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The Invasion (2007)

 
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Did you enjoy this version of the 1950s classic?
Yes, I thought it had merit.
75%
 75%  [ 6 ]
No, I didn't care for it.
25%
 25%  [ 2 ]
Total Votes : 8

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:20 pm    Post subject: The Invasion (2007) Reply with quote




Saw this one today, and I actually disagree with the many criticisms of it. It's a very different version of the story, with its own strengths — largely because it made such massive changes in the original concept.

In the 1956 version movie, alien pods create duplicate humans who copy the memories of the victims and then destroy the original bodies. The duplicates imitate human behavior and actively distribute more pods. The 1956 film did a great job of showing the duplication process and presenting "pod people". They smiled and calmly reassured the humans that the change was beneficial. However, the 1956 movie blatantly omitted explaining how the original humans were destroyed, and it even included a scene in the climax which suggested a human had been converted into an emotionless version of herself (Dana Wynter), instead of being a pod person. This was a clear contradiction of the film's premise.

Although The Invasion does a great job of presenting massive amounts of scientific evidence to show how the spores change the victims, it simplifies the concept to the point of removing the most interesting aspects of the original. For example, there are no pods, just microscopic spores that came to Earth by clinging to a disabled space shuttle and surviving the crash.

The slam-bang opening scene suggests that the shuttle crash was connected to the alien spores. No other reason for the crash is suggested, so intelligent viewers naturally assume that the crew was infected. This is a great idea, but the movie leaves us hanging on this. They never mention it again.

Damn.

Also, there are no duplicates in this version, because the victim's brains are "reprogrammed" by the microorganisms to change the humans into unemotional zombie-like creatures. This is the film's biggest weakness. The victims of the virus stand around like Vulcan wannabes and make no effort to deceive the normal people. This aspect of the film makes it seem like a well-photographed fan film which lacks the subtlety and intelligence of a well-crafted motion picture. Director Don Siegel knew in 1956 that a character who smiles and laughs and talks while plotting the demise of the human race is much creepier than an actor who stands at attention and looks like he's posing for a driver's license photo.

On the plus side, the movie bravely takes on the daunting task of depicting a world-wide invasion which involves the systematic spread of the microorganism by the converted humans. They spread the infection in a variety of intelligent and effective ways, all of which impressed me.

Equally admirable are the heroic efforts of Nicole Kidman's character as the valiant woman who fights to resist the infection and save her beloved son. The chemistry between Kidman and her son (Jackson Bond, who would have made a great Anakin Skywalker, dammit) is wonderful. They work as a team to survive the nightmare world of the invasion — including the scene in which young Jackson has to plunge a hypodermic needle into his mother's heart to revive her when she falls asleep and begins to succumb to the microorganisms.

The film contains some remarkably dramatic scenes, such as the one in which Kidman and Jackson are in a car that's literally covered with maniacal non-humans trying to break in. Kidman floors it and takes off down the street with dozens of them still hanging on. And after she shakes them off, the car catches on fire and races through the city like a meteor, smashing through obstacles until she finally manages to reach safety.

I loved that scene. Who wouldn't?

The final scenes in the movie boldly address the concept that normal humans are violent, cruel, irrational, and self-destructive, while the "converted" humans possess none of these traits. The audience is invited to consider Nicole Kidman's comments at a dinner party in an earlier scene, in which she says that mankind is still evolving and she hopes we will someday move beyond our own violent and animal-like natures.

I think this movie is a sadly unappreciated cinematic effort.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:17 pm; edited 6 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 12:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________

Enjoy the trailer for this underrated movie.
__________________________________


______________ The Invasion (2007) - Trailer


__________

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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alltare
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It beats the heck out of the awful and boring Donald Sutherland version.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

AlLtare, the version you may be thinking of was the adaptation of Heinlein's THE PUPPET MASTERS.

Both THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE PUPPET MASTERS involved an alien invasion; the first by the replacement of the person, the second the control of the person by an alien organism co-opting the brain.

THE PUPPET MASTERS was written in the 50's and reflected the UFO-FLYING SAUCER craze of the era. The movie would have been vastly better if it had been made in B&W and done as a homage to that era. The book is fabulous and the movie kept the spirit of the novel, but moved it from a 50's to a 90's background and it just didn't work.


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Actually, alltare is referring to the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, starring (as he mentioned) Donald Sutherland.

