My Favorite Martian
Tags: absurd, psychedelic, romantic

Plot synopsis:
News producer Tim O'Hara (Jeff Daniels) is fired for unwillingly "compromising" his boss's daughter, reporter Brace Channing (Elizabeth Hurley), during a live broadcast of the first Space Shuttle launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. His assistant, Lizzie (Daryl Hannah), tries to comfort him, and it is apparent she has a crush on him. Later, Tim witnesses a small Martian spacecraft crash landing. Realizing his chance to deliver a story that will "rock the Earth", he brings Brace to show her the ship, but by the time he reaches the crash site the ship has been shrunk to toy size. Nearby, its only occupant (Christopher Lloyd) hides in the bushes. Tim takes the now-shrunken spaceship home with him, and the Martian follows him to retrieve it. After a confrontation, Tim is knocked out and the Martian disguises himself to look like Tim and ends up kissing Lizzie when she visits.
When Tim confronts the Martian the next morning, he finds out that a small device called an "electron accelerator", which powers the control systems of the ship, is damaged beyond repair and the Martian needs Tim's help to find a replacement. The Martian takes the name "Uncle Martin" and explores the city with Tim, unaware that they are being watched by SETI, which discovered DNA left by Martin while hiding out at Tim's. While exploring Tim's neighborhood, Martin tells him about a friend of his named "Neenert", one of his planet's most gifted Martian scientists, who came to Earth in 1964 but never came back. Brace is captured by the SETI gang and is interrogated.
Tim secretly tapes Martin and Zoot with hidden cameras to back up his story and impress the TV station staff, but he eventually decides not to reveal the tapes as he has become fond of Martin. Meanwhile, Martin and Zoot discover a subsystem of the ship called the Interstellar Safety System, which is prepared to self-destruct. Brace discovers the footage of Martin in his Martian form and she steals the tape. Lizzie shows up at Tim's house to discover Brace stealing the tape. Thinking that Tim cheated on her, Lizzie rejects him and storms out, only to be distracted by the now-full-size spaceship, and is pulled into the cockpit by Zoot.
Martin and Tim go after the Martian evidence, shrinking the ship (along with Zoot and Lizzie) and racing down to the station, where Tim admits to Martin that he has been videotaping him, but says he likes Martin and apologizes. Accepting Tim's apology, Martin subdues Brace, then disguises himself as her so he can take her place on the news, and Martin's alien form is almost exposed during the broadcast, which is carefully watched by Elliot Coleye (Wallace Shawn), head of SETI. As footage from another news report is aired, Tim and Martin escape the station, pursued by SETI through the sewers in Tim's car, shrunken via Martin's device. They eventually end up in the hands of Coleye, who take them back to SETI for investigation.
At the lab, Tim tricks one of the scientists into growing Martin's ship to normal size, breaching security and allowing Lizzie and Zoot to escape. However, the trio's escape is blocked by two security guards, one of whom shoots Zoot. With the help of a "nerplex", a piece of alien gum that can transform anyone into another life form, Lizzie transforms into a hideous monster from "Veenox 7". She defeats them, then spits out the nerplex and turns back into a human.
The three eventually succeed in locating Martin, who has undergone surgery involving the removal of his antennae and presumably killing him. When Martin and Zoot reunite, he comes back to life and wakes up. They then escape SETI headquarters and Tim and Lizzie prepare to bid farewell to Martin, installing a car alternator in place of the ship's damaged electron accelerator. However, they are interrupted by Coleye, who attempts to stop him from escaping, saying that he will stop at nothing to prove the existence of aliens, even if it means killing Martin. A SETI official named Armitan, revealed to be Martin's old friend Neenert (Ray Walston), saves Martin by destroying Coleye's gun and tossing Coleye wildly in the air. After a reunion, Martin and Neenert fly back to Mars on their ship, much to Coleye's dismay.
Eventually, Coleye catches hold of the piece of nerplex left by Neenert. Believing that he can still prove his cause, Coleye chews on it, and he is turned into an alien. Laughing, Coleye accidentally swallows the gum, which presumably leaves his transformation permanent. He ends up caught and tranquilized by his own organization as Tim and Lizzie escape the scene.
In the end, Martin and Zoot decide to return to Earth and stay with Tim and Lizzie, while Neenert flies Martin's spacecraft back to Mars. Tim initially objects to Martin's staying, but Lizzie convinces Tim to change his mind.

Review: Boy, I can hear those producers right now: "That's great, a movie-version of My Favorite Martian...
KIDS WILL LOVE IT!!!"And thus yet another charming 60's TV-show was mutilated by Hollywood.This movie version is so loaded with pointless F/X they left no room for a story, not to mention comedy!
