User reviews

The unfolding story of a magnificent British hoax is told with enthusiasm and some welcome humor. Whether the alien autopsy film is part of a United States Government conspiracy, an outright fake, or something else, is explored in this cleverly scripted film. Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, although unknown to me, were totally acceptable as the perpetrators of the "Alien Autopsy" hoax. Harry Dean Stanton as the original cameraman who supposedly was at Roswell in 1947 filming an actual alien being, is excellent. This hoaxed story of escalating proportions certainly set the U.F.O. world spinning, and I found it to be very entertaining from an American perspective. - MERK

I went to the premiere last night and wasn't sure what to expect - my initial thoughts were that Ant and Dec would fizzle out in a medium to which they don't fit. I was pleasantly surprised, however.

Overall, Alien Autopsy is a very funny, whimsical film. The script is patchy in places - subplots get twisted and don't really tie together satisfactorily in the end - but this is made up by the pleasure (and it really is a genuine pleasure) to see Ant and Dec putting in strong performances in the lead roles. This is the sort of film that the critics would be sharpening their knives for. I think those knives can be put back in the drawer.

Make no mistake: this isn't your traditional British comedy. The cameos fit perfectly into the plot and everyone has a purpose. There are no big faces included for the sake of it. Somehow, it works.

This is an enjoyable film and good family entertainment. It won't win any awards, but it's harmless, clean fun - and very good harmless clean fun at that.

This film isn't bad, it's a good 6 out of 10. Ant and Dec's acting skills are, to be frank, not really up to much but the plot line is so outrageous that you end up ignoring the acting just to keep up with which country they are in and who they are talking to. It takes a while to relax into the 'flow' of the film, but when you do it becomes quite enjoyable. Characters like Voros (played by Götz Otto) will intrigue, interest and even slightly scare you. The actually autopsy scene is cleverly put together and 'snortingly-funny' as one of my friends put it. I think the fact that the film is based on a true story is the only reason the plot is accepted in your mind as you watch it.

And when the cast list rolls across the screen, you will (as the whole of our cinema did) sigh, stretch then snigger quietly to yourself as you remember the more... interesting... parts of the film.

It has to be said however that I won't be buying it on DVD, BUT it takes up two hours and allows you to relax.

The British TV Yoof presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly make their big screen debut (if you ignore their cameo in "Love Actually" where they interview the ageing rocker played by Bill Nighy). It's one of the strangest stories of modern times, the Londoners who discovered the Roswell alien autopsy film.

The cast also includes Bill Pullman as a Hollywood producer who wants to hear their story and Harry Dean Stanton as the original cameraman. Not forgetting the great Omid Djalili (the jailer in "The Mummy" and "Casonova"s servant) who gets to play a kebab shop owner.

I feared this would be a one joke movie (and maybe it is) but surprisingly it keeps its pace due to it's an amusing story with some good performances and some quirky characters including a Hungarian gangster and a granny obsessed with biscuits.

I doubt you will be rolling in the aisles but it's funny in its own way. Not to mention the choice hits of 1995 on the soundtrack. Unless you hate Ant + Dec (looking at the message board there certainly are) or the X-files, it is a Brit-com worth seeing.

ALIEN AUTOPSY Let me say first off that from frame one, the mentality of this movie is lost on non-UK residents! Americans will simply be agog by the acting, the dialogue and the venue (not to mention a 1000 other things British). Awe ight, mate? Gotnoo mowtuh? What's cute about this movie is that it is MORE believable than the actual current 'Roswell Scam' which is an alien craft that crashed in the New Mexico desert in 1947. Yeah, right. And I'm the Queen of Sheba. No, really I am! The acting is typical British, the pace and settings are well thought out and the script is also very well written (if you're a Brit!). The plot is cute, i.e. a guy buys a 'Roswell' film, supposedly of the Alien Autopsy, but the film is old and it disintegrates before he gets it home. Now he's in debt for $30,000 to a local London thug from whom he borrowed the cash to purchase the 'original' film! What to do? Make your OWN film of course .... and then the fun begins. All in all, a very watchable, well-presented movie that will keep you smiling at the antics of the main character (a London 'wide boy'). For foreigners (anyone NOT British), well, just try to keep up and follow along. This is not your typical US B-movie, pretending to be something it's not. It's just a lot of tongue-in-cheek fun for a Sunday afternoon.

I would agree with the other reviewers that Ant & Dec are decent actors - they were decent enough in the unchallenging confines of "Byker Grove" - but their ubiquitous presence on British television has significantly reduced their dramatic credibility. Would you cast Cilla Black or Jonathan Ross in a movie? Exactly. This duo have morphed into television presenters and, sorry guys, there's no way back.

That apart, this movie is a mess - muddled tone, uncertain direction, a lower budget than most people's wedding videos - it's not much more than an over-extended sketch. Die-hard Ant & Dec fans may well find something about it to enjoy, but the rest of us (and the lads' agents, no doubt) will be begging the cheeky Geordie chappies to head back to the Australian jungle - and preferably stay there this time.

