The Wild Blue Yonder
Of all the strange, uncategorizable movies that Werner Herzog has made,The Wild Blue Yonderis one of the strangest. Brad Dourif (Wise Blood,Deadwood) portrays an alien from the Andromeda galaxy who describes an attempt by Earth astronauts to explore the alien's home planet for possible colonization--a journey depicted using preexisting footage of real astronauts during a space shuttle flight and divers under the Antarctic ice cap. This is science fiction at its most conceptual, with far more in common with the more cerebral stories of Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov than the action-packed space opera ofStar Wars, or even the chilly suspense of2001: A Space Odyssey. For many viewers,The Wild Blue Yonderwill seem disjointed or dull, but for someone receptive to a less plot-driven experience, the combination of striking visual images (the footage from under the ice cap is stunningly eerie), intriguing speculative ideas, and unearthly music (from avant-garde cellist Ernst Reijsiger) creates a unique and memorable experience. The dvd also includes cheerfully unpretentious interviews with Herzog (Grizzly Man,Aguirre: The Wrath of God) and Dourif.--Bret Fetzer