It’s still unbelievable that David Bowie is no longer with us. Luckily, his artistic legacy lives on in his work — including one of the greatest science fiction movies ever, The Man Who Fell to Earth. The 1976 Nicholas Roeg film, starring Bowie as an alien in his first big-screen role, marks its 40th anniversary this year with exciting fanfare.
On September 9, the film will be re-released in the UK, and the film’s soundtrack will get its first release since 1976, thanks to a master tape going missing long ago that’s since been recovered. It contains no Bowie songs — the composers were Stomy Yamashta and the Mamas & the Papas’ John Phillips — but the film had enough music to fill a two-disc set. And that’s not all, as NME explains:
The 2CD version features Louis Armstrong’s song ‘Blueberry Hill’ as well as music by The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Kingston Trio, trumpeter Robert Farnon and John Phillips’ then-wife Genevieve Waite.
Then, on October 24, a DVD reissue of The Man Who Fell to Earth will go on sale. Finally, on November 18, there’ll be a vinyl version of the soundtrack for hardcore collectors, per NME:
A double-vinyl version features Yamashta and Phillips’ songs but omits the other music. A box-set features both the vinyl and CD with a reproduction of the original film poster plus a 48-page book featuring an essay by journalist Paolo Hewitt and an interview with the film’s editor, Graeme Clifford.
Unfortunately the film restoration has not been announced for an Australian release, so for now Australians can only cross our fingers and hope. Sounds like it will be worth the wait though, according to Bowie’s official site:
Restored by Deluxe London, the restoration of The Man Who Fell To Earth is based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, followed by a full 4K workflow, with the approval of cinematographer Anthony Richmond and with the blessing of Nic Roeg.
Here’s an intensely gorgeous trailer for the restored version of the film.