world. Encountering an unknown planet (which turns out to be Earth), the Glegolith leader Cyrillus sends two "manned" probes to the surface to determine if it is suitable for colonisation. The scouts in the probes think they have arrived at a great city, but in fact they have arrived at a new

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

that is not yet open to the public. They proceed to explore four amusement rides : * Arctic Adventure ( motion simulator ride in a freezing environment); * Magic Carpet (a ride in an

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

-themed dungeon); * Kid Coaster (a roller coaster set in a gigantic simulation of a child's bedroom); and * Aqua Adventure (an underwater-themed motion simulator ride, complete with

animatronic An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

sharks). At each ride the Glegolith scouts become variously excited, frightened, frozen or violently ill, but end up having a lot of fun. On seeing this, Cyrillus decides that the new planet "was too much fun" and would destroy the fabric of his society, and orders his scouts to withdraw. The alien visitors depart Earth without actually making contact with humans.

Production notes

The exotic looking alien script seen in several places in this movie is actually the real

Glagolitic alphabet The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...

. The name of the alien leader - Cyrillus - bears a resemblance to Saint Cyril, who invented the Glagolitic alphabet. Also, the language spoken by the aliens (which is never translated in the movie) is the

Walloon language Walloon (; natively ; ) is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia and, to a very small extent, in Brussels, Belgium; some villages near Givet, northern France; and a clutch of communities in northeastern Wisconsin, United States ...

, a real dialect from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where the movie was produced. It is completely unrelated to the Glegolithic script. On the approach of the manned probes to the surface, the coastline appears to be that of California. The outdoor shots of the theme park are from a real French theme park, " Parc Du Futuroscope".

Reception

Robert Koehler of Variety called it "a sputtering vehicle for showcasing the Imax 3D format."

Home media

It was released on DVD in the US slingshot Home Entertainment and the UK Escapi x.c.q DVD.

References

External links