Earthbound
Tags: flashback, home movie

Plot synopsis:
EarthBound takes place a few years after the events of Mother. The player starts as a young boy named Ness as he investigates a nearby meteorite crash with his neighbor, Pokey. He finds that an alien force, Giygas, has enveloped and consumed the world in hatred and consequently turned animals, humans, and objects into malicious creatures. A small, fly-like creature from the future instructs Ness to collect melodies in a Sound Stone to preemptively stop the force, but is killed shortly after when Pokey's mother mistakes him for a pest. While visiting these eight Sanctuaries, Ness meets three other kids named Paula, Jeff, and Poo—"a psychic girl, an eccentric inventor, and a ponytailed martial artist", respectively—who join his party. Along the way, Ness visits the cultists of Happy Happy Village, where he saves Paula, and the zombie-infested Threed, where the two of them fall prey to a trap. After Paula telepathically instructs Jeff in a Winters boarding school to rescue them, they continue to the city of Fourside and the seaside resort Summers. Meanwhile, Poo, the prince of Dalaam, partakes in a seemingly violent meditation called "Mu Training" before joining the party as well.
The party continues to travel to the Scaraba desert, the Deep Darkness swamp and a forgotten underworld where dinosaurs live. When the Sound Stone is eventually filled, Ness visits Magicant, a surreal location in his mind where he fights his personal dark side. Upon returning to Eagleland, Ness and his party use the Phase Distorter to travel back in time to fight Giygas, transferring their souls into robots. The group discovers a device that contains the alien, but it is being guarded by Pokey, who is revealed to have been helping Giygas all along. After defeating him in a fight, Pokey turns the device off, releasing Giygas and forcing the group to fight a battle known for its "feeling of isolation, ... incomprehensible attacks, ... buzzing static" and reliance on prayer. In a post-credits scene, Ness, whose life has returned to normal following Giygas' defeat, receives a note from Pokey, who challenges Ness to come and find him.

Review: Like an episode of Dr. Who 'no hay doctor'.
Nice little movie.
Felt so much like a Dr. Who episode, you know those ones where the Dr. isn't there?
Good solid story.
Great job on the special effects.
I thought going into this that it was a low budget one camera little movie, but this is a serious film with a really sweet story, and great chemistry between the leads as they grow to know, and love each other.
Solid cast of villains, or simply people in the world around Joe that is for you to decide, or discover.
A great deal of though, and effort obviously went into the design and feel of all of the space "toys", and gadgets.
Cinematography was simple, and never over the top, no swooping crane shots, or fast close-ups.
My number 1 favorite thing about this movie is that at no time do you hear That creaking gate sound effect that everyone uses since the 60's, sorry now that you know, you will always hear it too.
You will enjoy this movie however..
Sci Fi Comedy Romance, an unusual mix that works well..
EARTHBOUND (2012 - Ireland) Raindance Film Festival review by Matthew SoloOn these little islands that sit somewhere off the coast of mainland Europe and a long way from mainstream America, we do things quite differently.
Our comedies are different, our romantic films are different, and when we combine the two, the results are often quirky, usually touching and invariably funny – to us at least.
EARTHBOUND is exactly that combination of results.
Now before I go any further, we are not talking Four Weddings here, our feet are firmly strapped to the ground of low budget independent cinema.
However, throwing science fiction into the mix, this film is a charming and ambitious debut by Alan Brennan.
Made in Ireland and shot in a mere 20 days, EARTHBOUND never sets any false pretences of what you can expect.
It's easy to empathise with Joe (Rafe Spall), who is convinced he's an alien from the planet Zalaxon.
And we sympathise with Maria (Jenn Murray), his super cute girlfriend who breaks the news to him that his intergalactic fantasies are nothing but just that.
And the supporting cast is equally strong, including David Morrissey who was attracted to the project by the story.The special effects are obviously constrained by budget, but you don't care!
