Search - Six Days in Roswell on DVD

Six Days in My World

George Hollo | Denton, TX USA | 10/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL Produced and Edited by Roger Nygard Directed by Timothy B. Johnson Starring Richard Kronfeld and hundreds of other UFO Enthusiasts, including a rather large Joshua contingent. Website: http://www.Roswell6.com Coming to Video and DVD in October 2000 Did you know that a UFO sighting occurs somewhere on the planet every three minutes? Hundreds of thousands of unexplained sightings have been reported all around the world, many of which were documented or photographed. 4 million Americans believe they have been abducted. 71% of Americans believe the government knows more than it is telling us about UFOs. Millions of people, including US President Jimmy Carter have claimed they've seen UFOs. SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL is a documentary about the fanatic-like following that has sprung up around the many UFO sightings and the reported extra-terrestrial encounters. But specifically, the film is the story of one man's search for answers. Richard Kronfeld lives in Minnesota and has dreamed for years of traveling to Roswell, New Mexico to research alien abductions, and maybe even contact an alien intelligence himself. All his friends have moved on and accomplished things in their lives, and Kronfeld sees this trip as a way for him to take action for once in his life. The cameras follow Kronfeld as he makes his pilgrimage to the shrine called Roswell. Kronfeld and the film crew arrive in Roswell early the morning of July 1, 1997. Kronfeld's adventure begins with the simple task of finding a room. Unfortunately every hotel within a 50 mile radius is booked. Eventually Kronfeld locates a Roswell resident who agrees to rent out his motor home. With lodging finally secured, Kronfeld sets out to find some answers. He asks people about their alien beliefs, their UFO sightings, their unexplained abductions, and how these things affect their lives. Kronfeld and the filmmakers speak with hundreds of people, including the famous and infamous figures in the UFO world. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Roger Nygard worked with Tim Johnson on TREKKIES, a documentary about the fans of "Star Trek." Nygard was directing TREKKIES in 1996 and needed somebody to shoot simultaneously at a convention he could not attend. Although Johnson had been shooting and producing industrial videos for ten years at Lifetouch Video Creations in Minneapolis, he had never picked up a film camera. Taking a chance, Tim bought a cheap, wind-up, Russian 16mm camera (a Krasnogorsk, costing about $350 new) and shot several rolls. The footage was terrific, and Nygard sent Johnson to cover other "Star Trek" events. In January of 1997 as Nygard was nearing completion on TREKKIES, Johnson suggested they film the Roswell UFO Encounter, a celebration planned for the 50th Anniversary of the alleged crash of an alien space ship in 1947. Tim discovered the existence of the event through Richard Kronfeld, one of the featured interviewees in TREKKIES, whom Tim had filmed. In addition to being a Trek fan, Kronfeld is an avid UFO enthusiast, and he was planning to make the pilgrimage to Roswell, to the largest UFO convention in history. Nygard's response to the idea was, "I'm sure there will be a lot of Trekkies in Roswell, but I'll bet that subject could be a whole film in itself." Johnson agreed, and set out to raise the money to finance the shoot. Johnson called all the rich people he knew (a total of three), pitched the idea, and raised just enough of a budget to cover the trip. With seed money in place, Nygard raised enough additional funding to complete the film. Every film needs a story, and the filmmakers hit on the idea of focusing the documentary on Richard Kronfeld and his trip to Roswell. "We created a back-story for Rich and his character, a character that is just a subdued exaggeration of who Rich really is," says Nygard. "I discovered in TREKKIES that people open up to you if they feel you are one of them." So the filmmakers set out to create a UFO enthusiast character for Rich, to give them a framework within which to draw out the maximum humor from their subject matter. After the shoot, Nygard began assembling the footage, The story began to take shape in the form of chapters separated chronologically and thematically. To tie it all together, the filmmakers asked Kronfeld to narrate the film with journal passages. The result is the record of one man's hilarious journey in search of the unknown, and a journey in search of himself."

Six Days In Roswell = BIG FUN

Brandon Short | Lynchburg, VA United States | 02/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I truly enjoyed this documentary. I had to stop the movie at times because I was laughing so hard! The makers of "Trekkies" bring you this hilarious film about mild mannered Richard Kronfeld and his quest to learn more about alien abduction by attending the 50th anniv celebration in Roswell, New Mexico. In his spare time Kronfeld builds Star Trek props and fashions them from household items. The one scene of him dressed as Star Trek's "Captain Pike" and being pulled behind a lawn mower in this hometown's annual "Raspberry Festival" is worth renting this film alone."

The Captain Pike part is funny.

