Alien Adventure
| Alien Adventure | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Ben Stassen |
| Produced by |
Charlotte Clay Huggins Caroline Van Iseghem |
| Written by | Ben Stassen |
| Starring |
Bouli Lanners Pierre Lebecque |
| Narrated by | John Boyle |
| Music by |
The Puzzlers Louis Vyncke |
| Cinematography | Ben Stassen |
| Edited by |
Ed Escalante James Manke Todd Portugal |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
nWave Pictures Ventura Distribution (DVD) |
Release dates | July 1, 2000 (Japan) |
Running time |
37 min. (Japan) 35 min. (U.S.) |
| Country |
Belgium United States |
| Language | English |
Alien Adventure is a science fiction/slapstick comedy 3D film in IMAX format released in 1999 by nWave Pictures, written and directed by Ben Stassen. The movie was rated G (or the local equivalent) in most countries. It was the first fully digital feature-length film produced for a large-screen format.
Plot
The movie begins with an extraterrestrial humanoid species, the Glegoliths, wandering through space in search of a new world. Encountering an unknown planet (which turns out to be Earth), the Glegolith leader (Cyrillus) sends two "manned" probes to the surface to determine if it is suitable for colonisation.
The scouts in the probes think they have arrived at a great city, but in fact they have arrived at a new amusement park that is not yet open to the public. They proceed to explore four amusement rides (later made into separate shorts):
- Arctic Adventure (motion simulator ride in a freezing environment);
- Magic Carpet (a ride in an Arabian Nights-themed dungeon);
- Kid Coaster (a roller coaster set in a gigantic simulation of a child's bedroom); and
- Aqua Adventure (an underwater-themed motion simulator ride, complete with animatronic sharks).
At each ride the Glegolith scouts become variously excited, frightened, frozen or violently ill, but end up having a lot of fun. On seeing this, Cyrillus decides that the new planet "was too much fun" and would destroy the fabric of his society, and orders his scouts to withdraw. The alien visitors depart Earth without actually making contact with humans.
Production notes
The exotic looking alien script seen in several places in this movie is actually the real Glagolitic alphabet. The name of the alien leader - Cyrillus - bears a resemblance to Saint Cyril, who invented the Glagolitic alphabet. Also, the language spoken by the aliens (which is never translated in the movie) is the Walloon language, a real but rare dialect from Belgium, where the movie was produced. It is completely unrelated to the Glegolithic script. On the approach of the manned probes to the surface, the coastline appears to be that of California. However, the outdoor shots of the theme park are actually from a real French theme park, "Parc Du Futuroscope".
Home media It was released on DVD in the US slingshot Home Entertainment and the UK Escapi x.c.q DVD.