The whole film works due to the interplay between the leads and the humour of the storyline.
The script really is fun and the cast deliver it well.
It's not often you get to see an independent sci-fi film that embraces comedy and romance as well (if at all for that matter), but EARTHBOUND is an easy to watch excursion through all three.
It's also not often I laugh out loud in the cinema, but I found myself not alone in doing so.
Hearing the director and cast talk about their adventures making the film, you can see their comic chemistry in action and wonder when they'll be back.
Let's hope it's not too many light years away..
A film that starts off decently then deteriorates quickly into religious propaganda.
I decided to watch this film on a bit of a whim, partly because I like Rafe Spall.
He is the sort of actor that is always the best thing about an otherwise unremarkable production, but this time, despite putting in another good performance, he is held back by a script that seems to have been written by a priest trying to surreptitiously infiltrate a secular drama group in order to brainwash them, before giving up and blackmailing a producer or two that spoke a bit too freely during confession.The main character called Joe wants to get with a girl called Maria either because he is the last remaining Alien of his species or he is an incredibly delusional human, and keeps looking up to the sky to try and see a bright flashing star.
There were no donkeys actually on screen, but the overbearing symbolism treats the audience as if they were the ass.After a slightly contrived yet sort of charmingly amusing set-up, the film then proceeds to pontificate on whether it is right to break someone's belief system if that system gives them strength to live, regardless of if the system is flawed or not.
The answer it tries to sell is a resounding yes, but it fails to approach the issue with any actual balance.If you want to see a good sci-fi film about an Alien who may or may not be crazy, then watch K-Pax. If this film knocks on your door make sure you slam it shut and put on the chain.
Double lock it for good measure.A waste of your time..
Good light hearten fun!.
Initially did not know what to make of the reviews and title.
So I just switched on the cable TV and got straight into this movie.
It was easy to follow and the geeky bloke made it more sympathetic to relate to(I'm no geek and there is nothing wrong with geeks!) It is a movie which can take you from your living room to another planet and back without feeling tense or wanting something more engrossing.
Sit back and enjoy the romantic Irish comical take on life.
I would recommend it to friends especially a couple to pass a light hearten evenings fun.
Nothing much to discuss about the movie afterwards, but hey, some movies are just enjoyable sod you can move on to the next one!.
A fantastic story which keeps you in the dark.
This little Irish film is a film of which you never really quite are sure what to get out of, and that's a planned thing from the makers.
It uses the ambiguous of using words to such an extent that it makes you think.
Because it's a clever film!
Is this film about loss, about dealing with fear of life of is it a story about a guy in denial.
I could go on, because there's a lot more to get out of it.We meet Joe, and alien on Earth, living and working in Dublin.
If he is a real alien, or just feels like it, I won't reveal, but we start off the story by getting to know why he is an alien, and that his father died when he was 11, presumably trying to make it easier for his son, telling an amazing story.
But is the story true, or a life lie?
He keeps away from women, because his father told him he needs more than 90 percent compatibility to start having a relationship to a human.
Well, thing might be possible, won't it, even for nerds?Well, does that sound lame?
It is, and starts off a funny ride.
The film is charming, and interesting, as it gives a certain perspective on human life.
It's almost like a family film, and it's a or a romantic comedy.
Not a laugh out loud one, but a charmingly funny story which easily will charm you.The film is well acted, and I like the way it uses conversation and misunderstandings as a driving force.
It's like you've heard, that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
It keeps you in the black, and is supposed to.
Good film making which gives life to a great idea.
The only thing I'm not too fond of is the over use of music.
The spacey music is appropriate, but ruins the pleasure a bit for me.But all in all this is a great watch, and something completely different.
Maybe something if a mind bender!?
It can be seen as a romantic comedy, it can be seen as a sweet family entertainment, or a smart word bender about communication.
It deserves a big audience.
Enjoy!.
Sci-fi and romance that has some suspense.
