Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers (2018) User Reviews

Could have been much better

[MoDo12 · 6/10 · 29 December 2018]

I've seen/heard every Lazar interview since 89 so clearly I was anticipating this greatly. First thing I have to address is why the producer seemed to make it about him? This is supposed to be about Bob Lazar. Major screw up right there.

Also, the core story wasn't even told (for those saying this is great for people that know nothing of the subject - it failed to educate the new generation who will now to be forced to youtube find old footage to get the whole story when it could have been done here, and then updated)

Sad to say that this is just another Lazar "documentary" which isn't even the best one. Bluebook films did one back in the early 2000's that is better and one of the UFO shows from the same era also did a better one than this - both are free on youtube.

Awful narrator

[moore-ana · 5/10 · 21 June 2019]

Mickey Rourke as the narrator was probably the worst choice made. Such an interesting story but not reflected in this documentary

Corbell vanity fest

[advisoryx · 5/10 · 14 July 2019]

Interesting story, Lazar is fascinating. But the documentary is edited horribly with painfully Corby narration. The director has awful sections of himself pretending to perform real time phone calls (the doc starts with slo mo footage of himself in flashing pink light...). In one scene, Bob goes into great detail about how the gravity thrusters work, corbell follows up with "so this is an alien ship?"... Great extra insight there

Style over substance and the style isn´t very good

[fido23 · 17 December 2018]

Again this is everything you expect from a Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell production: Lots of archive archive footage and a few interviews that hype how awesome the subject is (in this case Bob Lazar) but have no new information whatsoever. What distinguishes this from a 15 minutes clip on Youtube is that this is augmented with lengthy introduction scenes, glitch vfx and "mysterious music" . I felt especially annoyed by the reenacted phone / sms scenes that just went on too long and you could tell it is an attempt to stretch this to feature film length. To me around 80% felt as "filler". Only thing worthwhile are the recent interviews with Bob Lazar even tho they just repeat what he already talked about before.

A must watch - but a poor one.

[akworley-684-675592 · 6/10 · 24 December 2018]

First, this is a must watch for anyone who isn't aware of Bob Lazar or the story of Area 51. There's important information exposed that will leave you with questions, and maybe some answers.

However, the style of the documentary is a big letdown and distracts from the content and overall quality. Too many poorly done effects and phone calls that appear (although probably are not) staged. The documentary has a cheap, cheesy and almost sales-pitch like feel to it at times, which makes the story seem less genuine.

I'd still suggest watching this, but overall it suffers from trying too hard in the wrong areas.

For a believer it's interesting to watch.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 23 December 2018]

I'm just going to rate this documentary for the story it tells about Bob Lazar's life from the moment he came out with the alien story until thirty years later. Other reviewers gave some very negative ratings whilst I don't think that was justified. If a story about Bob Lazar is told by Bob Lazar himself I find that interesting rather than boring. Before even watching a documentary about aliens eveybody already has an opinion wether they believe or not that there is extraterrestrial life. So if you're believer you will believe everything Bob Lazar tells, and if you're a non-believer you will think he's a scam. Personally I'm a believer, as I once experienced an UFO sighting for myself, so there is no doubt in my mind that there is life out there. That governments would keep this information secret, especially the USA, is absolutely normal as the whole economy of that country relies on fossil resources and weapons. Remove wars and oil from the American economy and the whole system crashes. So of course they won't tell you about a spaceship that doesn't need fuel as that would destroy their own system. The documentary is far from perfect though. The narrator Mickey Rourke is unpleasant to listen to, but luckily he doesn't have a major part in this documentary. The film maker is also a bit boring to watch so that's a second bad thing about this documentary. But the explanations and interviews with Bob Lazar are very interesting and even for someone who doesn't understand that matter it's still explained so that everyone could understand. Bob Lazar as the alien whistle blower, deserves respect, just for telling the truth and that after being harassed and watched for his entire life. The fact that his house has been raided by every possible agency tells enough about him telling the truth. They wouldn't do all that fuzz for a liar. Just leave the guy alone and tell the world the truth.

