08.14.09 By: Peter Hall
The Fourth Kind is a new film from Universal presenting itself as a dramatized account of a purportedly real string of stories from the isolated town of Nome, Alaska. A town that inexplicably has a hard time keeping its residents safe on Earth. An excerpt from the official synopsis:"Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.
Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, The Fourth Kind exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film."
Now when something is marketed with that much confidence it's only begging to be picked apart. Though I think that particular brand of cynicism should be reserved until after you've seen the trailer, which Sci Fi Wire unveiled recently.First I would just like to say that I don't outright hate the trailer. I think the movie has a nice look to it that extends beyond the obviously nice looking Milla Jovovich. I'm an instant fan of the mass "owl" sighting, which invokes a very favorable bit of nostalgia for The Mothman Prophecies. But I could do without the first 32 seconds.
Are you aware of the year, Universal? Maybe we could buy into your delusion if you had the foresight to make The Fourth Kind two decades before faux documentary was all the rage. The year is not 1989, though. It's 2009. I can debunk the validity of your claims from a cell phone sitting on my toilet. If this footage is so real, why has it never been seen before? If the footage is real, why blur out the face of the "real" Abigail Tyler? Oh, yeah, because that blur is freaky as hell. Convenient.
Sorry, but I've grown sore with the whole "Based on a True Story" label that Hollywood uses to lure in the gullible. At least films like The Strangers make the claim in a simple opening title card. They don't have an actress break the fourth wall to tell us how "real" it is. Your trailer debuted on the Internet, for crying out loud. Might as well have just dared us to Google how made up your story is.
But even after all that malarkey, I'm still game. I'll still buy a ticket on November 6th because I'm a sucker for any film that involves aliens. Woe is my wallet.
Filed under: Trailers/Clips
Tags: aliens, Milla Jovovich, MillaJovovich, The Fourth Kind, TheFourthKind, Universal
jeffat 8-16-2009
Aaaaaaaaaaah!
D.J.at 8-19-2009
My 20 year old son who is not sqeemish saw the 4th Kind trailer when he went to see Dist 9 (which he said was the best movie he had ever seen) and reported that the ad was so scary he felt tramatized. I watched the trailer and cannot wait to see the movie. It is a subject so many people are interested in but hesitant to talk about openly for fear of ridicule.
D.J.
Age 58
Easily Spookedat 8-21-2009
http://alaskapsychiatryjournal.org/entries/6-1997-American-Journal-of-Psychiatry-Light-Exposure-Effects.html - is that same doctor in the trailer?
Gholsonat 10-23-2009
Yes, that's the fictional doctor's fake website created by Universal/Gold Circle to make their movie more believable. They're using the Blair Witch-style of marketing for the film.
mattat 11-02-2009
And thankfully, they've pulled down the site.
lenneyat 11-04-2009
OMG here we go. pro blu book was a long time ago. and as for the 3 kind as we all know that only one person went with them in that movie. what i'm trying to say is the only true thing about this movie is that it will make MONEY. true or not i don't think it's a big deal as long as it's a good movie. the one thing i ask is if this were so true why did we only here of this now? think of it this way we have all added some lies to many thing in life i think it makes it better. so who ever DR.ABIGAIL TYLER IS I would tell here i love this LIE. thank you lenney.
Richat 11-04-2009
I have seen an advance of the movie, and I can tell you that the woman in the trailer whose face is blurred out is NOT blurred in the movie. I suppose that was an effect for the trailer.
nimaat 11-07-2009
I've just watched this movie n im back from movie theater ! first of all , in movie there's no blured face at all ! i don get it why they'd blur faces in trailer , however the faces are all clear to identify . about the footage , of course there are alot of footages that some specific people don want you be seen them ! because if of movie's footage based line im totally impressed by the facts that are revealed in it . before i watch this documentary , i wouldn't accept any of alien shit ! n now , im about to believe every single thing out about these non-human beings !
gavinat 11-09-2009
The movie was OK. And that's it, just OK. If there was more facts put in to the movie about the Sumerian inscriptions and language and actual history it would have made the movie a lot scarier. Dr. Abigail Tyler's eyes were the creepiest part of the movie that and the video. Sci-fi buff will love it as well as alien enthusiasts but history lovers will be skeptical.
@ Peter Hallat 11-11-2009
"Are you aware of the year, Universal? Maybe we could buy into your delusion if you had the foresight to make The Fourth Kind two decades before faux documentary was all the rage. The year is not 1989, though. It's 2009." -------------------------------------------- First off, I don't (probably like most other people) care HOW it was made so long as its a good movie. Also
I did see the movie, it was pretty good, most of the time it was believeable but not always. That sheriff made me mad..---
"I can debunk the validity of your claims from a cell phone sitting on my toilet. If this footage is so real, why has it never been seen before?"
-------------------------------------------------
Hmm.. Maybe because it was confiscated, maybe know one believed it and thought it was a bunch of BS, maybe people were afraid of ridicule, maybe because the FBI took it and kept it from the public, there are many possiblilites for why it was not released.----
"If the footage is real, why blur out the face of the "real" Abigail Tyler? Oh, yeah, because that blur is freaky as hell. Convenient."
-------------------------------------------------- The blur helps for the scariness effect in the trailer, sure. But it is not blured out in the movie.---
"Sorry, but I've grown sore with the whole "Based on a True Story" label that Hollywood uses to lure in the gullible. At least films like The Strangers make the claim in a simple opening title card. They don't have an actress break the fourth wall to tell us how "real" it is. Your trailer debuted on the Internet, for crying out loud. Might as well have just dared us to Google how made up your story is."-----------------------------------------------------
The actress simply said to believe what you would like, not that it is "real" - which it could be. So what if the trailer debuted on the in, if you haven't noticed a lot of people used the internet. Its good for marketing (as even if it is a true story they still want to make money)but this has NOTHING to do with whether or not it is actually real. None of your claims do.