I doubt anyone expects this to be in a league with Star Wars.
Instead it is a nice romantic story that keeps you in suspense.
Is Joe going to choose his heroic delusion, or a normal life with his true love?
The movie did a good job of taking you back and forth over which it was.Although the story about a superhero struggling with thinking he was delusional has been done a few times, this is still a cute story.
A lot of that is thanks to Jenn Murray who plays the absolutely perfect love interest for a dreamer.
She is no Marylin Monroe, but she is as sweet as pure sugar and just as lovable.
Whatever Maria did, she was always in love with Joe.Rafe Spall does a good job in Joe's totally naive acceptance of his dad's alien story and still manages to make fun of it just as the movie makes fun of itself and the space hero genre.Humor is spread throughout the movie.
The producers turn their low budget into a strength by using ray guns that look like toys and using other props in the same way.
Not to say there aren't a couple of decent special effects..
Good story, keeping us in doubt all the time what is really true.
Nice mix of SciFi and Romance.
I saw this film at the Imagine film festival 2013 in Amsterdam.
Though advertising itself as a festival for SF/horror/fantasy, this was one out of a meager set of three movies truthfully labeled as SciFi. Our main character (Joe) heard from this father that he is the last surviving member of the royal family of planet Zalaxon, exiled many many years ago because of a hostile occupation force.
To prevent extinction Joe has to find a compatible partner, produce some offspring before it is too late, and eventually return to Zalaxon when the time is ripe.
In the beginning of the film, we see him on the lookout for worm holes that appear on sparse moments, possibly carrying a missile from his home planet to bring him back to his roots.A parallel plot ingredient is the romance interwoven in the story.
Joe carries a device with him that allows him to measure "compatibility" when a candidate woman comes close.
He is a certified nerd, not going out much, always busy with computing time tables for worm holes to appear, and has otherwise little interest in socializing.
Also, while working in a comic book shop with an exclusively male clientèle, chances are very slim that he'll meet the right woman ever.
Yet, one day Maria appears in the shop, bringing a box of things she found while cleaning out the attic.
We see that his compatibility meter shows an exceptionally high value.
It forces him to arrange a real date for the first time in his life.
And he takes a lot of trouble to prevent the relationship from faltering.
As a result, we have "moving" music on various moments, some of the time crescendo to clarify the point (we got it already).The scenario is built very well, letting us viewers continuously in doubt whether Joe's story is indeed true or just imagination.
He only communicates with his father by means of a hologram.
Though explicitly forbidden to let others know of his background, he finally decides to present Marian to his father.
Alas, precisely at that moment, the hologram does not appear (we know Maria inadvertently removed an essential part of the device).
Moreover, the planet Zalaxon cannot be found on star charts, plus it being the name of a medicinal drug that Maria found in Joe's medication closet.
None of those observations improve the credibility of his story.For the larger part of the running time we see relatively limited use of gadgets, except for the last ten minutes where it really has the looks of a SciFi movie.
But still, are we seeing a true voyage home, or is it all just Joe's imagination??
I consider this uncertainty to be the real beauty of the story, leaving us behind with doubts about aliens and life on other planets.
That is A Good Thing for the SciFi lover in particular, and for the average viewer in general.All in all, I can recommend this movie for SciFi fans and also for the rest of the family.
The mix of SciFi and a love story makes it acceptable for a broad audience.
The "moving" music may exaggerate a bit from time to time, but not to the extent of being annoying.
The festival visitors gave this film a 7.54 score for the audience award..
Earthbound - What is it trying to be.
I mean, what's it trying to be?'.
This is the type of criticism I overheard laboured at this movie on the steps of the town hall in Galway on Friday afternoon by the industry types.
You know the types I'm talking about.
The guys and girls who haven't shaven or washed for about three days.One of the arguments I've heard is that this movie is a difficult sell because it does not fall neatly into one genre.
'Big Bang Theory' anyone?
'What's that?' these arty film types may ask.
