Crop Circles Explained (2002)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Published by Multimedia 2000

Features:

• None
  

Rating: NR, suitable for most audiences

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Borrow it.

With Mel Gibson and M. Night Shyamalan making a killing with Signs at the box office, it was only natural to expect the long-ignored and scoffed-at researchers in the crop circle world to jump up and try to capitalize on the interest. Multimedia 2000 is first and foremost on the scene with their DVD Crop Circles Explained, ostensibly a companion volume to their video Crop Circles & Signs. In this documentary, the specifics of crop circle formation are explored in great detail.

Covering all aspects of the crop circle phenomenon from their unusual (and uncannily precise) geometrical design to the bizarre scientifically-observed side effects within the area covered by a crop circle, the documentary is reasonably exhaustive in its presentation of evidence. The conclusions drawn from the evidence is another matter entirely, however. Full of leapt-to conclusions and large gaps in logic, Crop Circles Explained provides all the necessary ammunition that believers need to validate their own theories, but also provides all the necessary ammunition that skeptics need to shoot them down. Anybody that's clocked their time in an intro to logic class could pick this disc's arguments apart in their sleep, and no credible scientist would be willing to stake their academic reputation on being associated with such shoddy conclusions. This is a shame, because I'd really love to see what came of credible scientists seriously investigating the phenomenon of crop circles.

The disc does provide a dizzying array of footage of the circles, and some interesting data collected in the study of them, though. If one can listen to the data objectively, and then tune out the sweeping conclusions and leaps in logic made subsequently, the program is remarkably informative and enjoyable. Particularly when coupled with Crop Circles & Signs, this disc makes an excellent addition to any fan of fringe science and alien visitation theories.

On the whole, however, the production values are a bit lacking. Footage is often grainy, and equally often culled from somebody's home video camera, rather than shot with professional equipment. Color balance is screwy in spots, and the decision-making on the part of the cinematographer is sometimes suspect. Shooting his subjects with their backs to the sun makes for bad segments, as does the habit of swiveling the camera towards the sun at every available opportunity in exterior shots. Some elementary direction of photography would have been nice to lend the whole thing a more professional feel.

Basically, if crammed on to one disc with the other M2K offering on crop circles, it would be a great resource for enthusiasts and newcomers alike, and might even entertain a skeptic for a while. Standing on its own, however, the program isn't particularly strong. The complete lack of extras doesn't help. Some galleries of still photos taken of circles, or of the unusual symptoms left behind in the wake of a circle, would have made for a worthy feature, particularly since you don't get long lingering shots of the formations during the documentary.