Search - Welcome to Planet Earth on DVD

Vigilante Vacation!

Draconis Blackthorne | The Haunted Noctuary | 01/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A delighful "black humor" film about a very stereotypically American wholesome family unit of tourists who just happen to be... aliens. They land on a rooftop in a ghetto and meet "Joseph" {Christopher M. Brown} with the hopes of renting a couple of rooms from him. At first, he is puzzled as to why such a "white bread" trio would wish to stay there, but all doubts are erased when he meets their buxom blonde nubile daughter "Daphne" {Anastasia Sakelaris; as they decide to use the salacious angle, which usually works more often than not}. They obviously derived their unrealistic personalities from television, to essentially "do as the natives do" when in a strange land, or in this case, planet. In the spirit of adventure, the parents go forth for some slum sight-seeing, and in their outings, come across various thugs and cretins who seek to victimize them, but are met with a bloody surprise at each occasion, which makes for some memorably hilarious scenes.

After Rhonda's literal blue blood is drawn by one dreg, they become carried away in the sport of hoodlum-slaying; and in one particularly humorous encounter, "Rhonda" {Shanna Reed; aptly described as 'Betty Crocker'} poses like she is passed out in an alley way, when a group of neo-nazi punks {seems like this is a multi-cultural cesspool} decide to gang rape her, when "Charlie" {George Wendt} appears to attempt to dissuade them from taking advantage of his wife {done very tongue-in-cheek}, they do not heed his advice, and proceed to pummel him - so as one mounts her, he gets trapped in her leg-vice, and eventually, all are dispatched - yet the most hilarious sequence occurs when one is quite literally beaten to death with his own dismembered leg, after which it is time for some picture-taking, so she merrily performs a three-legged can-can.

Yet Daphne also unexpectedly becomes involved in the bloodshed, when while out on a date with Joseph, is cornered in the bathroom by his former acquaintance, to which he is justifiably eviscerated.

Eventually, all this interstellar tourist-play incites the attention of the Police, who because of his former criminality, persue and incarcerate Joseph; yet is freed by Daphne after incapacitating the entire station by first stripping naked, then immobilizing them with a blue paralysis ray which emminates from her purse. Two officers in particular discover the scene, and the chase is on. They rejoin with her parents who had previously acquired an automobile by first hitch-hiking for fun, then slitting the worthless hoodrat's throat; evading the squad car, but eventually run out of gas {damn those human technicalities!} near a crack den run by another former criminal acquaintance of Joseph's, and after being again under-estimated, effectively 'clean house', but not before being attacked first. And that is the modus-operandi with each and every occasion - the prevailing attitude is essentially "give Me a reason" - they ask the scumbags to stop, and when they proceed, they are destroyed.

Unfortunately, Charlie and Rhonda end up in prison due to Daphne's last-minute subterfuge, yet they still manage to provide entertainment for themselves among the resident inmates.

These alien characters employ a gleeful vigilanteism which is both darkly hysterical and refreshing. It is not surprising that this film remains underrated, for it proves to be far too disturbing to the herd, as it employs imaginative overkills with a cheerful sense of humor, committed by projected charicatures of exagerrated herd idealizations, circa Eisenhower."

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE CRIMINAL KIND...

Lawyeraau | Balmoral Castle | 02/04/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Three extraterrestrials leave their beautiful and peaceful planet to vacation on Earth. These blue blooded (literally) aliens look just like us, except that thay have extraordinary strength and are practically invincible. They are a family group, comprised of a set of parents, Charlie (George Wendt) and Rhonda (Shanna Reed), and their nubile, teenage daughter, Daphne (Anastasia Sakelaris). After landing in a depressed area, they rent rooms for an exhorbitant sum. They befriend their landlord, Joseph (Christopher M. Brown), a petty crook now trying to stay on the straight and narrow (lucky for him) by running his mother's boarding house. From there, mom and pop go on the prowl for bad guys. Charles Bronson in "Death Wish" has nothing on them!This movie is outrageously funny, though somewhat macabre, as these civic minded aliens dispense their own unique brand of criminal justice. The portly George Wendt and the Betty Crockerish Shanna Reed are absolutely hilarious as they act out their vigilante fantasies on our planet. Their delight in doing so is infectious, and their appearance is a clever counterpoint to their actions. Anastasia Sakelaris is terrific as their lovely daughter. English not being her first language, her malapropisms add an additional deft, comedic touch. Christopher M. Brown capably plays the part of Joseph, the landlord who knows that his tenants are a bit off the mark but cannot quite put his finger on it. The only problem with this movie is that the production values are somewhat low. The aliens' space pod looks like it was made in someone's garage, so cheap and shoddy are the production values. Still, this is a movie well worth seeing, as it is just so darn funny."

Off the Walls Hilarious

Darian Dennison | Walla Walla, WA | 02/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Welcome to Planet Earth is one of the most underrated movies out there and it truly deserves more recognition than what it gets. Well anyways this movie is about 3 aliens who come to live in planet Earth and they befriend their landlord Joseph, a former petty criminal who is trying to straighten his life out and he later falls in love with mom and pop's daughter Daphne.
Meanwhile mom and pop start killing street thugs and lowlifes, at least it's making the city alot safer knowhutimean.If you love watching whacked out cheesy movies, then Welcome to Planet Earth is a must see and it needs to be more recognized, it's also known as Alien Avengers and stay away from the sequel called either Aliens Among Us or Alien Avengers 2."

Long wait satisfied!

Annie Ford | moseslake, wa | 04/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A number of years ago I caught a part of this film on cable and it took some real digging to even find the title. Once I did that I had no luck finding it to rent or to buy. Just from what I had seen I knew it was a dark little jem and never gave up my search. I'm sure glad that I didn't and that I was able to find it here on Amazon. Bought it without hesitation. Received it recently and for the very first time was able to sit and watch it in full and unedited, about six years after seeing that initial "tease." It was well worth the wait. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. True it's rather a sick laugh but in this day and age I take them how I can get them. You know? I am 40 years old and have 4 children and I'm not into heavy, realistic violence and profanity in films and it takes alot make me really laugh hard. This film reminds me of the high school hit "Heathers" with Christian Slater and Winona Ryder. It is dark comedy through and through. Another NEW title that is a hoot in the same way is "National Lampoons Golddiggers." That one is about two young guys who marry older women, much older women for their money and then try to "knock them off." Meanwhile the little old ladies have the same plan...These are just my kind of movies. thumbs up. Thanks."