Really needed a better documentary maker.

[Mex5150 · 4/10 · 31 December 2018]

Really interesting topic, but sadly the documentary maker doesn't have the first idea on how to make a good documentary, he seems more interested in appearing on screen himself, than asking relevant questions, following interesting avenues, or even just letting the story tell itself. There is almost nothing here that people who know the Bob Lazar story won't already be familiar with, but for anybody new to the subject, it is an OK (if rather one-sided) introduction.

It is about the man

[mingsphinx · 7/10 · 16 December 2018]

Some parts of the documentary were cheesy. Was there really a need for the filmmaker to express his ignorance by trying to show depth in prognosticating about the nature of reality? And production value was low as we are made to watch the director and the producer have extended telephone conversations about Bob Lazar.

That said, this documentary does feature current interviews with Bob Lazar and allows you the viewer to come to your own conclusions about the man. And the whole point of making this film was to allow viewers to judge for themselves what kind of person Bob Lazar is. He does not come across as one of those self promoting UFO types who will soak up every last drop of attention the rest of the world offers them. Instead, Lazar is presented as someone who might be your nerdy uncle - a little eccentric perhaps but otherwise like everyone else.

There were no hard questions asked in this film. For instance, Lazar says he attended MIT and Cal Tech but cannot name a single person whom he went to class with or who taught him nor has anyone stepped forward to say they remember him from his time there. The filmmakers did proffer some support by saying that they interviewed people who say that they dropped off Lazar at these institutions and makes the point that if these people were telling the truth, then either Lazar went to MIT and Cal Tech or was making one hell of a show of it. Lazar also stuck to his story in the face of a criminal conviction even though both MIT and Cal Tech have gone on record stating that Lazar never attended.

While it is possible that Lazar was ghosted in order to discredit him, it is still very odd that no one who attended MIT or Cal Tech can corroborate his claim. The point was gently raised but Lazar was never challenged and was instead allowed to brush aside the issue by asserting that the importance of what he had to reveal about Area 51 has nothing to do with his academic credentials. Lazar must have had his conditions before agreeing to the interview, not answering questions that might have been uncomfortable could have been one.

Is Robert Lazar telling the truth about aliens in S4 of Area 51? While he does not seem to be a conman, at least not one who has made a nice bundle from peddling his story, not everything he says is logically consistent. For instance, he tells us that the state of physics today does not understand how gravity is generated, which is true; and yet later in the film he goes on to speculate how the alien technology he purportedly studied uses a gravitational field to create propulsion. Does Bob Lazar know something about gravity that the best minds do not?

If you are looking for more tidbits about what Bob Lazar had to say about Area 51 then there is nothing new here. In fact, the same old footage from 1989 is used to tell viewers what he had to say. What is new is that this is a current interview of Bob Lazar and it is the closest most of us will ever get to knowing the man.

Will be used by students as an example of how not to...

[paulkierley · 1/10 · 5 July 2019]

Shaky cam. Out of focus. Oversaturated colours. Mickey Rourke mumbling fresh out of a presumably rehab or a stroke clinic prattling on some beatnik stoner philosophy. Not so much a documentary but a social experiment that Netflix is probably running to see how many will make it to the end credits.

Go watch the Joe Rogan podcast with Bob Lazar instead.

It's not about new evidence, it's about (vindicating) Bob Lazar.

[blackacid · 6/10 · 6 January 2019]

I agree with some of the user criticisms of this film but I think these 1/10 scores are ridiculous. What did you expect? For Bob Lazar to pull a chunk of Element 115 out of his arse?

You have to go into this movie without expectations, which unfortunately are rife in the UFO community desperate for a smoking gun. It's simply a look at Lazar (a man who was harassed, bullied and discredited for speaking his truth) 30 years on to see who he is now, what he's up to and how he feels about coming forward in hindsight.

