Roswell (Jeremy Kagan, 1994)

RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region
Roswell Daily Record, Tuesday, July 8, 1947.

There’s few words who still generates so much discussions as that fateful headline in July, 1947. A couple of weeks before Kenneth Arnold spotted the flying discs who officially created the expression “flying saucer”, so imagine the shock when one of these things crashed and stunned the whole world. Or was it just a weather balloon. It’s said that over 500 witnesses since then have stated it was an alien spaceship, but probably more people stating the opposite. What I think? Well, to quote the famous X-Files poster: I Want To Believe, but without proof....well, evidence is what I need.

Jesse Marcel was the name of the military who first examined the crash site, and in Roswell he’s played by the always reliable Kyle MacLachlan. Without making it speculative or one-sided, Roswell is a damn fine TV-movie. Maybe one of the best, and both as a TV-production and on the subject itself. We first meet Jesse many years later when he’s retired and out in the desert - on the crash site - with his wife and son, and later on a convention for retired military staff stationed in the area. We then see everything in flashbacks, how he first heard of the site, the investigation, the cover-up and how the old Jesse still tries to find out the truth during the convention, during talks with former colleagues - which delivers more flashbacks, some alternative ones actually, from them. What is the truth? Jesse is the one we follow, and even if the teleplay leans towards his direction nothing is for sure, because everyone seem to have their own experience from that famous day in Roswell…

Maybe you need to have an interest from the beginning to really appreciate an ambitious production as Roswell, but I’m not so sure about that. When placing the story in a world where there’s several answers to the same question and just using Marcel as our host to get into this confusing world of disinformation you just have to follow him and see what he sees. Marcel - based on a real person (his son was a consultant on the production) - knows what he have seen, but when he meets people - both believers and nonbelievers - you notice how the information have transformed over the years, so how can we then know he’s remembering it right?

From Marcel’s point of view we get to see the crashed UFO, the strange pieces of unknown metal, impossible to destroy (but obviously it couldn’t stand a crash landing!). The longer the story goes we’re getting closer to the truth, including the bodies found, the surviving alien and the decision to never tell the public about the find. Roswell is such a well-made TV-movie, with an enormous attention to detail and packed with the finest character actors available - including Martin Sheen, Philip Baker Hall and Charles Martin Smith plus many, many familiar faces in even smaller parts. It’s a classy production, written with intelligence and depth.

Together with 1993’s Fire in the Sky, 1975’s The UFO Incident and 2006’s Altered, this is the best - and most serious - movies about the UFO subject.

Comments

[Megatron]

"What I think? Well, to quote the famous X-Files poster: I Want To Believe, but without proof....well, evidence is what I need."

Yeah.....and we all know what rumors, and gossip in a small area can do...?

But it is fascinating......

"Roswell is such a well-made TV-movie, with an enormous attention to detail and packed with the finest character actors available - including Martin Sheen, Philip Baker Hall and Charles Martin Smith plus many, many familiar faces in even smaller parts."

Yeah....now that´s a great cast.

"Together with 1993’s Fire in the Sky, 1975’s The UFO Incident and 2006’s Altered, this is the best - and most serious - movies about the UFO subject."

I´m not sure but I don´t think I´ve seen any of them(or this one), good review and thanks, Fred.