Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion

Ask a hundred people what the greatest film of all time is, and you may just get a hundred different answers (personally, my vote is with RoboCop). Ask a hundred people what the worst film of all time is, however, and there's a good chance that most of them will say the one title: Plan 9 From Outer Space. It's all too easy to bash the film and describe how patently awful it is, but Flying Saucers Over Hollywood does something that sets it apart from documentaries about "classic" films: it takes a truly awful subject and treats it with great respect.

When film critics, filmmakers, film school teachers, actors, and anyone else with insight to offer, in this documentary are interviewed, it is clear from the outset that while they appreciate just how many errors and flaws are in Plan 9, they respect Ed Wood for having got the damned thing made. As one interviewee says, the difference between Ed Wood and the people who seriously put him down is that in spite of his total lack of any resources one would consider conducive to filmmaking, he made these films. Not only do we get to see Ed Wood as a filmmaker and the struggles he endured in the process of his work, we also get some insights into the truly bizarre characters who made up his stock company. Getting to see who Vampira, Criswell, and Tor Johnson were outside of Ed's films makes this documentary worth the price of admission by itself.

By far the most amazing part of the documentary, however, is seeing how Plan 9 rose from being a discarded, forgotten piece of B-movie trash to the king of all cult films. Seeing a few samples of the dedicated cadre of followers it has, and hearing what they have to say, is garanteed to put a smile on the face of anyone who loves film. This is how a documentary should be done: with a love of the subject matter, and just a dash of self-deprecating humour. Hats off to the people who got it made.

Plan Nine From Outer Space has been hailed by many as the worst picture ever made. Despite this critical disfavor, it has a huge cult following that led to a revival of interest in the work of Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi, Vampira, Criswell, etc... and perhaps even to the production of Tim Burton's Ed Wood...a homage to the film and its makers. This video chronicles the film's history by looking at the script, the lives of Wood and company in detail, the place the film was made, make-up, and other sundry aspects of its pre-production, production, and post-production. Many of the people in the film are interviewed, and we get first-hand accounts on what is was like to work for Edward D. Wood Jr. I found the video to be very thorough in its purpose, highly entertaining, and most informative. In many ways it is a tribute to Wood himself and his unflinching desire and drive to make movies despite his obvious lack of talent and other shortcomings. If you like movie history and lots of information of the behind-the scenes variety then I strongly recommend The Plan Nine Companion for you.

This film alone was worth the price of the DVD it shares with "Plan 9 from outer space." See the locations used,hear members of Wood's "stock company" talk of him! See Ed Wood actually directing scenes from a Grade Z western!!And,it answers once and for all just what did Ed Wood use for the flying saucers??Who could ask for more?

This is obviously being a low-budget and almost fan-made documentary about Edward D. Wood Jr.'s notorious 'opus magnum' "Plan 9 from Outer Space". It's not an impressive looking or put together documentary by any means but it's being a pretty insightful one, that shares and elaborates on some fun facts.

It's not necessarily a documentary about the making of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" but more one about Wood's entire career, in which "Plan 9 from Outer Space" plays the central role, holding and bringing everything in this documentary together. It's something that works out well but can be deceiving for those who are expecting a documentary purely focused on the making of "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

They managed to get a whole bunch of people in front of the camera, who in one way or the other were involved with "Plan 9 from Outer Space". They share their thoughts and memory of the movie but more so of Ed Wood and those who had passed away already, such as Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson and Criswell. Most of the information is pretty insightful and helps you to learn more about the movie as well as those involved who had passed away already, which also includes Wood himself of course.

This is a fan project, so there are nothing but kind words about him (well, almost entirely) but otherwise this would had most likely been a very depressing documentary, without any fun to it, since Wood's life was far from a happy tale, so I actually don't mind this. It's actually great to see how all these people, after all these years, can speak still so passionately about him and praise him for what he all did and achieved, which might not seem like much but is still quite a big accomplishment all when you look at it objectively. He at least often succeeded to get some big names in his movies and he (almost) always managed to get the movies made in the first place, with basically no money.

His passion and love and devotion to his projects made up for his talent, which just wasn't quite there. It's actually great to see Wood himself directing some scenes for a movie in this documentary. It was just like I always had imagined, he was extremely passionate and committed about it and seemed to be just happy to do it as well. He truly was in his element. There is some more unique footage of Wood himself in this documentary, which was always something I was interested in.

This is being a pretty good and insightful documentary to watch, if you can forgive it for its somewhat amateur like look and feeling at times. But you shouldn't have any problems with that if your interested in "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and Edward D. Wood Jr.!

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I own all of the Ed Wood Documentaries.

1-Look Back In Angora 2-On The Trail Of Ed Wood 3-The Haunted World Of Ed Wood 4-Flying Saucers Over Hollywood/Plan 9 Companion

This is by far the best Ed Wood documentary of them all. No other documentary takes you on a tour of places like Quality studios (Where plan 9 was filmed) Or Yucca flats (The apartments where Ed spent his last days) It even visits Tor Johnson's old house where Bela Lugosi filmed his last scenes for Plan 9. Seeing the places that Ed Wood lived and worked was fascinating for me. I've been reading about these places and hearing about them in stories for many years now, it's very cool to actually see what they look like.

Unlike the other films that take a short peek at each of Ed's movies, this one spends less time on Glen or Glenda, Bride of the monster etc...And focus's on Ed Woods opus "Plan 9 from outer space" It takes a close look at the film with behind the scenes stories from the stars of Plan 9. Plus plays clips of the movie, pointing out the mistakes as they happen on screen. Of course they couldn't show all of them...They would need another 2 hours to do that.

I have been a fan of Ed Wood, ever since I first saw Tim Burtons film "Ed Wood" with Johnny Depp and Martin Landau (Oscar winner for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi) Although Tim Burtons vision of Ed Wood was a bit candy coated, I've learned that after further study of Ed from Reading about his life, and watching his movies. The cool thing about "The Ed Wood Story/Plan 9 Companion" is it seems to tie everything I've read or watched about Ed, together. I don't mind the poor production quality, MY GOD, I'm an Ed Wood fan, it's sort of sacrilegious to pay attention to silly details like that. It's a great tribute to Ed Wood and his horrible Masterpiece "Plan 9 From Outer Space" Oh and the soundtrack...The two original songs for the documentary are truly awful, and totally hilarious!!! I highly recommend this movie to everyone. If you love Ed Wood you'll love him more...If you've never heard of Ed Wood, You'll want to learn more.

I also would like to recommend "Nightmare Of Ecstacy, The Life And Art Of Edward D. Wood Jr." A Book By Rudolph Grey. The Tim Burton "Ed Wood" movie was based on this book. It's a must for every Ed Wood aficionado.