As one of the cinema's most enigmatic visionaries, Werner Herzog has a strange knack for getting things right, even when he gets them wrong. This is apparent in The Wild, Blue Yonder, a film which should by all means fail miserably. The film is comprised of stock footage of astronauts during training and in space set to the bizarre narration of Brad Dourif as an alien from another galaxy who has taken up residence on earth. Dourif spouts off an incredible mythology of his alien race's journey to earth and human's attempts to reach his planet over a galaxy away. As usual, Herzog has a preternatural ability to transform ordinary and mundane footage into captivating and symbolic echoes. However, the film leaves me wondering why. Dourif's alien swings from translucent awe at the universe and mankind to unbridled anger and contempt for the exact same thing. In the end, his mood swings expunge the gravity of his words and transform Dourif into a rambling mouthpiece. It's a beautiful film by all means. In fact, it may be the closest that we will ever get to seeing a Herzog film shot in space. But it remains a puzzling, and ultimately meaningless, exploration of the universe.
6/10
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