Plot: What’s it about?
A strange space craft has landed in a California canyon, but no one is sure what it is or who might be inside of it. The craft is spherical in shape and emits a white glow, while hovering a little over the surface. It seems to be just large enough for one human, but the military and scientific forces sent to investigate know little more than that. There is of course, an alien within the white sphere, but he does not emerge until later on the evening. He gets bundled up with clothing since he is a little on the partially invisible side, but manages to look halfway normal. So this alien visitor takes a room at a local inn, where he plans to spend a little time and take in the sights. The scientists involved in this issue believe this stranger is harmless and poses no threat, but those darn military powers think he is a serious problem. Is this Cosmic Man a danger to all humans, or is he just visiting on peaceful terms? Will we find out before the military tries to blow him to pieces?
I think this movie is a lot of fun and is a classic example of 1950s science-fiction, as it combines all the elements we’ve come to expect from the genre at this time period. Of course the budget and such here isn’t astronomical, but that just means more creativity & camp is present and that is just fine by me. As with most of this ilk, the audience is a limited one and those in search of explosive special effects & such need to seek entertainment elsewhere. I suppose some “special” effects can be seen here, but they’re minimal and the focus seems to be on storyline and characters more than not. That’s not to say this is a complex movie though, it just relies more on character interaction than special effects. This movie is a fun choice on a late night, but I have to say that it is basically a clone of The Day The Earth Stood Still. In that comparison, The Cosmic Man fails and as such, I think this one is a rental only in the end.
A lot of people believe that when it comes to bad acting and poor career choices, few can match the mistakes of David Carradine. It is true that he hasn’t been in that many high profile films in his career, I think Carradine is easily a “B” movie icon and that alone shields him from such criticism. How hard can you come down on the guy in the end, I mean he never ventured into “A” list town for long and seemed content where he was. In this film he gives a middle of the road performance which in some cases might be bad, but here is more than adequate. You can only expect so much from material like this, so I think he does a fine turn. You can also see Carradine in such films as Sex Kittens Go To College, Invisible Invaders, Billy The Kid vs. Dracula, Astro-Zombies, and Hell’s Bloody Devils. The cast also includes Angela Greene (Futureworld), Bruce Bennett (The Alligator People), and Lyn Osborn (Arson For Hire).
Video: How does it look?
The Cosmic Man is presented in a full frame transfer, which preserves the intended aspect ratio of this film. This black & white transfer looks good to be sure, but some age related problems do emerge at times. The print shows some damage and debris, though not as much as I expected. The image also seems to pulse at times, if you can understand what I mean. It is minor, but still worth a mention here. A few instances of compression errors also show up, although no contrast trouble is to be seen. This is an average transfer, but that’s impressive considering the age of the film and the source materials.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included mono track isn’t that bad, but it is far from being as clean & clear as I would have liked. This one is mostly dialogue driven, but a few scant special effects pop up and of course, there is some music to be heard. The main flaw here is that this sounds a little dated, but I suppose that is to be expected in some form or another. So while there is some harshness at times, in the end this sound better than most tracks of this age. The dialogue shows minimal distortion and I never had to strain to hear the vocals. It isn’t memorable, but it gets the job done.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
