For those who take the subject matter seriously, it has been a long held belief that Hollywood doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to films dealing with the subject of UFOs and alien abduction.
In fact, most, if not all of the big-screen films based on actual UFO and alien abduction case files — from Communion to Fire In The Sky — have been disasters from the perspective of those who have either investigated or actually experienced such encounters.
In the case of Communion, author and contactee Whitley Strieber is portrayed in such a way as to suggest the only "close encounter" he has experienced is one of the psychotic kind. To anyone familiar with the abduction case of Travis Walton, there are entire scenes of his story as told in Fire In The Sky that simply never happened.
Like those films, Universal's The Fourth Kind purports, and in fact goes to great lengths to convince the viewer that it too is based on actual events — except that it isn't. The only back story here is rather the result of one of those viral marketing campaigns which most recently worked so well for Paranormal Activity.
The Fourth Kind centers on a series of unexplained disappearances occurring in Nome, Alaska (that part is real) which may be tied to alien abductions (that part isn't). Milla Jovovich plays Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychiatrist investigating the cases. The title refers to what ufologists call a close encounter of the fourth kind, which involves alien abduction. Steven Spielberg's famous film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind refers to contact. This movie should in no way be confused with Spielberg's classic though.
In the opening scene, Jovovich appears as herself, and explains she will be portraying Tyler, and that the film includes actual audio and video footage from Tyler's case files. This illusion continues with director Olatunde Osunsanmi interviewing the "real" Tyler, and then throughout the film with split-screen images of Jovovich and the other Abigail Tyler often simultaneously reciting and acting the same lines and scenes.
Article comments
1 - Peter Beley
Mr Boyd I was interested in your artical on the film the Fourth Kind but you have neglected your source on debunking the main theme of the film. Where are your facts coming what proof do you have that these people have not indeed been abducted You do have something more then just the fact that you are sceptical If not the fact that you think its not logical or believable does not constitute evidence that it is not factual. Please enlighten us with the names of your experts.
2 - Glen Boyd
My expert is Google. I searched the web for any references to Dr. Abigail Tyler, Nome disapearances, Nome alien abductions, etc.
What I found (in addition to the studio generated fake websites) were legitimate articles from Alaskan newspapers debunking the Nome abduction story, and nothing whatsoever about it from the usual ufological sites like MUFON (I'm a bit of a student in that field myself). I also found absolutely no record of an actual Dr. Abigail Tyler (there are several references to a baby named Abigail Tyler who died in a drowning accident though).
I keep up on UFO sightings quite a bit myself, and never heard anything of this prior to the viral marketing of the film which is what first raised my suspicions.
As I noted in the review, there have been mysterious disappearances in Nome, but none appear to be related to UFOs, aliens, or to someone named Dr. Abigail Tyler.
Its fiction.
-Glen
3 - Glen Boyd
One last point with regard to comment #1...
Without spoiling the film too much, it also really veers away from the classic experiences described in most of the classic alien abduction cases on record (Betty and Barney Hill, Travis Walton, etc.) and more towards the sort of phenomena associated more commonly with cases of demon possession. See the film for yourself, and then you can tell me if you disagree.
-Glen
4 - isabel ann
This movie was stunning!! I saw it twice it's first weekeng out. Glen, I couldn't agree with you less. I don't know if it's true or not, but if that's a hoax for entertainment..... then WOW!
5 - Triniman
Riveting film. More mysterious than most similiarly-themed films.
6 - David Kearns
Be careful when you assume because this didn't happen in Nome, that this sort of thing ISN'T happening at all. Unfortunately, it is. I enjoyed this movie, knowing that the story was a very creative embellishment. We recall that Moby Dick was such an embellishment; whose fiction did nothing to discount the existence of whales, or crazy sea captains.
7 - Glen Boyd
I make no such assumptions David which you would know if you read both the review and my earlier comments more carefully.
-Glen
8 - Mike
I saw the movie before researching it, and found it quite disturbing, because I didn't know that the opening statements were lies. In the movie, the part about Sumeria I assumed was simply a mistake by the investigators. After finding it was a prank, I feel defrauded. Go to youtube and watch the kids' videos of their "real" UFOs (frizbees). If you enjoy fakery and hoaxes, you'll like this. If you are interested in genuine abduction mysteries, save your money.
9 - Glen Boyd
Agree Mike, that point was where the movie really derailed from a decent abduction story into the realm of demons and lost any of the "based on actual events" illusion. Total nonsense at that point.
-Glen
10 - JOANNE DREXEL
I SAW THIS MOVIE YESTERDAY, AND, I HEARD AT THE BEGINNING, THAT SOME NAMES AND PEOPLE HAD BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT PRIVACY...THEN I SAT BACK AND WAS HORRIFIED.....BECAUSE, I SO TRULY BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING IN OUR COUNTRY. THE BACK PAGES OF NEWSPAPERS ARE FULL OF SIGHTINGS FROM JOHN Q. PUBLIC TO POLITICIANS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT INDIVIDUALS. ALL THESE EYE-WITNESSES CANNOT BE HAVING THE SAME HALLUCINATION OR DREAM. PLEASE RE-THINK YOUR POSITION.
11 - Glen Boyd
My position is not that I don't think abduction stories are real...in fact, I have no doubt that many of them have some validity to them.
My position IS that this particular movie purports to present a specific case as being REAL, when it is fact a Hollywood fabrication.
This does no favors to the ufological community or to those who have actually experienced abduction phenomena (whatever it may actually be).
-Glen
12 - Zack.
The public would never hear about a story like this, due to the government covering everything up. Now I don't believe everything in this movie but the scene were Dr tyler goes under, And she starts talking to the alien, The part were her jaw looks like it about to get ripped off, I really can't see any actor acting in that way or state of mind, thats just to insane.
13 - Glen Boyd
The part where the "alien" sounded more like a demon, spouting off about being God...now that was insane, and quite a departure from any classic abduction cases I am aware of. Where's Linda Blair when we need her?
-Glen