Frankly, I don't care much for it either — and we don't even have a thread for it! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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bulldogtrekker
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only reason I remember the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is that Leonard Nimoy has a small role in the movie.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It made such little impression on me that I forgot all about it!
Sorry Alltare, you're right!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________

I must admit that the scene with Donald Sutherland asleep in the deck chair while the pod was growing his duplicate and attaching tendrils to his arm so it could copy his DNA and download his memories was pretty damn good!

Gee, I guess I better start a thread for this movie, eh?

(Presto! Here it is!) Very Happy

__________________________________


_________ Invasion of the Body Snatchers - clip


__________

_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Feb 12, 2017 12:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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alltare
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud is correct — I was referring to the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers which starred Donald Sutherland.

Interestingly, Leonard Nimoy was in the '78 version of Body Snatchers, as Bulldog said. He was also in the first movie encarnation of THE PUPPET MASTERS novel. Not the version that Gord mentioned, but rather, the 1958 version titled THE BRAIN EATERS (They misspelled his name as "Nemoy" in the credits).
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

____________
_____________________

______________ The Invasion (2007) - Trailer


__________


The Invasion is the 4th film version of The Body Snatchers, the sf novel by Jack Finney, the previous being Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the 1978 remake/follow-up and 1993's Body Snatchers.

This latest version differs from the previous versions in that human beings are not being replaced by pod people, just simply taken over by an alien virus. The main character is a psychiatrist played by Nicole Kidman; she begins to take note of strange changes taking place among the population, via at least one of her patients (played by Veronica Cartwright, who played a similar character in the 1978 version).

The psychiatrist's ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) is one of the first people to be compromised (the alien spore arrived on a crashed space shuttle and he was on the scene). Since he's in charge of the national Disease Control agency, he's in the perfect position to spread the infection quickly. The simplest, most common method is to inject masses of people under the guise of some inoculation protocol (another, more crude method is to spit the alien stuff into a person's mouth).

The 2nd half of the film focuses on Kidman being on the run and in hiding with her son. She has been infected and will 'turn' if she falls asleep. Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond) plays a friend of hers and possible lover, a physician, while Jeffrey Wright is a biologist who is on the front line conducting tests towards the goal of finding a cure.

As with previous versions of the story, those who are infected behave in a mostly emotionless manner and one way to fool the new aliens is to pretend that you have no emotions. Certain people are revealed to be immune, including Kidman's son. There will be no place for them in the new order, even if there will be no violence in this new world. Since there exists the possibility of a cure, it sets things up for a happy ending. Here's where it falls short of the scary, grim tone established by the older versions; in the old versions, once you are replaced, you are gone for good.


BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10



BoG
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just finished watching this a minute ago!

The ending's terrible.

I liked the '56 version, but the '78 version's impressive because it's spooky, and the characterization's remarkable, especially the relationship between Matthew and Elizabeth.


The one from '94's a popcorn flick.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
________________________________

~ While filming at the Chilean Embassy in Washington, D.C., Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig were to drive a white SUV to the entrance, stop the car, and allow valets to park it.

Kidman forgot to place the SUV in park, and as she got out, it began to roll down the hill. Craig swooped in from the passenger side and dove at the SUV, hitting the parking brake, and stopping the disaster from proceeding. This happened during heavy rain effects.


Note from me: I wonder if they caught this on film!

~ This version adds a lot of interesting rifts on the "Invasion Movies" formula. It's the first one that has multiple kids in the movie.

It also introduces the idea that some people are immune to the aliens' tactics of conversion.

Also the idea that all the aliens are one, kind of like the Borg in the Star Trek franchise, or the Pando tree colony in Utah- as Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) puts it.

And the idea that maybe in some ways we'd be better of this way; juxtaposing the sci-fi nightmare with the real world nightmare that we live in; which might be worse.

Also making the main character a psychologist was a nice touch — appropriate for a fantasy like this where psychological deviance or vapidness is the problem.

And having her boyfriend as a CDC scientist was also interesting; and repositioning the pod people takeover as a pandemic that the scientists are trying to stop was also original.

Also showing the devastation all over the world, not just in one town, made it more compelling.

It's unfortunate then this movie was pummeled by the critics and ignored by audiences; because if you're an Invasion Movies fan you'll enjoy the different approach this director takes with the material.


Note from me: The person who made the list above certainly gave this movie careful thought! His observations are very interesting. Cool

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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