Invaders from Mars
PLOT:
One night, a small boy, David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt), sees a flying saucer land near his home. His scientist father (Leif Erickson) goes to investigate; when he returns, there is an unusual mark on the back of his neck and he behaves in a different, cold and hostile manner. Gradually, David realizes that there is a conspiracy in which the people of the town are one by one becoming cold and inhuman.
With the help of a local astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz) and health-department physician Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter), he learns that the flying saucer, that has buried itself in a sandpit just behind his home, is the vanguard of an invasion from Mars. The Army is contacted and convinced to investigate, leading to a military penetration of the underground hideout established by the Martians. The troops enter the saucer. Inside they find a Martian, mostly a large head with strange tentacles, encased in a glassy sphere. The Martian mastermind is served by tall, green, silent humanoid “mutants”, who use cerebral implants to control the townsfolk in order to sabotage nuclear rocket experiments at a facility just outside of town.
In the film’s climax, the Army, scientists, and David flee from the sandpit as explosives hidden aboard the flying saucer count down their last remaining seconds. After the explosion, the scene shifts and David is back in his bed, awakened by thunder. His parents reassure him by telling him the whole thing was just a nightmare and send him back to bed. As thunder awakens him again, he sees the same UFO slowly land at the sandpit near his house.
REVIEW:
As I’m sitting here watching this classic sci-fi flick, I can’t help but wonder if indeed it should have been filmed in 3-D. The reason I say that is because the colors are done is such a way that you almost seem them as if you would 3-D without the glasses. I may be the only one that sees it that way, though.
Many have called this the quintessential Cold War sci-fi film. I would be hard pressed to disagree with them. If you think of everything you know about classic sci-fi and the 50s, it is included in this picture, short of America’s prejudice and hatred toward the Russians.
The Martians aren’t particularly impressive, even for the time period, although the head (pardon the pun) martian with the tentacles looked pretty cool.
I loved the concept of mid control using radio frequencies, but felt they could have done something to counteract it, then again, that may just be my modern day brain criticizing a film from days gone by.
The “big ape” Martians, who seem to be nothing more than mindless slaves, are the kind of creatures you expect to see on a Saturday morning cartoon as goons. As a matter of fact, they remind me alot of the putties from the first couple of seasons of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
The acting is pretty flat throughout the picture, with the one bright spot being Helena Carter, not Helena Bonham Carter, who portrayed Dr. Pat Blake. In this picture where everyone is ether under or over acting, she finds a good median and sticks with it, only going over when the need calls for it. Having said that, there are no bad performances from the actors, just none that you’ll be writing home about.
As far as classic sci-fi fare goes, this is a must see. The DVD that I watched happened to have both the British and American version of the film. From what I’ve read and heard, the British version has a different ending. That’s neither here or there, though. This is a really solid film that is quite entertaining, You won’t be disappointed.
4 out of 5 stars
