Imagine going to a garage sale and purchasing an old Kodak camera. When you get home, to your surprise, a roll of exposed film is found inside. Curious about what wonders may have been photographed, you have the film developed. Now it really gets weird, because your prints contain a nice assortment of family photos along with a few of a U.F.O. abduction. Who owned this camera? Where were they taken? What happened to the abductees? Pursuing this mystery drives the intriguing plot of "OUT THERE". Initially progressing as a somewhat logical investigation, the film eventually runs out of steam, and degrades into silliness. Nevertheless, recommended for it's originality. - MERK
15 Reviews
Pretty bad
ctomvelu-115 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
In this low-budget TV flick, a down-on-his-heels photojournalist (Bill Campbell) buys an old camera at a lawn sale only to find a roll of unexposed film inside. He develops it to discover some family pictures as well as two men on a hunting trip. The men encounter a UFO and one of them is then shown being kidnapped by aliens. The photographer shares the pictures with a reporter from Omni Magazine who is actually a writer for a Weekly Sun-type rag, which mocks him in print. He also shows them to an Air Force general (Rod Steiger) who quickly sends him packing. Eventually, he encounters the daughter (Wendy Schaal) of the kidnapped man and they go on a search for the truth. Problem is, the movie is strictly tongue-in-cheek, and consists mainly of talking heads, and no action. This is not the X-Files, after all. Several familiar faces turn up in smaller roles, including Julie Brown, Billy Bob Thornton, Jill St. John and Paul Dooley. Skip it.
Cheesy sci-fi spoof
Leofwine_draca8 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
OUT THERE is a rubbishy little sci-fi comedy made as a spoof of the whole X-Files phenomenon. The subject matter is the usual: UFOs, alien abduction, government conspiracy. It's listed as a TV movie but feels more like an amateur production, merely following a couple around as they interview oddball characters. The camera angles are poor and the acting mundane. The only thing that makes this watchable in even a minor way is the presence of some cameoing stars. Billy Bob Thornton appears briefly alongside POLICE ACADEMY star Bobcat Goldthwait and a ranting Rod Steiger.
An hour into this film, I hadn't laughed once!
Whymselee19 November 1999
I admit it, I rented this film because Billy Campbell is in it, but it was a disappointment. I won't say it was a huge disappointment, as I wasn't expecting much, I still found it to be plodding and boring. Outrageously funny? I can't imagine where or how. Don't waste your time with this one.
Worth the time to see it
cherienb14 August 2003
I was flipping through the channels to find something to watch until another show started, and ended up watching the whole second half of this film as it was so clever and different. I love SF of all kinds, even the really bad stuff, but this was so quirky and fun! There are so many oddball twists that kept it interesting. It's not heavy duty or intellectual in any way, but if you're looking for a fun SF flick to kill a Saturday afternoon, I'd say this would be a good choice for you.
Computer lingo adds to movie
Birwin18 December 1998
This is a good popcorn movie for lighthearted viewing and entertainment. The reason I give this movie an above average score is due to the use of computer lingo within the script. That may seem like a silly reason at first, but the movie was made in 1994? and released in 1995, so the terminology was state of the art (sort of) for the time, and still better then some of the big name rubbish still being produced.
Out-rageously funny
sdickson18 December 1998
Out There, with its star studded cast, was a fresh relief from the boring old "Alien with Tentacles" and "Alien with Ray Gun" movies of lately. Independence Day, Alien, Predator, Species.... even Mars Attacks, all have aliens who try to annihilate the Humans. Here, the aliens are trying to... well, CHEAT us, through the Universe Marketing Consortium, by making us join them.
Outrageously funny, outrageously..... Out There.
Outrageously funny, outrageously..... Out There.
Wonderful stupidity
discord4315 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
A very novel idea, with even more novel details. Watch out for accordians. This is a very well done movie, and it's done so seriously even though it's really a funny movie. It won't help you pass calculus, or balance your checkbook, or even provide you with useful information, but for a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half, this one is well worth watching. It even has some really fine actors, like Rod Steiger and Jill St John. The rest of the cast is equally good, though. You will never be able to look at a trailer park, or a portapotty, in the same way again. This movie also tells you where all that damned packing popcorn comes from, too.
The movie that reminded us who we are
Bowserb463 October 2010
This is one of those movies that you're a little embarrassed to like and to watch, but you do. Your wife catches you with this playing, and you have to say, "I don't know what this is, it was just on." But every time you see it on the cable/satellite/uverse guide, you have to watch it. Maybe you even DVR it and keep it until you're out of space! Not me. I like this movie. Come on. Admit it. This is a scifi movie making fun of scifi movies and the people who watch them: us. In truth, this is no sillier than X-Files or Signs or Star Trek. It just doesn't pretend to be anything else. The Christmas tree lights in the alien tunnel, though, is my favorite subtle crossover reference.