On that level it succeeds and shows a clearly honest man whose life was irrevocably changed for doing what he thought was for the good of humanity.

Maybe there is a little too much style over substance, but ultimately it's great to see Lazar in an intimate setting with close family offering their support and character testimony, and the ensuing raid by every government agency ever (a reaction to his taking part in this documentary), pretty much vindicates the guy.

It's no smoking gun but it's worth a watch.

Production Value Zero

[garretgray-668-282691 · 1/10 · 24 June 2019]

Turned it off soon after the guy talking by the indoor pool, the echo was so distracting and unprofessional that I'm shocked Netflix distributed this. If that's the best audio they got, they should've left it out or gone back to re-do the interview. The fact they left it in speaks to the shabbiness of the entire film.

Too much to ignore

[diaballistical · 9/10 · 21 December 2018]

For about three decades nobody has tripped Bob Lazar up. He's been through the ringer. When I watched this documentary, I felt he was being truthful. The important part about this film is not the production quality or the special effects, or background music, it's whether you believe Bob Lazar or not. I do.

I'm a skeptic, but...

[dcoydcoy · 7/10 · 30 June 2019]

I happen to know the daughter of an Air Force Colonel, who for 10 years was assigned to project blue book. We all know that blue book was an actual division of the Air Force, assembled to investigate UFO claims. Some say we still investigate even though the project was terminated decades ago. Now, according to this woman, her father claimed that without disclosing top secret intel, that without any doubt and with 100% certainty, we have had visitors from other worlds here on earth. A Colonel is just under a general. Which means he held a command position and was cleared with confidential information. This testimony of course is not proof. But when told something with such conviction and certainty, and there's nothing to gain by disclosing this information? Well it leaves a skeptic like me, very close to convinced. After all, there are 200 billion solar systems in our galaxy, with 2 trillion galaxies in the universe. The odds of there being life out there? Billions to 1

Hate this Director..

[eskimosound · 1/10 · 21 December 2018]

This Jeremy guy is a fraud. All his documentaries are about him.. Bob Lazar is amazing, his story is great and compelling.... This director just wrecks the whole thing. It's totally worthless, he asks the same 5 questions over and over whilst using a load of old footage intercut with him stroking his dirty beard. Someone needs to wake this Jeremy guy up and tell him that documentary film making is about investigating facts rather than just smoking a spliff and making a movie on your iPhone to pay for more tattoos... Bad, bad, bad documentary.

The story is true, but this is poor

[joninoxford · 6/10 · 24 June 2019]

I am a passionate believer in Bob Lazar, he seems such a down to earth, likeable guy. But this documentary is poor. When Bob is telling us what happened, cartoons and clips from the 1950's space race are spliced in every few seconds, as if Bob's information is not interesting enough on its own. Frustrating. Just let the man tell his story. And far too much of the hipster director talking on his phone. We just need 2 hours of Bob and his story.

Love Bob, Jeremy is terrible.

[foreverzerof · 6/10 · 28 September 2019]

Bobs story is so incredibly interesting and I want to hear more... from Bob. Every question Jeremy asks is infuriatingly irrelevant and kills Bobs momentum. He keeps cutting away from bob telling his story to do a David Lynch style series of fast cut scenes of random stuff to be "weird" which are very annoying and pointless. Then puts a voice over the cut scenes of someone literally saying Artsy nonsense that means nothing at all. He is trying so hard to make the documentary "interesting and weird" where if he just didn't do any of that it would have been way more interesting, he is trying way too hard. He also clearly thinks very highly of himself and almost makes this film so he can be in it, rather than to share the story. Bob Lazars story is amazing and I have dove deep Into it, but Jeremy needs to take a step back and realize who the subject is. And who uses two middle names? Seriously.

