Wild Blue Yonder, The

Released by: Subversive Cinema
Released on: 11/14/2006
Director: Werner Herzog
Cast: Brad Dourif
Year: 2005
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The Movie:

Werner Herzog has made it very clear that The Wild Blue Yonder is not a documentary film, it is a science-fiction-fantasy film. To be precise, the opening credits to the film even state this. While this claim is debatable to a certain extent, what is a certainty is the fact that this is Herzog at his most pretentious and his most sublime.

What little story there is in the film is told by way of narration, both on camera and through voiceovers, courtesy of Brad Dourif (of Childs Play, Deadwood and Lord Of The Rings). His character, who is never named, tells us early on that he's from a planet way out in another galaxy in the far reaches of outer space. He tells us how his race essentially blew it and how they intended to start over again on Earth by building a new settlement around a fancy shopping center. It didn't work, which is why empty buildings surround him and trashed motor-homes with garbage blowing across the desert landscape. From there, he waxes poetic as some intrepid Earth explorers venture to his home planet, exploring it in hopes of finding somewhere that mankind can relocate too once he finishes killing his own planet.

How does Herzog represent this? Well, aside from having Dourif rant and rave in the middle of a desert ghetto, he hits us with two different sets of footage. The first set involves space travel. We hear from scientists who explain different theories and who bombard us with bizarre mathematical equations, which will go over pretty much everyone's head. We see astronauts in space (they're the Earth explorers) on their journey and we're treated to some fantastic footage. Even more impressive is the second set of footage, which represents what the explorers see once they get to Dourif's home planet. This is all material that was shot under water somewhere out in the Arctic. We see the divers descend through a hole in the ice cap and we follow them on their journey through some truly alien looking parts of the ocean floor. In short, this material is absolutely gorgeous. It doesn't always make sense in the context of the narrative but it doesn't matter because the visuals and Dourif's determined and completely lunatic narration carry the film.

So essentially what Herzog has done here is taken a bunch of really cool outer space footage and some even cooler underwater footage and spliced in clips of a berserker Brad Dourif in the middle to sort of tie it all together as a cautionary tale. While the script isn't always successful, the movie is always interesting thanks to some clever editing and a great lead performance. Dourif is really the only real actor used in the film, the rest of the people we see are actual scuba divers or NASA employees doing their thing, despite what Dourif's character tells us. It's all very odd and impenetrable to a certain extent in that it's quite likely the only person who really 'gets' this movie is Herzog, and even then there's no real proof of that. The whole thing is complete and utter bullshit, but it's beautifully made and Dourif is great. Whether or not this is all some sort of elaborate hoax on the part of the director or not is questionable, but if we are being fooled it's at least a very enjoyable experience. It's all set to some bizarre cello music courtesy of Ernst Reijsiger which alternates between tear-jerkingly beautiful and freakishly horrifying in tone.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Subversive Cinema presents The Wild Blue Yonder in a very strong 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Color reproduction is strong and there are no problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement. The newer Dourif footage is pretty much pristine while some of the archival material from the NASA footage shows some mild wear and tear. Overall, things do look quite good here.

The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track does a great job of reproducing the truly unseal score employed in the movie. Dialogue is clean and clear and free of any hiss or distortion and there are never any problems in the mix with the score or effects overpowering the performers. A 5.1 track would have been fun, but there's enough channel separation and really distinct clarity on this 2.0 track that it does the trick.

First up is a commentary track with Herzog and Dourif, moderated by Norman Hill. This is a pretty interesting track and it makes for a nice way to watch the movie during the long stretches of the film where there isn't much dialogue. As the discussion progresses, Herzog talks about how moved he is by much of the footage, what it was like working with NASA, how impressed he was that they made this footage available to him in the first place and how much he enjoyed Dourif's performance in the movie, which they shot in just one day. Dourif talks about his thoughts on space travel, what it was like working with Herzog and how he feels about the movie. Hill keeps the talk going at a good pace and there isn't much in the way of dead air here, which is nice to see. Herzog is rarely at a loss for words, and he does a pretty good job of explaining his intentions here, in that sort of roundabout Herzogian manner we all know and love. He also spends a fair bit of time talking about the score, which plays an important part in the overall effect of the movie.

From there we're treated to the first of three featurettes, which is a twenty-five minute on camera video interview with Werner. Here he gives us even more details about how he went about putting this project together, getting Dourif involved. This covers some of the same ground as the commentary did but the visual aspect of seeing Herzog talk about the project gives it some value and he does cover some different ground here as well. Dourif gets his shot next in a twenty-minute segment where he talks about his first project with Herzog and how when he got the call to reunite he jumped at the chance. He talks about his own interest in space travel and about the obvious environmental message in the film and how important it is. A third featurette that runs for twenty-five minutes or so covers the scoring of the film and features some footage of the musicians in action during the recording sessions and some input from Herzog along the way. Between these three featurettes and the commentary track, everything is covered in quite a bit of detail.

Rounding out the extra features are biographies for Dourif and Herzog, a trailer for the feature and for a few other Subversive DVD releases, animated menus and chapter stops. The keepcase fits inside a slipcase cover and when you open it up you'll find a replica of the film's theatrical poster inside.

The Final Word:

Few films have ever had an effect on the viewer that has been simultaneously baffling and beautiful like The Wild Blue Yonder. It doesn't always make sense but it's always compelling and like it or not, it will stick with you. It's an odd movie, a bit of a trip actually, but it's definitely worth seeing, particularly for seasoned fans of Herzog's filmography.