Now that I've said all this, I've got to go look over at Netflix and see if it is available for streaming!
Now that I've said all this, I've got to go look over at Netflix and see if it is available for streaming!
Watch this film, if you can but find it that is
ge-257-96203518 November 2014
I can't find this film to buy/rent/download/anything for love nor money. It's one of the funniest budget sci-fi's I can remember watching. Think humour along the lines of Evolution (David Duchovny) and Dark Star (one of John Carpenter's first)
Definitely a good way to burn 90 mins or so and have a laugh.
Apparently I need to add more lines to submit a review but it's kinda tricky as it's a good while since I watched it (as I can't find a copy anywhere) and it'd be a shame to spoil the wacky humour of it all by trying to waste space explaining it. Perhaps this is now long enough to submit...
Definitely a good way to burn 90 mins or so and have a laugh.
Apparently I need to add more lines to submit a review but it's kinda tricky as it's a good while since I watched it (as I can't find a copy anywhere) and it'd be a shame to spoil the wacky humour of it all by trying to waste space explaining it. Perhaps this is now long enough to submit...
Intelligent Comedy....
sinan8 November 2002
This movie has a lot of great references to past and future movies( e.g. Mars Attacks! which came a year after it.)
But one of my favorites is the "Don Polson" character, which so hilariously captures Jean Paul Sartre, that I was puzzled by the name ,until I said to my wife "I don't see why Jean Paul Sartre character is named Don Paulson!" .
Devious minds...
But one of my favorites is the "Don Polson" character, which so hilariously captures Jean Paul Sartre, that I was puzzled by the name ,until I said to my wife "I don't see why Jean Paul Sartre character is named Don Paulson!" .
Devious minds...
Imaginative, fun, sleeper of a movie.
hamiltondl11 September 2017
An interesting, fun take on the whole alien invasion scenario. A bit corny, and the acting is a little loose at times, but that was the point. It was obvious the cast enjoyed making it. The theme and flavor are somewhat reminiscent of, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World" (+or- a, 'mad'). No surprise it's not well known, but it is a cut above most Amazon or Netflix Sci-Fi offerings. Nice seeing some senior actors from earlier Hollywood playing rolls out of their normal range. I enjoyed it and would watch it again with a friend.
This is an accordingly spoofy alien thing
Bernie44443 December 2023
A camera is found at a yard sale that still has undeveloped pictures in it. The finder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer that collects cameras. This picture will change his life and lead him on a quest joined by a woman who lost her dad under mysterious circumstances.
After you experience this movie, you will never go back to The X Files (1993). You will see the real Rod Steiger as Col. Buck Gunner. You will see many elements from this movie copied in other movies as Mars Attacks! (1996) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). This movie is more realistic. You will hear faux pas as saying "Bug in a rug" in the presence of aliens.
However, if you live in a trailer park, don't watch this under any circumstances.
After you experience this movie, you will never go back to The X Files (1993). You will see the real Rod Steiger as Col. Buck Gunner. You will see many elements from this movie copied in other movies as Mars Attacks! (1996) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). This movie is more realistic. You will hear faux pas as saying "Bug in a rug" in the presence of aliens.
However, if you live in a trailer park, don't watch this under any circumstances.
Nistalgia for old school technology
aramis-112-80488010 January 2024
A Pulitzer-Prize winning photojournalist buys a camera at a yard sale to add to his collection and discovers undeveloped film inside. Are these pictures of an alien abduction? And what does he make of the woman (Wendy Schall) who claims one of the abducted men is her missing father?
The saving grace of this flick is its cameos by some heavy-hitting stars. Unfortunately, they're hit and miss. Rod Steiger is hilarious (I bring him up because he's early in the movie and because a couple of weeks back, coincidentally, I watched "Dr. Zhivago," which this ain't). Jill St John is lovely as an annoying realtor (she must have a picture of herself in her attic that's slowly aging). And Associate Producer Cindy Morgan is delightful in hers. And that's good because I hated "Caddyshack" and that's all I've ever seen her in.
I won't go into details because saying anything more will constitute spoilers, but I'm troubled by the movie's unpleasant take on the middle class. Hollywood has the middle class in its crosshairs and is often pot-shotting at its cherished institutions and beliefs. People who work real jobs for a living, who support national defense and the Constitution (all of it, even the 2nd Amendment) and go to church. I'm a defiantly proud member of the American Middle Class and know Hollywood hates me, but they make the best movies.