Ugh

[markanthonypowell · 4/10 · 12 July 2019]

1. 5 minutes of director playing with phone 2. Old footage 3. George Knapp at a swimming pool. This is just the first 10 minutes. Want more substance? Listen to Joe Rogans interview of Bob.

garbage

[iamtheonewhoknockss · 23 June 2019]

Unwatchable garbage. They don't say anything of substance. You literally get no information. Had to turn it off after 20-ish minutes.

Has merit

[brett-76260 · 7/10 · 19 September 2020]

The movie has merit and I do believe Bob Lazar. I think the movie is worth watching and is quite insightful. The thing that i cant stand about this movie is the director Jeremy. Holy crap this guy is annoying as can be and he spent more time filming himself than he did bob lazar. He had one shot to tell bobs story and he spent half the time talking on the phone trying to look important or relevant. Tell Bobs story ya dingus and stay out of it. Not only couldn't you shut up in the movie, you couldn't keep your pie hole shut on joe rogan when he was interviewing Bob. If you can get past Jeremy in the movie, it is quite interesting. Worth watching even with "look at me Jeremy". Bob Lazar YES!!! Annoying jeremy NO!!!!

Lazar is secondary in his own story.

[jmjoneill-43100 · 2/10 · 25 June 2019]

At the beginning of this Documentary, narrator Mickey Rourke says "we are the not the stars of our own movie". Unfortunately no one mentioned this to Director/Producer Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell as his presence permeates this movie which is meant to be focused on another man, Bob Lazar.

Like many others, I came to this film after watching Lazar's interview with Joe Rogan. He struck me as an intelligent man and a credible source of information. I am not one to dispute what he perceives to be fact, on the contrary I am ready to believe him. It is such a shame then that his story is mishandled in this plodding and frustrating feature. An oppressive synthpop score follows this movie throughout, lending it the feeling of a YouTube video essay. Personal testimony loses its gravitas as Corbell leaves his leading questioning in the scene, removing any sense of serendipity. The narration littered across the run time is reminiscent of a teenagers attempt at a Terrence Malick homage.

There is a huge opportunity missed here to present Bob Lazar as patient zero for the wonder surrounding Area 51. Instead we are presented with a random assortment of interviews and found footage as we meander through an hour and a half of scattered information.

Corbell has brought very little to this story. He wasn't the person who worked with alien artefacts. He wasn't the investagitive journalist who took a risk on airing the interview, or who researched Lazar's background. By all accounts it seems that Corbell has only brought confusion to a narrative that should be simple. Namely that alien technology exists and the American government is hiding it from the world with the goal of weaponising it for their own gain.

Thankfully we have a readily available interview in which Bob Lazar is given the space to recount his story in a structurally sound way. I suggest you find that on YouTube and save yourself the frustration of being treated like a UFO but by watching this self indulgent mishandling of another man's life.

Very interesting and credible story, TERRIBLE film making

[abeiklou · 6/10 · 26 June 2019]

So I started watching this movie after Joe Rogan podcast interview with Bob Lazar. I can say that I learned MORE during that podcast than this movie! The story of Bob Lazar seems very credible, he seems genuinely interested in the science implications of finding Alien technology rather than all of those crazy alien and UFO stories and I believe him. What falls way short is the idiot who made this movie. He added a stupid voice over that has nothing to do with the story, made the interviews and his explanations distorted to give it an "alien effect" and basically told the story horribly which to me does a disservice to Bob and his whistleblowing of what was happening in Area 51. I suggest the Joe Rogan podcast to get more details about the story after you watch this movie.

Shame

[bobbss · 3/10 · 4 July 2019]

I feel sorry for Bob Lazar, regardless as to whether his story is real or not, this documentary was dreadful it's tough to call it a documentary.

You can find all of his interviews online in their entirety, without the continuous garbage. The guy who interviews him just, doesn't get it it seems, and it's over used "dramatic music" is just ridiculous.

Some of the things the intervier asked is just idiotic. It's so painful. I just feel sorry for when Bob watches this and see's how dramatic it is and how his story has been butchered.

