The Next One (1984)

I don't want to do any spoliers- some folks who've reviewed here have come close to doing so, but not to any harm to the new viewer's experience, imho.I will say for sure, this movie was decades ahead of it's time in both concept and story. The acting is well done for the standard of the day.It could be viewed as sci-fi, it could be viewed as religious. Either way, it brings an enlightening idea that will offend many, confuse some, but will appeal to others- seeking to understand our world, lives, universe and existence. Check it out if you ever get a chance to watch. Peace

This movie was released in 1984 starring Keir Dullea as Glenn, Adrienne Barbeau as Andrea and Peter Hobbs as Barnaby. In this standard sci-fi romance, the widow Andrea lives on a Greek island with her son Timmy and, like the other islanders, is amazed when a stranger Keir Dullea washes up on shore during a magnetic storm. She brings the apparently injured man home to help him recuperate his health, and a relationship develops between the two of them. At first seeming to suffer from amnesia, the stranger has a mysterious quality that comes more into focus when he performs certain miracles. As he demonstrates his powers, it is slowly revealed that he is a time-traveler, and his brother, in fact, once traveled back 2,000 years further in time. Again, another Adrienne Barbeau picture that was disappointing. Outside of the scenery from the Greek Islands there wasn't much else exciting in this movie that's why I'm giving this picture just 4 weasel stars.

Widowed Andrea and her young son live on a remote Greek Island. One day, walking on the beach, they come across a strange man washed up, who cannot remember anything. Who is he, where did he come from, and why is he here ?This is an odd movie, a quirky Christ allegory with some time travelling thrown in. I guess it's not very good - it looks cheap, it lacks passion, it has too many travelogue shots to pad its running time and it doesn't really make any sense. Despite all that, I really like it, for several reasons. It was shot in the south-eastern Greek island of Mykonos in the Aegean Sea, and the location is original and incredibly beautiful. The cast give strange stilted but hypnotic performances; Dullea is brilliantly iconic, the perfect actor to play a messianic failure, Barbeau is achingly melancholy, Licht (the scary kid from Joe Dante's segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie) is goofy fun and Hobbs is great as the drunken idealistic doctor. Hobbs has impressive cult-movie credentials; check him out in The Andromeda Strain, Sleeper, Wizards, John Carpenter's Elvis TV-movie and The Man With Two Brains. Mastorakis may be a bit of a hack, but the movie keeps coming up with offbeat and interesting ideas and shots, like the moment when Dullea walks into a library and hears the books talking to him in his head. There's also a nice mellow score by the underrated Stanley Myers (Nicolas Roeg's composer of choice). Mastorakis is an unusual, marginal filmmaker, but he made some curios, notably the techno-mystery Blind Date and survival thriller The Zero Boys. I guess I'm maybe overrating this movie a little but it's something different and that always counts for a lot in my book. In her enjoyable autobiography, There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Barbeau doesn't even mention it despite making it at the height of her fame, so I guess she slept through it, but it's really rather good. The Greek title is O Taxidiotis Tou Hronou / The Traveller In Time.

I saw this movie on cable back in College. In my opinion it was way ahead of its time. The movie was mostly that of a stranger in a strange land with amnesia, who comes to understand who he really is. And that he is on a rescue mission. The SciFi themes don't really emerge until very late in the film so its a very nice character study, and the actors and actresses play their parts very well. Keir Dullea did a fine job with his part and when he reveals he has recovered his memory and what he does with that knowledge leads to some very memorable moments.Don't see this movie expecting your typical SciFI special effects extravaganza, do see it if you want to watch a serious people movie with some interesting thoughts about where humanity may eventually wind up.In my opinion the recent Television series John Doe was a copy cat of this movie.. to a degree.. but perhaps with a little more X-Files violence and religious overtones, than this movie.It's not a heart pounder.. just a mild adventure that leaves you a bit sad.. but hopeful in the end.. and just wondering.It is a good movie in my opinion.. afterall I've remembered it quite well for over 20 years.