The Man Who Fell to Earth is a 1976 British science fantasy drama film[4] directed by Nicolas Roeg and adapted by Paul Mayersberg.

The Man Who Fell to Earth retains a cult following for its use of surreal imagery and Bowie's first starring film role as the alien Thomas Jerome Newton.

Newton has arrived on Earth on a mission to take water back to his home planet, which is experiencing a catastrophic drought.

He acquires tremendous wealth as the head of an Arizona technology-based conglomerate, World Enterprises Corporation, aided by leading patent attorney Oliver Farnsworth.

While revisiting New Mexico, Newton meets Mary-Lou, a lonely young woman from Oklahoma who works an array of part-time jobs in a small town hotel to support herself.

Dr. Nathan Bryce, a former college professor who had sex with his female students, has landed a job as a fuel technician with World Enterprises and slowly becomes Newton's confidant.

One examination, involving X-rays, causes the contact lenses he wears as part of his human disguise to permanently affix themselves to his eyes.

The novel was published in 1963 and had been optioned several times for the screen (including as a pilot for a TV series) but no adaptation had resulted.

[2] Roeg originally considered casting author Michael Crichton and actor Peter O'Toole in the role of Newton before Bowie.

I was dead scared of leaving them in New York because I was knocking around with some pretty dodgy people and I didn't want any of them nicking my books.

"[19] Although Bowie was originally approached to provide the music, contractual wrangles during production caused him to withdraw from this aspect of the project.

The soundtrack, derived from recently rediscovered masters, was eventually released on CD and LP in 2016 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the film's premiere.

Composed and recorded by Stomu Yamashta: Performed by John Phillips: Other music: For the scenes in which Newton's thoughts drift back to his alien home, Phillips and Roeg enlisted Desmond Briscoe to craft simple electronic atmospheres that were then combined with whale songs, to eerie effect.

[1] It was announced in the summer of 2016 that the film was in the process of being digitally remastered to 4K quality for its 40th anniversary (which was reported to have begun before Bowie's death).

"[28] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that it "may leave you punch drunk, knocked out by its visuals to the point of missing what a simple story it is.

"[29] Richard Eder of The New York Times praised the film, writing, "There are quite a few science-fiction movies scheduled to come out in the next year or so.

"[30] Robert Hawkins, reviewing for Variety, praised Roeg's direction and felt the film was "stunning stuff throughout, and Bowie's choice as the ethereal visitor is inspired...Candy Clark, as his naive but loving mate, confirms the winning ways that won her an Oscar nomination in American Graffiti.

"[31] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times described Bowie as "perfect casting" but thought the film was "a muddle," and suspected it was because he reviewed a version trimmed by 20 minutes for its U.S. run: "That would do a lot to explain why the movie proceeds from the provocatively cryptic to the merely incomprehensible.

"[32] In a retrospective review, Kim Newman of Empire gave the movie five stars out of five, describing the film as "consistently disorientating and beguilingly beautiful.

The critics' consensus states: "Filled with stunning imagery, The Man Who Fell to Earth is a calm, meditative film that profoundly explores our culture's values and desires.

"[34] On Metacritic, the film has achieved a weighted average rating of 81 out of 100 from 9 critic reviews, citing "universal acclaim".

[39] Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out believed that the cult classic status, which he described as a "vaguely demeaning term", does the film a disservice.

"[40] When re-released in 2011, Ebert gave the film three stars, stating that readers should "consider this just a quiet protest vote against the way projects this ambitious are no longer possible in the mainstream movie industry.

[46] British Film Institute included it on its list of "50 late night classics",[47] demonstrating its popularity as a midnight movie.