Only the highest rated comedy on American television.
Oh and by the by, it's a sci-fi ROM-com!
Oh and by the by, it's a sci-fi ROM-com!
This movie proves what we all already knew, that Aliens can land outside of the United States.
I'm not saying Joe is an alien.
I'm merely saying that it's possible.
And in fact it makes a lot more sense that Joe would land in Ireland.
When you think about it the Americans surly built up massive strategic defense missile silos after the Roswell landings aimed at the milky way.
So if you're an Alien traveling to earth, where do you land?
Do you aim for the place with all the paranoid people and missiles or do you go for the place with the nice big fields, soft turf and bog, ideal for landing an intergalactic spaceship.The Hollywood reporter describes Joe's laser gun special effects as c grade sci-fi when compared to the effects in Prometheus.
Again, that's the point.
If Joe had better weapons he would have landed elsewhere.
To an Irish guy Joes laser gun is the iphone 4s of laser guns.So I sat down in the town hall in Galway with the aforementioned arty types and a deep sadness came over me as the opening credits rolled.
I had clearly walked into a film that was made for audiences and I had no popcorn!
I managed to relax sit back and enjoy the show.Several large belly laughs later and after shedding a few tears the lights went up to a spontaneous standing ovation and round of applause.
Of course the Arty types maintained their cool while the audience expressed their joy.This movie is funny and moving with a distinctly Irish quirkiness but what I think was so incredible was the sheer ambition of the project.
The movie is about people who could be aliens in love who blow up Dublin.
Now, isn't that a welcome change from the typical Irish film about some rural weird miserable farmer or guard with a left foot who works in garage and falls in love with a hoover on Grafton street.I think it's time we blew something up.
Explosions are cool.
This movie was made for audiences everywhere.
You will laugh, you may cry, you may think some of it is cheese but you'll enjoy that too and you'll walk out of the movie theater with a smile on your face.So don't make the same mistake I did.
Make sure you bring your popcorn and enjoy earthbound..
A great Yarn....
As one or two other reviewers note this is a very Anglo-Irish movie.
So whilst there are parallels with K-Pax, Earthbound has three things K-pax doesn't have..
Comedy, Romance and Ray Guns!
Joe, like so many today, is delusional..
he escapes the pointless boring reality of modern life by living in a fantasy; one in which he believes himself to be the hero son of the planet Zalaxon.
Sent here to Earth whilst a battle between Good and Evil is raging on his home world.
The delusion having been planted some 15 years earlier into Joe's 11 year old head by his dying father.
Joe has then hung onto the fantasy and in doing so isolated himself from the World.When Maria comes into his life Joe realises a 'contingency' plan: he must 'mate' with a human.
However when he then decides to share with Maria the truth about his identity she turns to a former boyfriend, the psychiatrist Richard Webb for Help.The delusion is then attacked and shattered forcing Joe to confront the truth (as perceived by others) and to accept that perhaps his father lied to him.
The ray guns and memory wipes don't work and the hologram of his father that has been guiding him stops appearing..Joe falls onto the only thing left that is real in his life: his job but when his promotion turns out to be nothing more than two jobs for the wage of one he resigns (inferred).Then events begin to take over...
the ray guns begin to work, the hologram it seems was jammed and Maria, who is now pregnant is Kidnapped by Bounty hunters who intend to use Joe's unborn child as a sacrifice.With the help of Maria's sister and a tracking device (sat nav) Joe locates the bounty hunters space ship and begins a rescue...
one he is able to complete on entering the atmosphere of Zaxalon where the lower gravity gives him super human strength.After defeating Webb, Joe rescues Maria and the pair drop down to the planet in the escape pod....
to live happily ever after...If only my delusion was as good as Joe's reality....
then my life would be an 8 out of 10 rather than Earthbound which is a great Comedy, Romance Sci-Fi that doesn't need OTT James Cameron style special effects to make it enjoyable...