The Aurora Encounter (1986)

Beautiful, moving film.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

HUGE SPOILER...It was sweet that they gave the central character, the actor Micky Hayes, the part. He was good considering the rest of the garbage that surrounds him, except Jack Elam...the only highlight of the film. You know by seeing him that he is the boy that made the talk show circuit back in the eighties when they tried bringing attention to his disease. They say he got the role through Make a Wish...which makes me wonder if they wrote the part for him. But, as I said, aside from all this and Jack Elam, the movie was horrible. The acting was way sub par. The audio kept dropping out and the special effects were despicable. Hard to believe the teacher is really flying her bike/airplane when you see that cable hoister her into the air, not to mention the numerous cables hoisting up the spaceship. I know this was before digital painting...but these were so obvious...no doubt hoping your imagination would erase them. Didn't work for me. I am a HUGE sci fi fan, but this is the kind of movie that gives sci fi a bas rap. Don't waste your time...even those horrible B movies out there are eons ahead of this. The Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman looks like Shakespeare compared to this little...gem. Speaking of Gem's, the little alien leaves these baseball sized jewels around when he gets out of his space ship. That's how you call him, so the school teacher takes apart a hurricane lamp that has those little prism teardrops on it, hands them out to the towns people, and there is the whole town holding up these little things hoping to call him...only to get shot by another bad actor. Even Dottie West, God rest her soul, should have stuck to singing, not acting. You can almost see everybody looking at the filming crew waiting for the instructions on what to do next. Like I said....wow.

This movie appears to try and cash in on the success of "E. T." by telling the story of a (supposedly true) occurrence in Texas almost a century earlier. A little alien lands near a Texas town and befriends many of the locals. Unfortunately his arrival attracts the attention of a few of the wrong people, and things go downhill from there.The story of "E. T.", retold in a time when there was no 20th century technology to work with - not to mention no Reese's Pieces with which to lure anyone out of the woods - could have made for a most interesting movie. Unfortunately, this feature is woefully slow-paced, and the ending is very much a downer. If the story is in fact true, the writers might have been forgiven for taking a little artistic license to pick up the pace a little and keep the audience's attention. The scenes of the alien's interaction with the townspeople (most notably Jack Elam's character) have some magic to them, but the film as a whole just never quite comes together.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie - I would like to give some history on this movie - it was not, as some may believe, and exploitation of a sick child, rather it was the granting of a dying wish of a child, Mickey Hays, to be a movie star. For that reason alone, I applaud this movie, and as hokey as it is, I enjoyed the positive message of the little alien coming to Earth and interacting with the citizens (and animals) of Aurora, Texas. Even though it has a sad ending, it also had many laughs, and several positive messages.

I was only 11 years old when I saw this movie in the theatre, and it remains the only movie I've ever walked out of. You would think that aliens flying around in spaceships would entertain a young boy, but I was bored to death. Terrible acting, no intrigue, painful acting. I almost want to see it again just to confirm its awfulness.