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Spaced Invaders (1990)

 
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2020 11:26 am    Post subject: Spaced Invaders (1990) Reply with quote




This movie should have been much funnier than it was, but if you don't let the promising opening raise you hopes to high, it fun!

The movie also includes an amazing "enforcer drone" that floats around, an articulated prop with a very impressive design.






The film starts off with some slam-bang special effects of a space fleet, accompanied by a clever variation of Gustav Holst The Planets (specifically the Mars piece). The rest of David E. Russo's score is quite good, too.

The first twenty minutes delivers some good laughs and interesting characters. The film takes place in a small mid-western farming town on Halloween, and the movies' premise is elevated by an early scene with the local radio DJ introducing a special treat for his listeners by airing a recording of the original War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

The aliens hear the broadcast from space and assume its a real broadcast about how the Earth is being invaded by the very space fleet the Martians have been trying to join up with.

We hear a few excerpts from the program on several radios around town from time to time.

IMDB's trivia items include this. "The call letters for the radio station playing the "War of the Worlds" program are W.E.L.Z. after Orson Welles, or H.G. Wells, or both."

Once the ship reaches Earth, the five real Martians start wandering around in search of "Earth scum" to annilialate. But since it's Halloween night, everybody assumes their just kids in costumes!

But right there is where this movie falls apart.

The five aliens (played by midgets in costumes with faces which are too immobile to be convincing) spend the entire movie delivering horribly written dialog in ridiculous voices, two of which are bad imitations of Jack Nicholson and Cary Grant. Rolling Eyes

The aliens extremely unfunny dialog practically ruins the movie . . .

However, there are enough good moments sprinkled throughout the movie to make it fun to watch. But don't take my word for it. Here's the trailer AND the full movie!


_____ Spaced Invaders (1990) ORIGINAL TRAILER


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__________________Spaced Invaders (1990)


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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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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2022 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
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~ The actors performing as the Martians were virtually blind when the Martian heads were in place, so they had to be talked through their actions.

Note from me: This doesn't surprise me, because the Martian costumes were bulky, and the faces were largely immovable, other than the small mouths. The fact that the eyes didn't provide the wearers much visibility is consistent with the obvious fact that the costumes were just not well designed.

~ The call letters for the radio station playing the "War of the Worlds" program are W.E.L.Z. after Orson Welles, or H.G. Wells, or both.

Note from me: One of the positive elements of this movie is the fact that the radio station is playing the famous 1938 program, and this fueled the fear of the invaders in the small town.

~ Many of the special effects shots were done "in camera". Meaning they were composed on the raw film.

Note from me: I don't really know how that works. Confused

~ Kathy introduces her three 'cousins' as "Clutch", "Spinner" and "Paddlefoot"; these are the names of the main characters of the cult classic cartoon "Clutch Cargo".

Note from me: Of course, the little girl in the movie would be too young to have seen that cartoon, but obviously the writers were fans.

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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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Captain Starlight
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Joined: 22 Apr 2022
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PostPosted: Fri May 06, 2022 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In my opinion, this was not a successful comedy. The opening scene of the Martian battle was good, but it all fell apart apart after that. The alien costumes sucked. They were too darkly lite and too immobile. The story was a rambling mess. The conclusion was okay, but by the time we got to it, we didn't care.
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