Editor Review :
Filmed in “found footage” style, EARTH TO ECHO is the story of a group of best friends who spend one last night together before they all move away: the homeowners in their Nevada subdivision are being bought out by the builders of a new Interstate (although the Interstate doesn’t appear to go anywhere or connect with anything) and they will soon all be moving to different parts of the country. Tuck (Astro Bradley) is a techie who is constantly filming his life. Not too long before their last night together the kids figure out that a glitch in the cell phone network is actually a signal of some sort and decide they will spend their last night together investigating the source. This leads them about 20 miles into the desert where they discover a small robotic alien that they name Echo. Echo wants to get home and needs to repair his ship, but he’s very weak. After some debate, the boys decide to help him. Thus begins their long journey into the most memorable night of their lives.EARTH TO ECHO is a very family friendly movie. The language is fairly clean (there are a few mild swears), there is no nudity, and no real violence. The main message is about the importance of friendship and keeping true to one’s word.
Despite the good things going for it, EARTH TO ECHO suffers to find its own voice. The movie has heavy undertones of a few 1980s movies, such as E.T. and THE GOONIES (even Echo seems to have been inspired by Bupo from CLASH OF THE TITANS) and never rises above those references to really become something original. Instead, it just feels like a heavily referenced re-tread.
Also, even though Echo is the title character, Echo isn’t seen in EARTH TO ECHO very much. The first half of the movie he’s not even on screen, but even after his character is introduced, he spends most of the time hidden away in a backpack.
Other than Echo, the thing I liked most about EARTH TO ECHO was seeing Jason Gray-Stanford. Gray-Stanford played Randy Disher on MONK and I always liked him in that show. It was good to see him on screen again.
Overall, EARTH TO ECHO is a family-friendly found-footage movie (outside of a few words) about a small robotic alien lost on Earth and a group of friends trying to help him. It has some positive messages to convey about friendship and keeping one’s word. The movie is also full of references to several 1980s movies. However, the film is weighted down by the stories it references and lacks freshness and originality. EARTH TO ECHO is a movie kids will probably enjoy seeing, but probably isn’t one they will be requesting to view over and over again.
- Actors: Teo Halm, Astro, Reese Hartwig
- Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, Color, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English (DTS 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Dubbed: Spanish
- Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- DVD Release Date: October 21, 2014
- Run Time: 90 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
