Where does one begin with this "documentary?" At this point it's practically a certainty that if you have even a passing interest in UFOs or related phenomena, you've heard of the infamous "Alien Autopsy" footage. Acquired by Fox in the mid 90s, the special gained millions of viewers, so many, that Fox chose to replay the special later the same week, something absolutely unheard of in modern television. Then the inevitable happened: the seller of the footage, British promoter Ray Santilli revealed that "technically" the footage wasn't authentic. It was in fact, a reconstruction of the exact film Santilli and partner Gary Shoefield bought from a mysterious, aged filmmaker who purported to have filmed it himself at a Roswell area air force base. Since then, the story has gone down in infamy but continues to capture the interest of believers and non-believers, eventually inspiring a farcical mid-2000s comedy based on the exploits of the duo.

Now comes "Alien from Area 51: The Alien Autopsy Footage Revealed" a "documentary" in the loosest sense of the world, from Reality Kings, a company who has built a nice niche in selling to the interests of paranormal believers. The 70-odd-minute program, is, to be blunt a colossal waste of time due to two primary factors: laughable production values and the interview subjects having either nothing of interest to say or nothing new to reveal. The prospect of hearing Santilli and Shoefield tell their story is incredibly intriguing and at first it is, until both begin to edge into stretching the tale out a bit too much, which results in nearly 45-minutes of two men talking about something most people interested in the subject know the facts of. I'll admit, there were some new pieces of information I found fascinating, but the filler was a painful experience and the copious amounts of amateur level CGI flourishes coupled with an eye irritating filming style full of odd angles, color alterations and non-sensical cuts would have been enough for me to give up on this five-minutes in if I weren't obligated to watch it to completion.

Following the interview the only glimmer of redemption unfolds as the infamous footage is presented uncut and unedited. It's easily the most interesting part of the whole disc, but once it's over, the likelihood of ever re-watching it is slim to none, knowing it's technically a fake. "Alien from Area 51: The Alien Autopsy Footage Revealed" is, bottom line, a waste of time regardless of how much you know about the "Alien Autopsy" incident. The information is out there in much better produced formats than this.

Since Reality Kings only sent a DVD-R screener, an accurate review of the DVD's video quality cannot be written. Should they provide a final street copy of the disc, this review will be updated accordingly.

The Audio

Since Reality Kings only sent a DVD-R screener, an accurate review of the DVD's audio quality cannot be written. Should they provide a final street copy of the disc, this review will be updated accordingly.

The Extras

None.

Final Thoughts

If you make it through the poorly produced, 45-minute "interview" littered with astonishingly bad CGI, you get to see the titular footage. Other than that, this is a useless release. Skip It.