In this followup to "Chariots of the Gods", William Shatner interviews NASA scientists and charlatan mystics alike in an effort to prove that extraterrestrials visited Earth in ancient times, and will soon return. Of course, they still haven't come back, have they? Oh, well...there's always 2012! "Chariots", while ridiculous in its own right, at least boasted impressive footage of the Great Pyramid, Easter Island, and Sacsayhuaman. But aside from some interesting, all-too-brief shots of the enigmatic ruins of Nan Madol in Micronesia (Nan Madol became part of the official pantheon of ancient astronaut sites upon publication of "The Gold of the Gods", Erich von Däniken's third book, in 1973), "Mysteries of the Gods" doesn't have much to offer except unintentional humor. One could almost feel sorry for the profoundly muddled Anna Mitchell-Hedges--possessor of the Lubaantun crystal skull--during her interview with Shatner, if not for the fact that she shamelessly sought publicity for so many years but refused to submit the skull to further scientific testing after initial investigations cast doubt upon the artifact's supposed mystical origins. Director Harald Reinl saves the most hilariously awful moment for last: a solemn prediction from famed "psychic" Jeane Dixon that visitors from other worlds will soon land on Earth. At first she gives a target date of August 1977 but, when Shatner presses her on this point, Dixon grows increasingly vague...so vague that Reinl finally settles for cutting her off in mid-sentence ("I think it will be August, I could be off a little in my timing either way, but it will be--") with a dramatic echo and a freeze-frame shot. Yes, Jeane, "it will be". Avoid this dreary time-waster.
Review of Mysteries of the Gods
