IMDb RATING
6.8/10
5.9K
YOUR RATING
A mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.A mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.A mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
5.9K
YOUR RATING
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination
Renn Woods
- Berniceas Bernice
- (as Ren Woods)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
The Brother is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth, in New York City. While mute, strongly empathic, and able to fix things, he resembles a Black man with strange feet. His attempt to make a place for himself in Harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the United States. Meanwhile, two bounty hunters from the Brother's home planet arrive and try to capture him. —Reid Gagle
- Taglines
- Welcome to a world of crude beauty... of danger and excitement... of wonders, legend, and imagination... Welcome to Harlem, Brother.
- Genres
- Certificate
- 16
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe entrance and exit scenes of the Men in Black's first appearance in the bar were filmed entirely in reverse with the camera upside down, according to director John Sayles' commentary on the restored print. The two men started on the bar stools, then backed out of the room for the entrance; while the exit was filmed with the two outside the bar and backing into it, including David Strathairn replacing the cookies in the cookie bowl.
- GoofsAfter Little Earl takes off his band-aid, and The Brother heals his knee, the band-aid reappears where his cut was.
Top review
Intelligent, Heartfelt & Beautiful - It's Not What You'd Expect
A very intelligent and heartwarming movie. Sure it has it's comical moments but I could hardly laugh because I kept feeling sorry for the mute alien - he had no idea what was happening sometimes but he does learn fast. The movie is funny yet sad at the same time.
Example of what I mean by funny yet sad: He's hungry and grabs a pear to eat, the store clerk gets upset grabs the pear from him and fusses at him, she then waits on a customer, the aliens see that money was handed to the cashier for pears, so the alien ends up opening the cash register to get money to give to the cashier for some pears. Of course she thinks he was stealing and all he tried to do was to give her money for pears. That's funny but it's also very sad to me... he was hungry and but didn't have a clue about money.
During the whole course of the film, my heart kept going out to our mute alien. Sure I got some giggle from the movie but I kept feeling sorry for him - like I wanted to grab him and teach him things from our planet and to protect him. LOL.
This is a good movie with some comical moments, some very sad moments and, I guess you can say, a lesson to teach us about our own society (from immigration to drugs).
7/10
Example of what I mean by funny yet sad: He's hungry and grabs a pear to eat, the store clerk gets upset grabs the pear from him and fusses at him, she then waits on a customer, the aliens see that money was handed to the cashier for pears, so the alien ends up opening the cash register to get money to give to the cashier for some pears. Of course she thinks he was stealing and all he tried to do was to give her money for pears. That's funny but it's also very sad to me... he was hungry and but didn't have a clue about money.
During the whole course of the film, my heart kept going out to our mute alien. Sure I got some giggle from the movie but I kept feeling sorry for him - like I wanted to grab him and teach him things from our planet and to protect him. LOL.
This is a good movie with some comical moments, some very sad moments and, I guess you can say, a lesson to teach us about our own society (from immigration to drugs).
7/10
helpful•20
- Rainey-Dawn
- Nov 12, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Der Typ vom anderen Stern
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $350,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,677,209
- Gross worldwide
- $3,677,209
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Top Gap
By what name was The Brother from Another Planet (1984) officially released in Canada in English?
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