Wow, here's a science fiction film that has absolutely no special effects. Instead of faux-intellectual stuff like District 9 that actively devolves into a slaughter-fest, The Man From Earth is science fiction that actually feels good for the brain. The plot is deceptively simple: gifted history professor John Oldman suddenly decides to depart from a university after ten years. His colleagues decide to throw an impromptu goodbye party, where he reveals he's an immortal whose lived through 140 centuries of human history. As his friends (a biologist, a psychologist, historians, theologian, etc.) try and poke holes in his story, questions of evolution, faith, and the limits of knowledge are brought up.

I'll acknowledge right now that this production is rather rough around the edges. To preserve the movie as a chamber piece, the production values are low. Don't come to this party if you require great mise-en-scene and lots of gloss. And this ensemble piece is a decidedly mixed bag. Charactor actors Tony Todd and John Billingsley are a joy to watch, while others are more of a mixed bag. The jury is out on the elephant in the room: it must be tough as an actor to juggle the many balls David Lee Smith has, and I'm not sure just how good a time he has of it. But if you can get past the shaggy exterior, The Man From Earth offers a rare and generous contemplation of mankind's journey from caveman to whatever strange things we've become. Highly reccomended for fans of thinking man's sci-fi like Star Trek (not the new one) or Ray Bradbury.

I watched it last weekend and at first I found it difficult to get into due to some poor acting but was eventually won over by the ideas it brings to the table. It's definitely low-budget but very intriguing regardless. I honestly wouldn't mind a remake though with some better actors and a bit bigger budget.

Still, I'd recommend this.

7/10 ( B )

I think this is very good too, and I noticed I voted a B (B+) for this in the poll at some point back. It definitely is and feels low budget, but I think it also knows these limitations well and makes the best of out its material. It's a fascinating story and it's done right enough to be compelling all the way through.

They actually made a sequel to this that came out last month, I still mostly enjoyed that too, David Lee Smith is just good and so damn "down to earth" in the role, but it strays a bit too far in overly dramatizing things which it's not very equipped to handle I feel.

I knew there was a sequel as I'd read the synopsis and saw reviews weren't that good so I was going to skip it. I did not realize it was just released at the end of 2017. Makes sense since he moves every 10 years.

If you liked this one, I think seeing the sequel is worth it too, even it's no doubt a step down from this first somewhat unique film.

Oh, and what I forgot to write in my previous post, this film is very similar to Cube in making a film exciting just from a psychological perspective without any hoopla.