All though Jeff Daniels and Christopher Lloyd try their best the story just ISN'T FUNNY.
Not to mention that dreadful ZOOT-character voiced by Wayne Knight: it ranks as one of the most annoying film characters off all time, alongside the infamous Jar Jar Binks.One plus worth mentioning: the star of the original show, Ray Walston, turns up and he is in surprisingly good form..
The sad thing is that I suspect Disney in their arrogance does not even know when a movie is good or bad.It is only due to the talent of the actors that I can even give it a 3 of 10..
At that point, it was no longer a movie of the beloved My Favorite Martian we have enjoyed from the TV series but a cartoon.
I highly recommend people watch the old TV series when it is on in syndication or if its available on DVD, because those shows focused on story and what little special effects that were done in the TV series were strongly carried by the acting, writing and direction..
We went into this movie because my husband had enjoyed the original version of `My favourite Martian'.
5.) Ray Walston, the original martian from the TV series, played a bit part (read "cameo") in this flick and died two years later of lupus.
Okay, let's wrap up this review with a moment of silence for this franchise's agonizing death, and if you would like, you can say a quick prayer that Disney doesn't forget this travesty and do something silly like a movie adaptation of "Mork and Mindy" starring Tim Allen..........................................................
As manic as that 1963 classic is, it is far superior to this claptrap - in fact - suddenly it looks pretty good in comparison.What is most sad about this movie is that it must have apparently been written to appeal to young children.
Certainly no self-respecting, card-carrying child I know!If they HAD to remake "My Favorite Martian", why didn't they add some of the timeless charm of the original classic?
Christopher Lloyd is really funny as 'Uncle Martin' and Jeff Daniels is on good form throughout too!
I had not seen the TV series for 30 years or so, but I had fond memories of it--I think Ray Walston could have played martin in this one(he does a cameo), still.
This was a little raunchy for a Disney flick, but overall it was OK.After seeing the movie, I caught a re-run of the old show and appreciated how funny it really was..
It was a bit less than I expected, but it was still entertaining.It stars Jeff Daniels (''Dumb and Dumber''), as a TV producer named Tim O'Hara.
Wallace Shawn is one of the most underrated yet distinguished co-stars out there, and he demands just as much credit as the other actors on board, since he does very well with his character, who chases Tim and ''Uncle Martin'' because he wants to prove there is intelligent life on other planets.
Must be the sugar-rush in the vanilla and chocolate.) In fact, the scene where Martin wrecks the ice cream shop was shown many times on the TV spots and trailers, and it made the film look more promising than the outcome.There are some good moments in ''My Favorite Martian,'' including the ice cream shop segment.
Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels are cheery and happy the whole way through, which may be a good enough reason to see this film.
But as I watch it, I can't help but compare it to other family films I've seen that are so many times more compelling, interesting and smart than "My Favorite Martian." But if you are looking for pure entertainment...you've found it..
I was surprised about how much I really liked about Disney's new live action re-make called "My Favorite Martian." It was action-packed, well acted, childish, energetic and has a suitable plot.
While the movie will certainly satisfy kids, if I thought this film was too wide, then I can't imagine the average adult surviving it.The film stars Jeff Daniels as a TV reporter named Tim O'Hara.
Thus, "My Favorite Martian" is not at all a bad movie.But I have a real hard time calling it "Good.".
well, maybe not, that 25 cents will go to feed some poor guy.My favorite martian is based upon the TV series from the early 60's, starring Christopher Lloyd as uncle martin, and Jeff Daniels as Tim O'Hara.
The UFO's driver sneaks into his car invisibly, and makes Tim's life a living hell for a little while.Now admittedly, there are some good jokes and one-liners lying around in this movie, but they're few and far between, and they only get a chuckle out of me personally.
and if you know the writers (Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver, who both worked on Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs) They definitely could've done a lot better.My favorite person throughout the whole thing was Wallace Shawn, who plays coleye, a scientist who is as weird as his voice.
Disney has made two good "kid sci-fi movies" in the last year.
The special effects were good and something you would expect for major producers like Disney.So, I don't know what happened.
Leave it to Disney for great animation, so realistic it's hard to believe it's not real.This is a fun movie, with just a couple scenes I'd have rather  not had young children seen.I never saw the original series, but this was enjoyable for my son and I..
I used to watch the old My Favorite Martian tv show all the time and I liked it.
I went into this movie with very low expectations, and while I wouldn't say this is a good film, it is definitely better than I expected.
There are some fun special effects, predictable jokes, and semi-annoying characters (especially annoying was Elizabeth Hurley, whom I usually really like).
