User Reviews

Shot in Newnan, GA* - look for a scene outside Stone Mountain - Uno sceriffo extraterrestre... poco extra e molto terrestre (An extraterrestrial sheriff... a little extraterrestrial and very terrestrial) is exactly what I want out of the movies that I watch. I got more enjoyment out of this film than probably anything new that I will watch this year. What can I say? Movies where Bud Spencer punches people and Oliver Onions are on the soundtrack are my true joy in life.

Directed by Michele Lupo (The Weekend Murders, Arizona Colt) and written by Marcello Fondato (Blood and Black Lace) and Francesco Scardamaglia (Kill Them All and Come Back Alone), this starts as the town sees a UFO touch down, which means that everyone loses their mind. Everyone but Sheriff Hall (Spencer), who doesn't believe in aliens. So let crooks like Brennan (boxing champ Joe Bugner) use aliens to try and break the law. The big burly Sheriff will keep things normal.

Until later that night, when he gets the call to save a lost kid at Six Flags Over Georgia. He easily finds him but also finds another who calls himself H7-25. He's played by Cary Guffey, who was Barry, the little boy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And this is also why I love Italian cinema, because they put him on the poster and can make it seem like this movie is connected in some way to that blockbuster.

H7-25 convinces Hall that he's an alien by healing his deputy's rheumatism, repeatedly saving him with his alien weapon and even blasting him with enough bio-magnetic energy that he can catch gigantic fish and speak with horses. He returns the friendship by teaching H7-25 the wonders of baked beans. Yes, it really is a Bud Spencer movie.

At the same time, Air Force man Briggs (Raimund Harmstorf) is trying to take in H7-25 for dissection. Even Brennan ends up helping the sheriff and the alien escape. By the end, the alien child likes Earth so much that he decides to stay for a little longer, which would be the sequel, Everything Happens to Me, which is a lot like Stranger Things and was made 36 years before it.

*Georgia is also the home of so many wonderful Italian movies. The Last Shark, The Visitor, Cannibal Apocalypse, City of the Living Dead and Madhouse.

The Bud Spencer marathon continues also into the new years and here we have "Uno sceriffo extraterrestre... poco extra e molto terrestre" or "The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid" or "Der Große mit seinem außerirdischen Kleinen". Actually, it makes almost more sense to give the German title here than then English one because this one here on imdb does not even state USA or something and Spencer has been an icon in Germany for decades anyway, even if this is in the original of course again an Italian(-language) film. This one also won a Golden Screen here in my country, the awards for movies that really attract gigantic audiences to theaters. Not sure it still exists, but back then it did and Spencer managed this award so many times with his films. This is from 1979, so it is already over 40 years old, maybe closer to 50 even depending on when you read my review. This one here has a really long title. A long title for a not so long movie as it stays minimally under the 1.5-hour mark. The "..." are not too unusual for Spencer movies (some of them with Hill too), although frequently you find these at the beginning of the title as I have found out in recent weeks. These "..." are not taken over to German or international titles though. It's just too uncommon, maybe more of a thing in Italy. Like several other Spencer movies, this one is also set in America, which may explain occasional use of the English language here. At least in the original. It is not said where exactly though. But it does not matter anyway. The director is Michele Lupo and he worked with Spencer on several occasions. Sadly he died at a relatively young age already. But then again, at that point he had not directed a film in almost a decade (according to imdb), so probably no other Spencer films would have been added. The writers are Fondato and Scardamaglia. Cannot say too much about those, except that they worked together on other occasions too and also on other Spencer movies and this trio (the two writers and director) was also in charge of the later Spencer film "Bomber" and this was the final directorial effort for Lupo, even if he lived for a few more years afterwards as I stated already. So yeah, you can see from the image already that this is about science fiction partially. Ot was definitely a thing back then. Cary Guffey, the child actor in here, had previously acted in Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". "Star Wars" happened two years earlier and "E.T." was also not too far away anymore. And there are more examples of course. I shall leave it at that. As I said in the title of my review, science fiction was really nothing Spencer had specialized in at that point, but it was a big thing back then and so they gave it a try. Of course, Spencer stays human. No need for him to be an alien as he possesses superhuman power anyway. Just look at how long they need to get him down with this arrow that results in him falling asleep. I shall get to the story later on. The kid on the right is the alien in this movie by the way and he is close to a co-lead to Spencer here too. And a child of course means that this is more of a family movie too than most of the other stuff Spencer did. No serious scenes at all in here. Maybe the closest is when the bad guys are all standing there lined up and ready to shoot the kid. That was one of the more "disturbing" moments. Another one would be around the 14-minute mark when Spencer's character talks about a power outage in the most metaphoric way. I will not post here what it was he said, but boy I am so glad political correctness was not a thing back then. I am sure many snowflakes are upset when they watch this film in the now for the first time.