Think how much better the Americans would have done with this plot line and you've got a clue as to the current problems with UK cinema - something the Film Council and all the Lottery funding in the world won't cure.

A good film starts with a good script - this movie doesn't have one. Once you've got your knock-out script you cast the best possible actors you can get for the roles, not a string of television personalities, minor stand-up comedians and B-list celebs.

Then you get a good director and give him or her a decent budget. "Alien Autopsy" would have been much better done for television, where most of the performers in it belong. It just doesn't have the scale, scope or ambition to be a big-screen movie. And for something selling itself as a comedy, it certainly doesn't have enough laughs. Don't waste your money - avoid.

As we cut into the putrid flesh of this cinematographic carcase, what do we find? A collection of organs which never quite function together well enough to produce more than a vague titter from the audience. What was anticipated to be rip-roaring fare from the ubiquitous duo, turns out to be little more than a mildly amusing yarn. Can we learn anything from this dissection? Well the film's heart is in the right place, but as for it's brain; there appears to be a lack of wit. The vital juices that should have been coursing through the vessels of the body of this movie were weak. Is there any hope of resuscitation? No, although a TV presentation at some stage might cause a mild blip on the life monitoring equipment. Failing that, intake of a large amount of intoxicating substances might give the observer the impression that this production had life in it. In conclusion then, the 90 minutes of this film's life were less funny than the 3 minute trailer for Scary Movie IV that preceded it.

... I can't understand why some people gave it such bad reviews.

This is an excellent film, OK it isn't a movie that makes you laugh till you cry, nor is it a movie with huge depth, but it was so much fun. The jokes are not a mile a minute but the movie wouldn't work that way, this is subtle comedy and that needs to be understood.

My two younger sisters (12 and 14) came to see it with me and they enjoyed it just as much as I did. Ant and Dec were really good, Dec as the slightly cocky half of the duo and Ant as usual being the intelligent and safer one. I have loved these actors since their Byker Grove days and it is so good to see them acting again.

The mock up of the actual autopsy is hilarious as silly interruptions stop the filming I am laughing now as I remember it. The way the fake comes together with their friends all having something to contribute really seems to work.

The camera work as they film seemingly secret interviews with CIA operatives is great and the oddball characters all fit in so well.

I am appalled that I nearly did not got to see it so I recommend that people go to see it and draw their own conclusions.

this is a light-hearted easy-going British comedy, full of quirky characters. i really don't understand the bad reviews. well, as i said it is rather British, and its subtlety may elude some of our American viewers but anybody who has a feel for British comedy (although this is not a "classical" one) will probably enjoy this production. you can tell the actors had fun doing it. i agree with some reviewers that this is not award winning or very deep material but i found it really entertaining. great performances by ant mcpartlin, declan donnelly, bill pullman and many many others. watch out for the quirky characters all over the place (i really liked the guy from the filmlab - played by David threlfall).

if you have a feel for British humor: go for it and see this one.

There have been many movies made by TV Stars wanting to become Movie Stars. But none have truly failed quite as badly as this movie. The stars of the film fail miserably. While there acting style may of been OK for children's TV, on the big screen there lack of acting talent shows when playing up against true character actors like Bill Pullman and Harry Dean Stanton. In fact Stanton and Pullman are really slumming to be in this shameful Turkey. Ant & Dec host a show called I'm a celebrity get me out of here. Well this could be called I'm a Cinemagoer, get me out of here! Or I'd sooner be in the jungle than watching the worst movie of 2006. Don't Waste Your Money, wait for it to appear on ITV. Then you can change the channel. 1 Out Of 10 but only because i cannot give it a zero.

Oh no, it's the polar opposites of Laurel and Hardy: Not at all funny and absolutely no talent whatsoever.

What was the point? This is worse than the 1970s Love Boat pilot, the only reason I went to see this movie was because of the two talented actors Omid Djalili and Harry Dean Stanton were in it, hang on, wasn't Harry Dean Stanton in another movie that contained an Alien? Is it me, or would it have been funnier if Harry had sat the boy down to show him his movie and the movie "Alien" came on? Now that would have been funny. Scary Movie 5 anyone?

As well as Omid starring in his own Alien movie in 1999, Notting Hill. Well, you have to be Alien to be in a movie with Hugh Grant, don't you? This is freaking me out, all this "Alien" conspiracy, where's my bed, I need to hide.

The only funny bit were the young girls grinning at everyone as she took our money and the other who took our tickets as we went in, even the Manageress , who we know well, said, "It's just not pulling them in, this one", thanks, after I've just paid my money. If you like your humour dry, then try filling your bath with sand and jumping in, because that is exactly what this movie feels like.

These two clowns, and I'm being kind here, were directed by Jonny Campbell, whose career is only television work, and he wanted to start his movie profession with this! Now that's scary.

