Morons from Outer Space

A small spaceship docks with a refuelling station. On board are four aliens: Bernard, Sandra, Desmond, and Julian. During a particularly tedious period of their stay at the station, the other three begin playing with the ship's controls while Bernard is outside playing spaceball. They accidentally disconnect his part of the ship, leaving him stranded while they crash into a nearby blue planet — Earth.

The three aliens find themselves in the UK and become instant celebrities on arrival, despite being able to bring no great revelation or technical ability to the people of Earth (as is central to the plot of many "aliens on Earth" films). They find a manager (Jones) and become wealthy practically overnight, packing fans in auditoriums who just want to see them.

Meanwhile, Bernard arrives on Earth via other means of transport and finds himself in the US. Despite being by far the most intelligent of the group, Bernard is not afforded any celebrity, and is in fact condemned to vagrancy and a brief stint in a mental hospital before reuniting with his fellow travellers near the end of the film. The others, fearing that the introduction of Bernard would lessen their popularity and celebrity, fail to mention that they had originally been travelling with a fourth.

• Joanne Pearce as Sandra Brock
• Jimmy Nail as Desmond Brock
• Paul Bown as Julian Tope
• James Sikking as Colonel Raymond Laribee
• Dinsdale Landen as Commander Grenville Matteson
• Tristram Jellinek as Simpson
• George Innes as Stanley Benson
• Mel Smith as Bernard
• Griff Rhys Jones as Graham Sweetley
• Mark Lewis Jones as Godfrey
• Leonard Fenton as Commissionaire
• Andre Maranne as Professor Trousseau
• Jimmy Mulville as Motorway Policeman
• Leslie Grantham as Motorway Policeman's Assistant
• Miriam Margolyes as Dr. Wallace

The film was announced in November 1983. It was part of the initial slate of four films from Thorn EMI's new chairman, Verity Lambert, the others being Slayground, Dreamchild and Comfort and Joy.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-moguls-nat-cohen-part-five-1971-1988/|access-date=5 February 2025|date=5 February 2025|title=Forgotten British film moguls – Nat Cohen: Part Five (1971-1988)}} It was written by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones and directed by Mike Hodges.EMI back with four feature films Fiddick, Peter. The Guardian 16 November 1983: 2. Lambert offered the film to Mike Hodges, who agreed if EMI would make a script of his, Mid-Atlantic, and signed a two-picture deal.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PU2_CAAAQBAJ&q=%22morons+from+outer+space%22+interview&pg=PT133|title=Get Carter and Beyond: The Cinema of Mike Hodges|first=Steven Paul |last=Davies|publisher=Pavilion Books|date=2014|isbn=9781849942478}}Cinema Verity: Peter Fiddick talks toEMI-Thorn 's new film production chief Fiddick, Peter. The Guardian 24 November 1983: 13.

In December 1984, Thorn EMI offered investors the chance to invest in several films by issuing £36 million worth of shares. The films were A Passage to India (1984), Illegal Aliens, Dreamchild, Wild Geese II and The Holcroft Covenant.Producer splits cost of films The Guardian 10 January 1985: 4. Illegal Aliens was later retitled Morons from Outer Space.

The release of the film caused Mel Brooks to retitle a film he was working on from Planet Moron to Spaceballs.

The film has received generally negative reviews, and holds a rating of 4.5 out of 10 on IMDb.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089622/|title=Morons from Outer Space |website=IMDb }}

The Observer called the film "so embarrassingly unfunny I often felt like crawling under my seat."Heat and rust French, Philip. The Observer 24 March 1985: 25

Empire criticized its "loose script whose weaknesses are all the more glaring for the film's inability to exploit the power of absurdity."{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/morons-outer-space-review/ |title=Morons From Outer Space Review |website=empireonline.com |date=1 January 2000}}

Mike Hodges disliked the film, regarding it as a "misfire". He clashed with Smith and Jones in post production, an article claiming "they did not trust, or perhaps understand his comedic judgement or cinematic visual satire and the film became far more broad than he had intended." However, he did enjoy satirising the sentimental "Spielbergian vision of the world".{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/why-i-love-morons-outer-space|website=BFI|title=Why I Love… Morons from Outer Space|first=Jon|last=Spira|date=23 December 2014}}

The film performed moderately at the box office in the UK and only earned $17,000 in the US.These Movies Flopped at the Box Office; Now You Get to See Them on Videotape

By Michael Cieply. Wall Street Journal, 27 Jan 1986: 1.

• {{IMDb title|id=0089622|title=Morons from Outer Space}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|morons_from_outer_space}}
• {{Mojo title|moronsfromouterspace}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071005082825/http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Morons-from-Outer-Space filmcritic.com review]
• [https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/15721 DVD Talk review]
• [https://www.empireonline.com/movies/morons-outer-space/review/ Empire Magazine review]
• [https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/morons-from-outer-space-1985.htm SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review review]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606220505/http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/73511/morons_from_outer_space.html Time Out review]

{{Mike Hodges}}

Category:1985 films

Category:1985 independent films

Category:1980s science fiction comedy films

Category:1980s English-language films

Category:Films directed by Mike Hodges

Category:British independent films

Category:British science fiction comedy films

Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios

Category:EMI Films films

Category:Films about extraterrestrial life

Category:1980s British films

Category:1985 science fiction films

Category:English-language science fiction comedy films

Category:English-language independent films