Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Micitype Pretty Good

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

James There are several points in Richard Schenkman's "The Man from Earth" in which differently-motivated watchers may feel inclined to reach for the "off" switch. The first time will be about 10-15 minutes in, and the motivation will relate either to the basic sci fi premise (no spoilers, but it's bound to be an instant turnoff for some), or to a query from many a typical filmgoer as to how interesting 5 or 6 University types questioning their close, about-to-leave, colleague John Oldman (David Lee Smith) in a remote cottage somewhere can really get! On the latter score the makers do as much as they can, as the "solid front" of clone-like colleagues rapidly disperses into displays from each of different emotions, different attitudes. Aggression, disbelief, mockery, cynicism, acceptance are all released, but above them all is the spirit of eager scientific inquiry and open-mindedness that OUGHT TO BE present in every academic. We of science do our jobs by hypothesis-testing and taking nothing for granted, nothing at face value. And here a cerebral script allows the most to be made of that desirable truth about academics.Nevertheless, Ellen Crawford serves increasingly well as the uptight religious one (notwithstanding her academic side), while John Billingsley is there in his typical kindly+witty avuncular role. Then there is the coolly sarcastic hip one and his beautiful young girlfriend/student who represents the openness of youth, and then there is that ever-welcome player Tony Todd as the kindly, accepting, philsophical one. That leaves Richard Riehle as the psychiatrist who wants to help - but is also ultimately the most aggressive responder to the situation.Together, this crew throw themselves at John from as many different angles as you can easily think of - not only scientific; and as the time passes this interaction gets richer and richer. Furthermore, it's not all between each individually and John, but also via a web of connections across the group, which makes things interesting. A few other plot twists creep in to further diversify the format.The Ellen Crawford character wants to "switch off" at one key point, and there are many in the audience who will likely find themselves tempted to do likewise. I surprised myself by being in this group, thinking a step too far had been taken. But I plucked up the courage to come back to it, and don't regret it, as the film's best work is done after this point, and some worthwhile (if definitely somewhat uncomfortable) questions about religion are raised, in a very clever way.Indeed, the film starts off looking stilted and rather faux-intellectual but definitely ends up looking like the real thing. Did the actors get into what they were doing? Or is it an adjustment from the audience? Either way, it's fascinating how it happens. Wherever you look in this film you will see the name Bixby, mostly - though not solely - Jerome Bixby. He's behind a shockingly unforgettable piece of sci fi from 1953 called "It's a Good Life", which sets an ENTIRELY different tone from "The Man from Earth". On the other hand, the idea used here got its first outing when Bixby wrote the "Requiem for Methusaleh" episode of the original "Star Trek", so anybody who's a fan of "ST:TOS" will recognise elements of this.And sweetly, ST is referred to in the film, several of whose actors have also appeared in different manifestations of "Trek", so that's a pleasing side-effect for those in the know.Main message: this is ultimately a far better quality film than you can imagine at the outset, so do stick with it...

fanan450 Although the events of this movie happened in one place (a house), but the events that occurred to the hero and the dialogues between actors, and the mysterious religious questions that are never answered to this day, made this film interesting and exciting that makes you wish this film never end . this is what I felt throughout the time I watch it .even though I am muslim, I enjoyed the dialogues about ancient religions such as Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity because I respect all people no matter what they are, it was a very fantastic philosophical film.8/10

AudreyToo I'm kind of surprised by the pretty high IMDB rating for this cos I can usually rely on IMDB for realistic ratings.Firstly, I am a massive Twilight Zone fan so I can appreciate this film as a bit of a homage to Rod Serling's magnificent creation, but it gets it wrong in so many ways. I liked that The Man from Earth was pretty much shot entirely in one room because I think that can be effective if the story is really strong, but unfortunately this story went a bit wrong.I actually liked the premise of the film - combined with the setting and sparse cast it definitely did have a Twilight Zone vibe but then it simply got too silly with all the daft historical name dropping. And the 'twist' at the end could of been played out so much better.But, on a positive note, the gallop through the last 14,000 years was pretty cool and I did like John's monologues about his life. I liked the low budget, no CGI, no action vibe. And I can't have hated it that much cos I do quite want to watch the sequel (which looks like its got loads of action sequences).

pinkled5 Here are just a few examples of the many, many, factual errors which interfered with my enjoyment of this movie:1) No one thought the earth was flat in Columbus' day. Ancient Greeks had actually calculated, with surprising accuracy, the circumference of the earth According to historian Jeffrey Burton Russell, "no educated person in the history of Western Civilization from the third century B.C. onward believed that the Earth was flat."2) The body does not renew/replace all its cells every 7 years. That is a myth and a misconception. Although its true that the lining of the stomach is renewed every few days, other parts can take a decade or more to renew and some parts stay with us from birth to death.3) There are not different versions of the Bible. This is another misconception. There are, however, many different translations, which is different. For example, if you ask two experts to translate a Greek passage (without conferring with one another) you'll get two unique translations, but they'll both mirror the original Greek passage.This could have been an interesting film, but early on I could not suspend my disbelief and the only way to view this film is from the perspective that it takes place in an alternate universe where our knowledge and facts don't exist. It is possible that this script writer lives in the world he created, as do many people, a world where knowledge and facts are supplanted by ignorance and bias.