There's a particular podcast he's been on recently that's lots better, but is sadly still plagued by the interviewer/"documentary" maker

Mickey Rourke Narrating This Is Golden

[AlicanAker · 9/10 · 10 August 2022]

This was the most unintentionally funny documentary i have ever watched, Mickey Rourke narrates like he has a personal vendetta against everyone in this and it is hilarious.

Great story, but Mickey Rourke's incoherent mumblings were brutal

[tjorourke-27401 · 6/10 · 23 June 2019]

Bob's story was thrilling and I believed every word of it. This could have been a 9/10 if it weren't for the random cartoon intermissions with Mickey Rourke's awful narration voice and pointless ramblings that added nothing to the story. I had read reviews on here prior to viewing about the directors ego getting in the way of the story and that was evident off the bat. I couldn't get that out of my mind and it aggravated me throughout the film. If this was done by anybody else with less of an ego it could have been great.

Disappointing.

[mattkennedy85 · 3/10 · 24 June 2019]

*spoilers* Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell (JKLC) does not deserve the word "investigative" or "documentary" tied to his name in any capacity. I can't call this a film, movie, or documentary. Instead, henceforth, it shall be referred to as "JKLC's community college film class's project" or JCCFCP for short. It probably would earn a C+, regardless of the topic or plot. If you're reading this and interested in Bob Lazar, go to YouTube and watch the videos of George Knapp's interviews, as they make up most of the JCCFCP. During the 96 minute JCCFCP the viewer can expect to see 25% junk (lame CGI, over editing, or stock footage unrelated to the topic of the film), 25% old footage of Bob, 25% of new footage of Bob, and 25% of a gravely voiced Mickey Rourke reading pretentious gobbledygook written by a teenage girl after her first breakup. Pop quiz: is the following quote from Twilight or a documentary about Area 51? "Memory is a mirage and mistress to desire... shapeshifting and ethereal. She's inherently elusive and malleable. We acknowledge her if it suits our fantasy in the moment. We fear her because she's unpredictable." JCCFCP has poor flow. At no time was there a logical sequence of events and if there ever was a new topic or something worth discussing in depth, it would not be pursued. It jumped from what Bob worked on at Area 51, to his current business, to prostitution, back to Area 51. JCCFCP's sound. I shouldn't say the sound is bad, it's that the director wanted to interview people at an indoor pool, or "echo chamber," and use A LOT of sound from the speaker of a cell phone. George Knapp is featured arguably more than Bob, but god forbid if there's decent sound of him. JCCFCP's cliff hangers with NO resolution. The movie opens with an alleged text from Bob saying he's been raided by the FBI. This will be glazed over and will leave you with more questions than answers. A "cloud chamber" which bends light will be discussed but not shown. The agent who investigated Bob 30+ years ago will be mentioned and nothing more. The JCCFCP will continually tease you and leave you with curiosity blue balls. JCCFCP gives the users a big middle finger by having a super secret conversation with Bob, prefaced with the question "did you get a piece of element 115 out of Los Alamos." But you won't be shown the answer. Instead you'll be told Bob's raided by the FBI the next day and parts of the private conversation between the director and Bob were repeated by the FBI. The real spoiler alert is: you'll never be told more than that. The JCCFCP even shows Bob's security camera setup which HAD to of filmed the raid, but of course the JCCFCP did not include or even ask for the footage of the raid. JKLC was probably too concerned about his beard wax or making sure his pant legs were rolled up. There are two neat parts: Bob's shown a picture of the biometric hand reader at Area 51 he spoke of 30 years ago, and then he draws a picture of the craft he used to work on. Those 4 minutes were the only good parts of the JCCFCP. In summation, the JCCFCP was an insult to Bob and will leave the viewer disappointed. It will frustrate both believers and critics of Bob, and leave everyone asking, "what was this filmmaker trying to achieve here? What was their purpose? What were they trying to show me or make me feel?"