I just remember seeing it on PPV for the first time with the family back in 1999 so It was a film I would just sit back relax and enjoy.Jeff Daniels, Christopher Lloyd,Daryl Hannah, Elizabeth Hurley Wallace Shawn star in this Family/comedy from Disney.
I do think they could have done the film without a few of the "JOKES" they made in the film but the rest do workIf you don't take this movie seriously you might actually find it funny because I did and yes it's not a perfect movie but I have seen worse I give My Favorite Martian an 7 out of 10.
Based on the 1960s television series of the same name, 'My Favorite Martian' is Dumb Fun!
This movie tries hard, but completely lacks the fun of the 1960s TV series, that I am sure people do remember with fondness.
Sadly, this movie does little justice to the series.The special effects are rather substandard, and this wasn't helped by the flat camera-work.
And I was annoyed by the talking suit, despite spirited voice work from Wayne Knight.But the thing that angered me most about this movie was that it wasted the talents of Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Daniels and Daryl Hannah, all very talented actors.
Christopher Lloyd acquits himself better, and as an actor I like Lloyd a lot(he was in two of my favourite films Clue and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and I am fond of Back To The Future) but he was given little to work with, and had a tendency to overact quite wildly.Overall, as much I wanted to like this movie, I was left unimpressed.
I can't say this fared well in comparison.Without the comparison, however, this is still only a children's movie, with little whatsoever to entertain the adults, aside from possibly piquing the grandchildren's interests in watching the old series, perhaps.The star of this work wasn't even one of the main players!
(After seeing "My Dinner with Andre," I feel like Wallace is a personal friend and it is always fun to watch your friends in movies.) The special effects are good and the opening scenes of the Martian surface are excellent.
This movie is dumb too but the plot holds together more or less and there are a few good bits, like shape changing chewing gum.My Favorite Martian is not the worst movie of the year..
I must firstly state that being a 16 year old boy Disney films are not my favourite movie genre, in fact I would rather watch Liz Hurly preform the entire works of Shakespeare.
Ok, the jokes are not rib achingly funny, and some of the acting isn't memorable but it does contain the prime ingredient for a family film, fun.Christopher Lloyd was brilliantly cast as the martian crash victim, Uncle Martin.
Sadly the infamous, I'm only in this business because I have a pretty face' Liz Hurly manages to ruin every scene she's in with her fantastic' acting skills.No crude humour, no swearing, no sexual antics that you wouldn't want your Granny to see, because it's all Disney, and it's a great family film.Marks out of 10  a 7.
Once viewed as a major threat, television has lately, it seems, and with some sweet irony, become more and more a source of salvation for the movie industry, providing a seemingly limitless supply of once-popular series to serve as inspiration for big budget, usually special-effects laden feature films.
Based on a mediocre TV series in which Bill Bixby and Ray Walston played, respectively, a regular guy and his martian pal, this film strands a collection of otherwise able performers - Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Daniels, Elizabeth Hurley, Daryl Hannah and Wallace Shawn, all of whom have been showcased to far better advantage elsewhere  in a half-witted screenplay that mistakes undisciplined loudness and tumult for cleverness and wit.
Even the clever use of Ray Walston, the original Uncle Martin in the series, can't rescue the film from its own glaring inadequacies.
When's the last time you saw a TV with rabbit ears, eh?Disney doesn't trust quaint or relationships and crams this flick with youth-wooing special effects that include a talking space suit named Zoot!
Well, far from being perfect, My Favorite Martian is a terrifically funny movie for all its worth.
Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels bounce off each other hilariously, and Elizabeth Hurley makes a hilarious supporting role as a snobbish reporter whose dad runs the TV studio.You know the gist of the plot - a Martian lands on Earth and winds up in the home of a struggling reporter, who becomes conflicted on whether or not to expose him.That's all there is to it, really.
My Favorite Martian is an innocent, fun flick with a lot of humour that makes me, a 25-year old man, laugh a lot at.
"My Favorite Martian" was clearly before my time I never watched the series, yet I finally decided to check out the movie and it was a nice little picture that didn't take itself to serious!
Even if the story was lame it was a fun adventure set in modern day California with a goof and lonely TV reporter Tim(Jeff Daniels)who stumbles upon a martian(Chris Lloyd)and this journey turns into a twist of one becoming a human form of Uncle Martin.
Overall cute little funny non serious film with an eye candy treat of Elizabeth Hurley so zoom in and watch it!.
It is indeed a pure Dysney production: its core audience are children & the movie is more more in the visual than in the message.Thus, you will find some funny scenes (the first sighting of the town, a "cosmic" stray toaster) and the casting is experimented, with special mentions to "Doc", who rejuvenates in a "Mac Fly" character, and to Hurley, who seems open to auto-derision.Ice on the cake: the main title is scored by Danny Elfman, and like every other great composer, you recognize his "voice" before he is even credited..