Disclaimer: I once saw a (technical) UFO. Having busy days I'd go running in the wee hours and once in the corner of my eye saw a fire in the sky. I thought it might be an exploding airplane but turning my head I saw it long enough to realize it was a meteor burning green. It gave me empathy for people who catch no more than a glimpse of such a natural phenomenon and with minds attuned to aliens (which mine isn't) think they've seen flying saucers. Leading to nonsense like Roswell. Before, I'd written them off as kooks and liars when many, I now think, are honestly deluded.
If you're part of the Middle Class Hollywood hates you'll occasionally feel this movie's kick in your solar plexus. After all, most Hollywoid movies are aimed at pleasing people in Hollywood and the one thing they share is a hate for people who ain't them.
But this movie does have laugh-out-loud moments. And much of it is intriguing. Sort of a "Citizen Kane" of the UFO lobby.
And for someone who used to do lots of old-newspaper research in dusty university library basements it was nice to remember the good old days. When the leads were doing their research in old newspapers (though in my experience newspapers were more manageable on microfilm rather than microfiche. And if you're too young to know what microfiche is, watch this movie: it's the transparencies they're playing with).
These days I'm retired. I don't have to go out at night or do microfilm newspaper research in University library basements. I enjoy the sunlight.
Another disclaimer: I like easy listening music. Along with my extensive classical collection I have Montavanni, Paul Weston, Kostelanetz, Nelson Riddle, 101 Strings, etc. And another disclaimer: I was once called evil because I told co-workers I was against forced recycling. Not recycling. Recycling enforced by law, taking free will and choice (which I strongly support) put of the equation. But I don't have any accordion albums. Don't worry, it all ties in. If you see this movie (once is all you need) you'll get it.
The saving grace of this flick is its cameos by some heavy-hitting stars. Unfortunately, they're hit and miss. Rod Steiger is hilarious (I bring him up because he's early in the movie and because a couple of weeks back, coincidentally, I watched "Dr. Zhivago," which this ain't). Jill St John is lovely as an annoying realtor (she must have a picture of herself in her attic that's slowly aging). And Associate Producer Cindy Morgan is delightful in hers. And that's good because I hated "Caddyshack" and that's all I've ever seen her in.
I won't go into details because saying anything more will constitute spoilers, but I'm troubled by the movie's unpleasant take on the middle class. Hollywood has the middle class in its crosshairs and is often pot-shotting at its cherished institutions and beliefs. People who work real jobs for a living, who support national defense and the Constitution (all of it, even the 2nd Amendment) and go to church. I'm a defiantly proud member of the American Middle Class and know Hollywood hates me, but they make the best movies.
Disclaimer: I once saw a (technical) UFO. Having busy days I'd go running in the wee hours and once in the corner of my eye saw a fire in the sky. I thought it might be an exploding airplane but turning my head I saw it long enough to realize it was a meteor burning green. It gave me empathy for people who catch no more than a glimpse of such a natural phenomenon and with minds attuned to aliens (which mine isn't) think they've seen flying saucers. Leading to nonsense like Roswell. Before, I'd written them off as kooks and liars when many, I now think, are honestly deluded.
If you're part of the Middle Class Hollywood hates you'll occasionally feel this movie's kick in your solar plexus. After all, most Hollywoid movies are aimed at pleasing people in Hollywood and the one thing they share is a hate for people who ain't them.
But this movie does have laugh-out-loud moments. And much of it is intriguing. Sort of a "Citizen Kane" of the UFO lobby.
And for someone who used to do lots of old-newspaper research in dusty university library basements it was nice to remember the good old days. When the leads were doing their research in old newspapers (though in my experience newspapers were more manageable on microfilm rather than microfiche. And if you're too young to know what microfiche is, watch this movie: it's the transparencies they're playing with).
These days I'm retired. I don't have to go out at night or do microfilm newspaper research in University library basements. I enjoy the sunlight.
Another disclaimer: I like easy listening music. Along with my extensive classical collection I have Montavanni, Paul Weston, Kostelanetz, Nelson Riddle, 101 Strings, etc. And another disclaimer: I was once called evil because I told co-workers I was against forced recycling. Not recycling. Recycling enforced by law, taking free will and choice (which I strongly support) put of the equation. But I don't have any accordion albums. Don't worry, it all ties in. If you see this movie (once is all you need) you'll get it.
See also
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