Michael L. White | Westland, MI United States | 06/02/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Roswell, New Mexico is a nice city with a Walmart and a terrific Mexican restaurant. Roswell also plays host to one of the cheesiest museum-cum-tourist attractions I've seen west of Irish Hills, MI. The better part of the exhibits has re-creations and imaginings of what alien entities or spaceships look like. I guess the price was right (free) but I had hoped for more "historical data" about the Roswell crash and documented sightings and encounters. Instead, the closest one gets to the "secrets of Area 51" are some pictures of "no trespassing" signs.

The most fun to be had at the museum wasn't from the stuff inside but from the people. After browsing around the gift shop, I checked out the museum's library. It was an odd, hushed atmosphere inside; quieter than any library I'd been in before. Stranger still was the handful of people sitting around the lone table. I felt that I had walked into the middle of something. After I jotted down some information about a video on Nikolai Tesla (See CdC #11), I made my way out. Just as I reached the doorway, I heard the woman at the table say to her compatriots in a hushed, stern voice, "It was not a bird!" They were quick to comfort her, "We know, honey, we know!" I had had a close encounter with someone who had had a close encounter!

When I heard about the film SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL, I was afraid that it was some horrid TV movie based on the WB Network show, "Roswell." Luckily, that's not the case. Timothy B. Johnson's documentary features Rich Kronfeld, a sappy Minnesotan seeking a close encounter of the third kind. In fact, he's hoping to be abducted by aliens. Perhaps among them, he'll feel more at home.

Kronfeld takes a trip down to the Roswell U.F.O. Encounter '97, hoping to garner some tips to better meet aliens. As expected, Kronfeld meets some odd folks that make for some entertaining interviews. Johnson's film plays well for a while but, as time goes on, I got the feeling that Kronfeld was more than the audience's foil and, rather, a fictional protagonist.

In an era of rampant mockumentaries, it's difficult to determine what's real and what's not, especially when dealing with this potentially outrageous subject matter. A peek at the film's web site reveals that Kronfeld is far from fictional but, apart from his name and "Star Trek" peccadilloes, his mainstay is comedy. By employing Kronfeld as a hapless interviewer, the creators of SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL do themselves a disservice. There's no need to buttress such inherently interesting subject matter with Kronfeld's hijinks.

Available as both an 81- and 54-minute version (I recommend the shorter), SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL is an attractive, entertaining work."

Good, but 'Exciting Bulletin Boards Part 1' is better

Amanda Reno | Minneapolis, MN United States | 09/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I read the negative reviews of this movie and really had to post my own impressions. This is not a "pants-peeing funny movie", but it's a really good solid comedy. If a mockumentary about heavy metal can use faked interviews and characters, why can't a mockumentary about UFO fanatics? The thing about this movie is that it's humorous but it's not trying to be mean to its subjects. You're left with the feeling that maybe these people are a little silly, but that you should like and empathize with them. What little meanness there is, is handed out to Rich Kronfeld, who is completely in on the setup.

And I have to say, I really liked Kronfeld's character. I have known several men who were EXACTLY like the character he plays--well, known them in group settings, they were always uncomfortable being alone with a girl...and they responded to questions about dating with the same deer-in-the-headlights look as Kronfeld when the interviewer asks if he has a girlfriend. "You...you said you weren't going to ask me any questions about that kind of stuff..." My only criticism is that the guys I knew would never be as comfortable in front of a camera as Kronfeld's character is. I'd only seen him before as the angry/disturbed Dr. Sphincter and Wally on "Let's Bowl", so it was nice to read the info about this movie and find out that the real Rich Kronfeld is a lot like this character. Sure, he's a geek through and through, but by the end of the movie you've got a soft spot for him and his elementary school filmstrips and strange electrical junk. (OK, yeah, in college I lived in the geeky dorm, where all other activity ceased when first-run episodes of ST:TNG and MST came on. To quote Crow T. Robot, "Bite me.")

The minor characters are very well done for a low-budget movie. Rich's mom and the guy who rents him the camper especially come to mind, as feeling completely natural. His mom's rationale for his lack of relationships is an especially great moment. And the self-defense guys and the paranoid bus driver...I grew up in southern Ohio with people exactly like that, and seeing these characters made me feel like I was back there. Which is not necessarily a good thing now that I think about it.

I don't recommend this movie if you're one of those people who insists everything be deadly serious, or if you're so into UFOs that you view any joking about them as an attack on your personal beliefs. And it's not filled with SuperTrooper-like dumb jokes, which is the impression I'd gotten from a couple of reviews. To me, it's like the movie "Clerks". It's about some people who would be considered losers by the average man-on-the-street, but the filmmakers give you real empathy for them. There are a number of laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of giggles, and the occasional pathos is rare and subdued enough that it doesn't descend into pathetic sentimentality. And, also like "Clerks", it's one of the few movies I can stand to watch more than once.

(Edited to add: I've been told I really should disclose to the world that in 1999, I entered a contest run by the city of Roswell and won an alien fetus in a jar. The fetus has since disappeared, during a move I made a couple of years ago. I blame the government.)"