'The Man Who Fell To Earth' at 50: Was David Bowie’s strange stranded alien his best role ever?

The 1970s were an evolutionary step for global science fiction films, with some of the most pivotal and game-changing releases helping to expand the genre by addressing environmental issues, political unrest, technology anxiety, societal decay, and existential questions of life and death. " Star Wars " and " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " will, of course, be remembered as the eventual heavy hitters of the ‘70s, but there were a multitude of other bold standouts that might have been left in the dust, yet deserve our rapt attention. British director Nicolas Roeg's " The Man Who Fell To Earth " is one such pioneering gem, and we’re celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary today to remind cinephiles of its dreamy atmosphere and poignant portrait of a benevolent extraterrestrial visitor ruined by human vices. It was a role so beautifully captured by rock legend David Bowie in his very first film appearance... and it was a banger! The Man Who Fell to Earth | Original Trailer | Coolidge Corner Theatre - YouTube Watch On The plot chronicles the sudden arrival in New Mexico of an elegant alien being masquerading as a human named Thomas Jerome Newton, who lands on planet Earth in an attempt to rescue his own distant drought-ruined homeworld. Originally released in the U.S. …