As I was watching, I drew comparisons to another Christopher Lloyd film called "Back To The Future." In both films he played a character that is into fixing things as well as using vehicles as means of transportation between worlds.
As I was watching, I drew comparisons to another Christopher Lloyd film called "Back To The Future." In both films he played a character that is into fixing things as well as using vehicles as means of transportation between worlds.
I thought that everything in this film was predictable; from its landing and the doctor who is after Uncle Martin to the traditional "happy" ending.With this being said, it was entertaining and enjoyable for younger audiences, but not for people around my age.
I thought that everything in this film was predictable; from its landing and the doctor who is after Uncle Martin to the traditional "happy" ending.With this being said, it was entertaining and enjoyable for younger audiences, but not for people around my age.
This is quite clear from the way the actors sleepwalked through their performances, even Christopher Llyod, who is repeating his Back To The Future bit for an audience that the director hopes will be too young to remember the original.The question of why Disney made this film is not very puzzling at all.
4.) To make people laugh.5th And Wrong Reason To Make A Film5.) $$$,$$$,$$$"My Favorite Martian" (every time I retype that title, it depresses me a little more) was clearly made for reason number 5.
This is one Disney film that I will not let my four year old nephew watch..
Goofy SFX, Jeff Daniels' characteristic goofy dumbness, and the goofiest, dumbest Christopher Lloyd (not much different than taxi driver Jim Ignatowski, 1979-83) take a feature-length stab at the mid-60s CBS sitcom (with a few jokes from original martian Ray Walston in MIB shades).
For those old enough to remember, My Favorite Martian (surely spelt Favourite back in the good ol' days) was a pleasant '60's sitcom starring Bill Bixby (later to become The Hulk) as the reporter and Ray Walston as the Martian.
There's little of the charm of the TV series in this film version.Walston's part is taken by Christopher Lloyd (the madcap scientist in the Back To The Future films) and the Bill Bixby part is played by the nearly always good Jeff Daniels (Dumb And Dumber).Christopher Lloyd's hyperactive portrayal of Uncle Martin is the problem with My Favorite Martian, a performance more reminiscent of a Looney Tunes character rather than the well mannered, concerned spaceman we were treated with years ago.
If you're expecting a good Disney movie, you WILL be disappointed..
So so special effects get in the way of recapturing the interesting relationship between Uncle Martin and Tim O'Hara that we remember from the TV series.
As I was watching, I saw comparisons to another Christopher Lloyd film called Back To The Future.
I guess since this is meant for children it is not supposed to be such a thinking movie, but come on I would have appreciated it more if it gave the older audience something more to chew on as we sat through the film.
I guess since this is meant for children it is not supposed to be such a thinking movie, but come on I would have appreciated it more if it gave the older audience something more to chew on as we sat through the film.
I guess since this is meant for children it is not supposed to be such a thinking movie, but come on I would have appreciated it more if it gave the older audience something more to chew on as we sat through the film.
Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels in one epic comedy movie.
I've got to say that My Favorite Martian has be one out of many of my favorite Disney movies.
Paring up Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber) is got to be the greatest idea ever made in the history of comedy movies.
One night while driving home space ship crashes on the beach, and it turns out it has a lovable, comedic character with it.Putting two comedy actors in one movie was a great move, both of these comedy stars bring so much laughs and fun, there were moments I couldn't stop laughing, like the part when Martin the martian first shows up and impersonates Tim with Lizzy.
You will enjoy this film, my wife and I did and be prepared to laugh a lot and I mean a lot it's that kind of movie where two comedy stars work their magic together.10/10 for My Favorite Martian.
My Favorite Martian (1999): Dir: Donald Petrie / Cast: Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Daniels, Elizabeth Hurley, Daryl Hannah, Wallace Shawn: Pathetic geek show based on a T.V. Show that starred Ray Walston as the martian.
Christopher Lloyd plays the Martian who crash lands on earth and discovered by Daniels, a reporter who has just lost his job.
Ray Walton was superb as the Martian "Uncle Martin".Here Christopher Lloyd, who was so good as Doc Brown in the Back to the Future movies, plays Uncle Martin.
Ray Walston is a new character, Armitan, who actually is the Martian who made an appearance in 1964, an indirect play on the earlier TV series.Overall mildly entertaining for fans of the old TV series, but not a particularly good movie..
Then his life changes when he discovers a martian crash landed to Earth, this alien forms into a human and becomes "Uncle Martin" (Christopher Lloyd), and he stays with him while he fixes his ship.
It starts as a complicated situation where Tim has to keep an eye on Martin and his walking talking silver space suit Zoot (Wayne Knight), and he films the alien in his true form while in the jacuzzi.