50 Years Ago Today, David Bowie Made His Movie Debut In This Sci-Fi Classic

David Bowie was not only one of the most beloved musical stars in history, but he also had a solid career acting in some iconic films. The man had some of the best songs in music history, and he also enjoyed some iconic roles off the stage, with his most famous remaining his performance as The Goblin King in Labyrinth.

Over his career, David Bowie had roles in movies like the erotic horror film, The Hunger, the Martino Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ as Pontius Pilate, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and the Christopher Nolan movie The Prestige as Nikola Tesla. However, Bowie’s movie career started 50 years ago with The Man Who Fell to Earth.

David Bowie Made His Movie Starring Debut In The Man Who Fell To Earth

Released on March 18, 1976, Nicolas Roeg directed the science fiction drama movie The Man Who Fell to Earth. Roeg, who previously made the thriller Don’t Look Now and the survival movie Walkabout, decided to cast a music star in his new movie and chose David Bowie to be his next leading man.

This was similar to Permanence, where he cast Mick Jagger in a role as a reluctant rock star. It also worked out well, and Roeg then cast musician Art Garfunkel in his next film, Bad Timing. Of the three films, it was The Man Who Fell to Earth that remains the best of the films, a cult classic, and a brilliant story.

The Man Who Fell to Earth stars David Bowie as an alien who comes to Earth so he can collect water for his planet, which is suffering through a drought. However, it doesn’t take long for Bowie to find himself at the mercy of human weakness and corruption.

Taking the name of Thomas Jerome Newton, he hires a human lawyer and uses his advanced knowledge from his home planet to create inventions and profit from them. He then meets a woman (Candy Clark) and falls in love as he prepares to transport the water back to his planet. However, the U.S. government intercepts him and threatens to ruin his plans.

The critics of its era were split on their opinions. Roger Ebert only gave it 2.5 stars and said it was “so preposterous and posturing.” However, Gene Siskel gave it 3 stars and wrote that he was “knocked out by its visuals.” Pauline Kael praised the film, comparing David Bowie to James Dean.

The Sci-Fi Fantasy Remains A Cult Classic To This Day

While the reviews were split, and not everyone at the time loved it, The Man Who Fell to Earth became a cult classic. It has even been called one of the most important sci-fi movies of its era, and it has a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score, although the audience score is a lower 69%.

The film remains beloved because it is a provocative look at how even an alien with the best intentions can fall into Earth’s lowest impulses and addictions. Seeing David Bowie’s alien battle with alcoholism, and how the government can use those vices to keep him held down, it is a sobering look at society and life in the 1970s.

In fact, even Roger Ebert lightened in his opinion, rewarding it with 3 stars in 2011, and saying that no one in Hollywood makes movies as ambitious as The Man Who Fell to Earth. Also, the Online Film Critics Society named it one of the top 100 sci-fi films of all time.

Furthermore, it was The Man Who Fell to Earth that convinced Christopher Nolan to cast him as Nikola Tesla in The Prestige. It also led him to be cast in the stage play of The Elephant Man, with both instances based on his portraying an otherworldly figure. The Criterion Collection even released it, although it is now out of print.

A TV Sequel Arrived 45 Years Later Continuing The Story

What many fans might not know is that The Man Who Fell to Earth got a sequel on television. This show came out six years after David Bowie died, and it aired on Showtime in 2022. With showrunners Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman, this was set up as a direct sequel to the David Bowie movie.

Replacing David Bowie in the cast is Bill Nighy (Underworld), who takes on the role of an aged Thomas Jerome Newton. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) stars as Faraday, a new alien who arrives on Earth. It also keeps the same themes from the first movie and brings it to the modern day.

Just like how David Bowie’s version was about how life on Earth can lead someone to put personal interest above all else. In the Showtime series, the show continues to approach the idea of destroying the planet, this time with Earth facing the same problems that Bowie’s alien faced before coming here for help.

The show also had some big names in the cast, including Naomi Harris (Moonlight), Peter Clarke (The Wire), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), and Martha Plimpton (The Goonies). Each episode of the series is also titled after a David Bowie song, paying respect to the late actor.

The Showtime series had 10 episodes and was canceled after one season. Despite this, the show received praise, with it sitting at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and critics praising Ejiofor’s performance. It also received two Saturn Awards nominations.