The quality of the images is a bit iffy. It is hard to tell if this is because the director deliberately went for poor quality in areas, because it was a cheap production, or because the transfer was from a poor original.

The story itself is quite simple: an alien travels to earth, tries to fit in and make money, and then wants to return home. But the execution may or may not be linear. The story is hard to follow and some things are just never explained. Sometimes there are flashbacks to his home planet; sometimes, he either imagines, or we see, his family waiting for him, and perhaps sick from lack of water.

“Mr. Newton” (David Bowie) is from a desert planet with a water shortage. In some way, he is traveling to earth to alleviate that shortage. By bringing water home? By paving the way for his people to come to Earth? His family is portrayed always wearing diving suits, complete with water tanks on their backs, to recycle their water completely, ala Dune.

The corporation he creates, World Enterprises, also recycles, taking careful effort to recycle all waste products. Perhaps this is because Newton’s own world was destroyed through environmental waste? Or simply from habit, because that’s what they have to do on his home planet?

It also has some good gratuitous sex scenes with coeds and professors. You can’t have a good science fiction show in the seventies without sex.

The direction is choppy. The camera jumps from scene to scene, scenes themselves seem cut before they’re done.

There are only six chapters, making it easy to fit all chapters on one screen, but difficult to pinpoint scenes.

I am glad that I saw this movie, but I’m not sure that I’d want to recommend it. If you’re a Bowie fan, you should probably see it. If you like weird seventies science fiction shows, you should definitely see it.