PalCinema Review: Starman

The new documentary looks at the history of space travel and the possibilities for other forms of intelligent life in the universe.

February 6, 2026

FILM: STARMAN

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: ROBERT STONE

STARRING: GENTRY LEE

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

By Dan Pal

Starman is the new documentary from writer/director Robert Stone, which provides an illustrated history of scientific thought about space travel and life on other planets. While we’ve seen other films that have tackled the topics before, this one is taken from the perspective of Gentry Lee, a NASA engineer who at the age of 82 appears extremely sharp and ever enthusiastic about the subject. He commands the screen every time he is on it telling stories about his involvements with the space program as well as his associations with some of the greatest scientific and science fiction writers of all time.

The film opens with footage of Arthur C. Clarke discussing his thoughts about the age-old question, are we alone in the universe? Being one of the preeminent writers of space stories it is interesting to hear his perspectives, which of course, gave hope to many who wanted to believe that there is life on other planets. Also included are some of the many interviews that Carl Sagan gave on the cosmos throughout his career.

Sagan was one of the first and most accessible scientists I remember seeing on television quite regularly when I was young. He inspired my interest in stories about the universe and space travel and made me consider for a brief moment how cool it would be to work in the field of astronomy. (Then I took a science class or two in high school and realized it wasn’t going to be a career option for me…)

Lee worked extensively with Sagan and there is plenty of footage of the two of them together at meetings discussing and planning various space adventures. Eventually Lee was involved in the Voyager missions which took us for the first time past Jupiter, its moons, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. That spacecraft is now travelling through into the solar system giving us our first close glimpses of interstellar space.

If it sounds like I’m geeking out about this, well I am, to an extent. There’s not a LOT here that we haven’t seen in other documentaries or National Geographic series. I didn’t know anything about Gentry Lee and his highly spirited, energetic, and emotional recollections of the work that has been done in the past 70 or so years. I also found his discussion of highly intelligent civilizations to be curious and interestingly presented with a display of lightbulbs placed strategically all over a museum floor. Basically, he states that if there have been other civilizations as sophisticated (or more) than ours, the chances are almost nil that they’ve been in existence at the same time as ours or any others. He makes the point that such societies have limited time in the universe (which means, of course, he believes our own civilization will one day vanish just as the dinosaurs did.) It’s an argument that could use a bit more explanation but it’s interesting, nonetheless.

There are plenty of photos and archival interviews from several great science writers, including Ray Bradbury who seemed to be a pioneer marrying science fiction with well-researched engineering. However, what might be most interesting from a visual perspective here are the variety of photos shown from space, including many from Mars. There are also plenty of other stunning visual images presented, many of which are likely digitally created, that bring to life many of Lee’s and other scientists’ ideas.

The film does touch on how space travel can teach us about the human species and how our technological advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence can take us even further in our knowledge. Ultimately, it makes the point that while we may never know if there is other intelligent life in the universe, studying space can only help us better understand ourselves and our origins.

Starman opens this week in New York and Los Angeles. There will be other special engagements, including a screening and Q & A with the director and Gentry Lee at Chicago’s Music Box Theater on March 2^nd, before it reaches VOD platforms in late March.

What do you think? Will you seek this film out? Are you a fan of space-related documentaries?