Plot: What’s it about?
Rich Kronfeld has always wanted to be abducted by aliens, but now he seems to be taking some steps to make that dream become a reality. He still lives at home and works on strange experiments, but he doesn’t allow his mother to intrude too much on his work. He has always wondered what it would take to attract some aliens to him, so he figures he needs to gather all the information he can, in an effort to maximize his chances. But since his own home town offers little in terms of useful knowledge, he decides to venture to the place that contains the most information on the subject, Roswell, New Mexico. Of course, this is the town where millions believe an alien craft crashed years ago, but the government covered the issue up and has kept the secrets under lock & key. So Rich begins his journey to the Mecca of all things alien, where he hopes to discover the truth and make his plans to become an abductee. As he observes all sorts of alien materials, abductees, scientists, and other sources, he makes notes in his journal and plans to use that information to surmise his abduction gameplan. Will Rich find what he needs in Roswell, or will his trip plant even more doubts into his head?
If you’re at all interested in the phenomenon that is Roswell, New Mexico, then Six Days In Roswell is nothing short of a must see motion picture. This is by no means your typical documentary, but it offers an informative and entertaining look at what happens in this small town. The vast majority of what you’ll see within this film is real, but we do have various professional performers, to infiltrate the denizens that reside in Roswell. Rich is not an actor though, as far as the filmmakers will admit, anyway. His character seems to fit in very well with all the real UFO junkies, so in any case, it doesn’t detract much from the whole experience. His presence also ensures a high level of laughs, which is vital in a film such as Six Days In Roswell. If you’ve seen Trekkies or Hand On A Hard Body and loved what you saw, then this is another documentary you will not want to miss. The subjects might be a little offbeat and unusual at times, but you can usually tell they believe in it all and love what they do. The film is very well edited and produced, which makes the viewing experience very rewarding, as some documentaries lose ground in terms of pace and such. If you’re a documentary fan, alien abductee, a true believer, a government black ops agent, or an alien yourself, make sure to check out this terrific piece.
Video: How does it look?
Six Days In Roswell is presented in the original full frame transfer, which is a good start to this transfer. This is a documentary, so the image isn’t up to feature film standards, but I don’t think anyone will be let down by this transfer. This looks clean and sharp at all times, no real problems to report in the end. A few small instances of edge enhancement and shimmering can be seen, but these don’t knock the final score too much. The level of grain is low, so detail is very high and no real losses seem evident. The colors seem bold and bright, flesh tones are natural, and black levels are dead on here, no real troubles in the least.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not much to talk about here, as the nature of the film doesn’t allow for much in terms of power based audio. The music sounds very good and has little distortion, while the various sound effects also come off well, with no volume errors at all. The dialogue is the real center of the mix, so it emerges in crisp form and always at a proper volume. It won’t blow the doors off by any means, but it is more than adequate for this material, which is what counts.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This special edition release is loaded with goodies, such as an audio commentary with director Tim Johnson, star Richard Kronfeld, and producer Roger Nygard. These folks discuss all sorts of topics, such as who were the real actors within the film, their feelings on the people in Roswell, and various other production topics. It is worth a listen to be sure, especially if you have some questions about the film and its subject matter. A wealth of bonus footage is given to the previous works of these three, which varies from hilarious to downright miserable. But in any case, it is nice to see the footage, so no complaints in the end. A twenty minute behind the scenes featurette is also packed on this disc, as well as over half an hour of deleted sequences. Wow, what more can you ask for? How about production photos, two theatrical trailers, talent files, production notes, quotes from reviews for the film, and some UFO information? This is a fantastic treatment, let’s hope Synapse issues some more discs like this one soon.
