''Morons from Outer Space'' is a 1985 British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstell ...

directed by

Mike Hodges Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), '' Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (197 ...

and starring

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for ...

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. S ...

, Joanne Pearce,

Jimmy Nail James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' ...

and James B. Sikking.

Plot

The story begins on a small spaceship docking with a refuelling station. On board are a group of four aliens called 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 a 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.

Cast

* Joanne Pearce as Sandra Brock the alien *

as Desmond Brock the alien *

Paul Bown Paul Bown (born 11 October 1957) is an English actor. Acting career Bown is best known for playing a leading role in the Granada Television sitcom '' Watching'' (1987–1993) and '' Casualty'' in 2000 more recently as Philip Reid in BBC's ''Ho ...

as Julian Tope the alien *

James Sikking James Barrie Sikking (born March 5, 1934) is a former American actor, most known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s TV series ''Hill Street Blues''. Early years Sikking was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934 to Andy and Sue (né ...

as Col. Raymond Laribee - CIA *

Dinsdale Landen Dinsdale James Landen (4 September 1932 – 29 December 2003) was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows ''Devenish'' (1977) and ''Pig in the Middle'' (1980). ''The Independent'' named him an "outstanding ac ...

as Commander Grenville Matteson * Tristram Jellinek as Simpson *

George Innes George Innes (born 8 March 1938) is a British actor. Stage career Innes was born in Stepney, East London, and began his career on the stage with the National Theatre of Great Britain under Laurence Olivier. Before that, he trained at Toynb ...

as Stanley Benson *

as Bernard the left behind alien *

as Graham Sweetley *

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series ''55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Mast ...

as Godfrey * Leonard Fenton as Commissionaire * Andre Maranne as Prof. Trousseau *

Leslie Grantham Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West G ...

as motorway policeman

Production

The film was announced in November 1983. It was part of the initial slate of four films from Thorn EMI's new chairman,

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

, the others being '' Slayground'', ''

Dreamchild ''Dreamchild'' is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is ...

'' and '' Comfort and Joy''. It was written by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones and directed by Mike Hodges. Lambert offered the film to Mike Hodges, who agreed if EMI would make a script of his, ''Mid-Atlantic'', and signed a two-picture deal. In December 1984, Thorn EMI offered investors the chance to invest in several films by issuing £36 million worth of shares. The films were ''

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...

'' (1984), ''Illegal Aliens'', ''

'', '' Wild Geese II'' and '' The Holcroft Covenant''. ''Illegal Aliens'' later became entitled ''Morons from Outer Space''. The release of the film caused

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

to re-title a film he was working on from ''Planet Moron'' to ''

Spaceballs ''Spaceballs'' is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It is primarily a parody of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, but also parodies other sci-fi films and popular franchises including ...

''.

Reception

Critical

The film has received generally negative reviews, and holds a rating of 4.5 out of 10 on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

. The ''Observer'' called the film "so embarrassingly unfunny I often felt like crawling under my seat."

Empire (magazine) ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other title ...

criticized its "loose script whose weaknesses are all the more glaring for the film's inability to exploit the power of absurdity." Mike Hodges disliked the film, regarding it as a "misfire". He clashed with Smith and Jones in post production, an article claiming "they did not trust, or perhaps understand his comedic judgement or cinematic visual satire and the film became far more broad than he had intended." However he did enjoy satirising the sentimental "Spielbergian vision of the world".

Box office

The film performed moderately at the box office in the UK and only earned $17,000 in the US.These Movies Flopped at the Box Office; Now You Get to See Them on Videotape By Michael Cieply. Wall Street Journal, 27 Jan 1986: 1.

References

External links

* * * *
filmcritic.com review

DVD Talk review

Empire Magazine review

{{Mike Hodges 1985 films 1985 independent films 1980s science fiction comedy films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Mike Hodges British independent films British science fiction comedy films Films shot at Pinewood Studios EMI Films films Films about extraterrestrial life 1980s British films