Personally, Ant and Dec should continue doing what they do best, playing with each other, and hopefully away from any movie camera and preferably, in the dark too. With this thought in mind, this Alien Autopsy should have remained a secret and never have been released onto an unsuspecting public.

If you want the truth, then don't expect any answers here, because the truth is, to quote Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessep in A Few Good Men; "You can't handle the truth"

No Col. Jessep, I just couldn't handle this movie.

Let's get a kebab then go home.

Ant and Dec are here hoorah its going to be great! Well thats what I thought and all was good. There was the normal problem at the cinema with the screen flickering while me and tom waited for the film to begin and then it did! After watching it I thought it was fairly good, some fairly funny jokes in it which made the obsessive Ant and Dec fans giggle like excited monkeys. This giggling after a while was slightly annoying as some parts where not that funny. The film its self is fairly well done. Throughout the film you switch back from 1995 to present day and this keeps you watching. Downers are that the same joke over and over again doesn't really make a film. Also I never seemed to pick up on the protagonists names because they where played by Ant and Dec and so will remain as Ant and Dec for...well forever! Also the story isn't the most amazing thing since spaghetti junction so that lost it brownie points.

The 'alien autopsy' was stupid and so is this film. From start to finish all I could think about was if my car had been broken into outside the cinema and if Macdonalds was still open. Ant and Dec should stick to Saturday morning TV when anybody with any sense is still in bed! What more can I say about this film? nothing, I'm not wasting anymore time on it.

Wasted enough watching it.

And MacDonalds was still open so it didn't make it a wasted journey to the cinema :P

-neil

Remember that big scandal about a video showing an alien autopsy? It was proved to be a hoax, although people still believe in it. This is the story of the making of the video, including the idea that the hoax actually started from a real movie.

Anyway, who cares? The movie is marginally funny, really indie, and actors like Pullman and Stanton don't really belong in it, but it's OK. It's like a brit gangster movie with little humor and pathetic gangsters. And everything revolves around a video not guns or money. Oh, and it's based on true facts :)

Who wants facts anymore? Give me fantasy or give me death!

I for one, really enjoyed this film. The story is well written and keeps you interested throughout. Ant and Dec make you care about these characters, no matter how annoying they might seem. Sometimes the story seems to good be to good to be true for these guys, which can sometimes make it seem unbelievable. However, it explains the story of the apparent hoax well. For anyone who remembers watching Jonathon Frakes on the Sci-fi channel those years ago, its a could trip down memory lane. The movie doesn't try to convince you that a tape like this doesn't exist, which keeps people's faith in ET still as really as it was before you enter the cinema. All sci-fi fans should check this film out. Its worth watching because of the comic acting of our beloved Ant and Dec pair. Well done guys!

Entertaining! Not as bad as everyone says! Better than Firewall!

Ant & Dec rise from Saturday night television to star in a quaint British film that shouldn't have you laughing hysterically but will have you smiling. It's probably the best way to have revealed the 'true' story about the alien autopsy.

True, you can never forget that Ant & Dec are Ant & Dec, but it doesn't detract from a thoroughly enjoyable film. If you're as gullible as the thousands who got sucked in by the original autopsy footage then you're probably the type who will be sucked in by the mistaken reviews that have already peppered IMDb. Don't be sucked in, go see this film.

I slid this DVD into the player without having done much research about the film, expecting a quality British comedy in the vein of "Hot Fuzz" or "Shawn of the Dead". Boy, was I ever wrong! Would I have done some research, I would have noticed that the protagonists stem from proletarian TV-shows like "Pop Idol", "xxx got Talent" and "I'm a celebrity, etc" - if only I had done this little research, the plastic-disc would not have come anywhere close to my player. The two "stars" (I cannot recall their names) aren't really actors or comedians in the classical sense, since they can neither act, nor are they remotely funny. I'd rather call them symptoms; symptoms for the decline in quality and standard in contemporary entertainment, and if you happen to be British, reading this right now – don't worry, we have the same symptoms plaguing TV, cinema and entertainment generally in Germany.

The film actually features two real actors: Bill Pullman and Harry Dean Stanton, which only confirms that acting and prostitution have more in common than most actors would like to admit – and that 'dignity' isn't very high on the list of either trade. Then again, even actors need to eat and let's not forget Joan Crawford: academy award winner today, acting in "Trog" (1970) tomorrow.

To be completely honest, I feel a little guilty writing this review in the first place, considering that I really cannot remember much about the film itself. This rarely happens to me, since I have a rather good memory for films. Just another indication of how forgettable this film is.

But perhaps I'm too old-fashioned and simply not among the target-audience. Perhaps you, dear reader, have enjoyed contemporary slapstick comedies like "Epic Movie" or "Meet the Spartans"; in that case I might well recommend you "Alien Autopsy" (if your attention-span allows you to remember this reviews headline by the time you've reached the end).

Still, 1 point out of 10 from me (and that only because there is no zero rating on IMDb).