Alien Planet

TV Movie
2004
Not Rated
1h 34m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

Computer Animation Adventure Animation Documentary Sci-Fi

The CGI or computer animated drama/documentary takes place on Darwin IV, a planet 6.5 light years from earth, with 2 suns and 60% of Earth's gravity. Having identified Darwin as a world that... Read allThe CGI or computer animated drama/documentary takes place on Darwin IV, a planet 6.5 light years from earth, with 2 suns and 60% of Earth's gravity. Having identified Darwin as a world that could support life, Earth sends a pilot mission consisting of the Mothership Von Braun an... Read allThe CGI or computer animated drama/documentary takes place on Darwin IV, a planet 6.5 light years from earth, with 2 suns and 60% of Earth's gravity. Having identified Darwin as a world that could support life, Earth sends a pilot mission consisting of the Mothership Von Braun and three probes: Balboa, Da Vinci, and Newton. This robotic fleet is responsible for findin... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
The program was based on the work of science fiction writer and illustrator Wayne D. Barlowe, specifically the alien lifeforms presented in his 1990 speculative fiction book "Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV". The main difference is that the book is presented from the writer's point of view, as if he were an explorer on an alien planet, whereas this documentary focuses on robotic exploration probes.

Connections
Features When Dinosaurs Roamed America (2001)

User reviews28

Featured review

7/10

It's Wayne Douglas Barlowe's world, and we...

...just don't live in it. Yet?

The film may not be for self-proclaimed serious scientists....or for "serious creationists"...but for curious six year olds this was more than watchable and raised interesting questions in the xenobiological realm. So for me, as their Dad it was a success.

But even for all those serious science fans, with the commentary of Hawking, Kaku, Venter...what is the quibble about? Admittedly we are talking about something that if it happens will happen well after my children's children are dead, but trying to estimate what might be still is fun, and ideally incentive enough to continue to search the stars. Kaku works in a message of how rare and treasured life should be, even here on our own planet. Have any of the participating scientists rebuked this film?

As for all the "serious creationists", I still think this movie is more captivating than a discussion of how many angels could dance on the head of a pinhead.

The probes, with their wide eyes and narrow dots inside, gave a nice illusion of shock as each new creature was unfurled. The DVD came packaged for the sake of TV with commercial inserts, and sneak previews for something coming in the next three seconds. I found that a bit annoying.

Anyways, I can see some of the criticism, overly sleek animation leaves the creatures devoid of texture...more insight into the animals behavior (eating, socialization)...but I think this was mostly a chance to introduce the basic concept of life on another planet (hence disappointing to the two groups above) and a chance to display Wayne Douglas Barlowe's artwork...with whom I was regrettably unfamiliar, so I'll look forward to sharing some of his library books with the boys.

Not sure if he has done illustrations for the Book of Revelation, but that might appeal to some.

Yours for heresy and fantasy,

Thurston Hunger

7/10