Alright, as for the story, I will do some brainstorming as usual. Just mentioned a scene already and Spencer's character Hall managed to free himself quickly afterwards and also he takes over as the pilot of the plane or helicopter they are in. No surprise here. Spencer/Pedersoli was a passionate aviator and pilot himself in real life. There are several funny scenes in this movie. Impossible to mention them all. Maybe my number one favorite was the moment when they are inside this supermarket and the main bad guy is literally stomped to the ground by Spencer and his fist. Big surprise he is never injured or anything. That one is played by Raimund Harmstorf by the way, a North German actor who showed up in many Bud Spencer films and pretty much every single time as the bad guy, even if here he is a high-profile member of the military. Sadly, Harmstorf also did not grow really old either. But I like him. He is fun. Physically really strong, but nonetheless always inferior to Spencer. Still, in reality, neither Spencer nor Harmstorf have anything on Mr. Joe Bugner, a world class boxer who fought Ali during his prime and he was not even 30 when this film came out and even younger when it was made, even if he looks older. He played in several Spencer movies. Here, for once, he was not an entirely bad guy. Like he is in jail and the scene when Spencer's character enters the prison cell to give him his food and is immediately attacked, but puts Bugner's character in his place quickly, is really fun too. One of the best, also with the reaction from the other officer there. Yep, Spencer plays a sheriff in here, but it's not super important. As for Bugner, he is a clumsy petty criminal, who occasionally takes a punch too, but can also hit really hard as we see in the second half. He may not be as clueless and useless as he seemed early on when he joins forces with Hall and they fight those soldiers. Bugner's face expression, however, is almost in a way where he does not know himself why all of a sudden he is one of the good guys. Kinda funny. He is still alive by the way and at 70 not even that old, even if many boxers have died really early too sadly for all kinds of reasons. Bugner always reminds me a bit physically of Poelvoorde, well a buff version of Poelvoorde. The face fits. On a completely different note, way into the second half already, the scene when Spencer's character frees the little boy and makes fun of the bad guy was also nice, but also the latter's helpers afterwards when they seem really dumb and ask if they should follow the man, the boy or get the really important item that was taken away from a dog if I remember correctly. Anyway, at the very end, there is also a moment when Spencer acts scared as he realizes the kid is still in his car (okay, the alien I should say), but the item is back in space, so they don't need to be worried that anybody will chase them down. Oh well, right, who cares if an alien is around. But they kinda fixed that idea with the sequel that followed really quickly where the two are still on the run from the military, but also take on a new, probably more dangerous enemy. But I reviewed said sequel on another occasion. As for this one here, I liked the watch. It was certainly worth seeing and no hesitation for me in giving this one a thumbs-up. Another funny scene was when they included this really weak guy punching Harmstorf's character and the latter is all cocky and arrogant, but the small guy can hit and the little alien boy using his rewind power does not amke things any better there for the bad guy. Another fun moment. By the way, a bit ironic how we have a scene here with Spencer's character talking to a horse (and the horse talking back) and over ten years later, Terence Hill was in a film where the narrator was a horse. So even if these two legends (you can call them that here in Germany) are not united in this film we have here from over 40 years ago, they still share the most unlikely parallels in their movies. A match made in heaven from every perspective really. But I am drifting a bit away now. Overall, a positive recommendation and it was also funny how literally everybody was going crazy about the alien invasion, but Spencer plays a character of course who is all calm and relaxed as usual. Also fairly hilarious how at the beginning they talk as if he is some big gigantic alien because of how strong he is. So this is a fun film in terms of the key plot, no matter how absurd it may be, but also during many small moments. Really nice attention to detail here and who knows, maybe once I give this a rewatch, I will perhaps even think about adding another one or two stars because the longer it went, the better and more hilarious it got. Not that it was weak at the beginning. Not at all. For now, 3 out of 5 seems fine. Go see it! Also this is probably the only movie where a character is capable of eating more than a character played by Bud Spencer. A total anomaly. Takes an extraterrestrial for that. A really cute one by the way. That's all. Happy new year!

That movie is the first one that I can remember seeing at the theater. I must have been a five y-o or something then, and the other day when I watched it on DVD, I could reminisce all those souvenirs that film brought me. Relive the innocent moments of the child's magic remote control, those fights between the sheriff and the marines, all those comedic punches and slaps in the faces...

The movie is also quite heart warming as well. I mean here, Bud Spencer is not only a fighter, he's someone who decides to take care of a stranded alien kid on earth. It is mainly a friendship story between an adult and a child that is sure to delight people of my generation.