Quick note: I love this movie, and in no way do I think it’s bad (for the most part anyway). It’s on the BMGG list because most people I’ve talked to who have seen it think it’s pretty bad… so maybe this will help change that opinion!
The Fourth Kind was one of the standout movies of 2009 for me, having gone to see it on a date. I remember being so scared because the faux-documentary interviews looked so real and the wooded setting reminded me of the woods around my house. Alien movies haven’t always been on the top of my list for scares, but The Fourth Kind remains one of the only alien movies I prefer to watch in the daytime, which is funny because we don’t see any aliens at all. The thing that makes The Fourth Kind really shine is not just its docu-style, but how the filmmakers intertwined the dramatization and “real” footage; I don’t ever recall seeing that exact type of storytelling visual, or at least, not one that impacted me this much.
The premise of the story comes from real-life UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek’s classifications of alien encounters — the film based on the “fourth kind,” of course.
| CLASSIFICATION | DESCRIPTION |
| Nocturnal Lights | Lights in the night sky |
| Daylight Discs | UFOs seen in the daytime, generally having discoidal or oval shapes |
| Radar-Visual | UFO reports that have radar confirmation—these supposedly try to offer harder evidence that the objects are real, although radar propagation can be occasionally discredited due to atmospheric propagation anomalies |
| Close Encounters of the First Kind | Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, seemingly less than 500 feet (150 m) away, that show an appreciable angular extension and considerable detail |
| Close Encounters of the Second Kind | A UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace |
| Close Encounters of the Third Kind | A UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace |
| Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind | UFO event in which a human is abducted by a UFO or its occupants. NOTE: This type was not included in Hynek’s original close encounters scale. |
| Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind | UFO event that involves direct communication between aliens and humans. This type of close encounter was named by ufologist Steven M. Greer’s CSETI group and is described as bilateral contact experiences through conscious, voluntary, and proactive human-initiated cooperative communication with extraterrestrial intelligence |
| Close Encounters of the Sixth Kind | Death of a human or animal associated with a UFO sighting (though this could be considered a more severe example of a second-kind encounter). Channeling alien entities. Intrusion and parasitic attachment by extraterrestrial consciousness |
| Close Encounters of the Seventh Kind | The creation of a human/alien hybrid, either by sexual reproduction or by artificial scientific methods |
Right from the beginning, you know you’re in for a treat. Milla Jovovich warns the audience of what they are about to see, a dramatic retelling of an alien encounter with the “real life” archived footage to back it all up. She’s whirling around, adding a dizzying effect and throwing us right into the confusing and unnerving feeling that witnesses to extraterrestrials in action might have.
In fact, there are many times that the camerawork and effects majorly improve the storyline. The archived footage of course has some filter on it, making it look like it was filmed many years prior, and it often plays side-by-side with the dramatized video. This was my favorite part actually, because you can suspend belief more easily when one side of the screen is a clearly done by actors and the other looks like video footage we’ve seen on news programs, documentaries, and dash-cams. If Fourth Kind didn’t do this, I’m afraid we’d have a much less interesting film.
Unfortunately, I know why Fourth Kind gets a lot of flack. In 2009, people were getting a little tired of the “based on true events” trope. This one in particular is problematic in that it makes the real-life disappearances of Nome residents (and really, Alaska natives in general) seem like a joke. The disproportionately high number of Native American and First Nations people going missing is chalked up to aliens, instead of more likely, more solvable and preventable issues. Not only that, but compared to earlier found footage films, Fourth Kind just tried too hard trying to make something real in the information age. These reasons, along with a lack-luster plot reveal make this surprisingly ahead-of-its-time alien flick, just another alien flick.
That said, I think The Fourth Kind is way better than people give it credit for, and way more interesting than people like to say it is. The archived footage alone is watchable by itself, and paired with the dramatized portions, Fourth Kind is a straight banger and one I’d stop to watch any time.
You could say that I am biased because I believe in something other than Earthlings in this universe, I am an Ancient Aliens fan, and I related to the fear of the trees behind my house — but I like this movie for more than that. I can totally see why people don’t believe in aliens; they go against major religions, their existence makes humans an inferior lifeform, they are unseen by the vast majority of people, and their existence would make a worldwide government conspiracy to hide them super unlikely. Fourth Kind shifts that thought to be slightly more realistic. We have “real footage” that shows conspiracy-level events happening to citizens of a small town that are unexplainable without the presence of aliens.
Not only that, but I think it’s important to look at all aspects of a movie besides the obvious storyline. There’s a reason we give awards to things like cinematography, direction, costuming, hair and makeup, etc. The Fourth Kind does an excellent job at all of those. Setting the story in a remote Alaskan town instead of the overdone Nevada desert or bustling New York City is a certain step up for alien flicks. Countering the recognizable Jovovich, Elias Koteas, and Will Paton are relative unknowns (or lesser-knowns) that really sell the archived footage. The acting is fantastic and costuming/makeup as well; it’s not so easy to replicate time periods, actions, looks, and feelings as well as was done in Fourth Kind. I would put money on people absolutely thinking this was real, even today.
The Fourth Kind is not without faults. It is not a perfect movie. But it is a really good example of modern found footage, especially pertaining to aliens.
Did you like The Fourth Kind? What do you think of alien movies? Let us know in the comments!
