While
it may not be great sci-fi cinema, I have a particular fondness for Toby
Hooper’s campy remake of the minor fifties genre classic INVADERS FROM
MARS ($15). The plot of INVADERS FROM MARS concerns a young
boy named David Gardner (Hunter Carson), who seems to be the only one
in his town that is aware of an alien invasion. Unfortunately for David,
he comes be this information the hard way- since both of his parents (Timothy
Bottoms and Laraine Newman) are taken over by alien mind control. Things
become progressively worse for the film’s young hero, when David discovers
that his belligerent biology teacher Mrs. McKeltch (Louise Fletcher) is
also under the alien’s influence.
With
nowhere else to go, David turns to the school nurse, Linda Magnusson (Karen
Black), who is able to shield him from the clutching grasp of the nasty
Mrs. McKeltch. With Linda on his side, David sets out to save his town
from the invaders from Mars. Sporting some funky special effects and a
scene stealing, over-the-top performance from Louise Fletcher, INVADERS
FROM MARS proves to be giddy genre fun. The supporting cast of INVADERS
FROM MARS features the talents of James Karen, Bud Cort, Eric Pierpoint
and Jimmy Hunt, who starred in the original version of the movie.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made INVADERS FROM MARS available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that is also enhanced for playback
on 16:9 displays. As with earlier releases of the film, the image on the
DVD sometimes has a somewhat soft and grainy appearance. Not that INVADERS
FROM MARS looks particularly bad, just that this presentation isn’t
one that shows off the potential of the DVD format. Since previous home
editions of the film had the same general appearance, this is how the
prints of the movie looked, so MGM really can’t be faulted for the shortcomings
in image quality. Still, the picture is entirely watchable, with most
sequences being reasonably sharp and offering pretty good definition.
Colors are fairly well saturated and pretty stable, with little fuzziness
amongst the most intense hues. Blacks are solid and the level of shadow
detail is respectable. Digital compression artifacts did not mar the presentation
in any way.
The
Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack decodes to standard surround. This
is a typical mid-eighties mix, that doesn’t tax the older non-discrete
format. There is some channel separation in the forward soundstage and
a bit of ambient activity in the rears. Dialogue reproduces with complete
intelligibility, although some of the voices do have a "looped"
quality. The bass is unimpressive, but adequate for the material. French
and Spanish subtitles are present on the DVD. The basic interactive menus
provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as
well as a few extras. Included on the DVD are two publicity featurettes
produced at the time of the film’s release, plus a theatrical.
INVADERS
FROM MARS is good campy sci-fi fun that will appeal to genre fans
looking for a laugh. MGM’s DVD edition of the film looks and sounds respectable,
so is worth investigating because of its low list price.
While
it may not be great sci-fi cinema, I have a particular fondness for Toby
Hooper’s campy remake of the minor fifties genre classic INVADERS FROM
MARS ($15). The plot of INVADERS FROM MARS concerns a young
boy named David Gardner (Hunter Carson), who seems to be the only one
in his town that is aware of an alien invasion. Unfortunately for David,
he comes be this information the hard way- since both of his parents (Timothy
Bottoms and Laraine Newman) are taken over by alien mind control. Things
become progressively worse for the film’s young hero, when David discovers
that his belligerent biology teacher Mrs. McKeltch (Louise Fletcher) is
also under the alien’s influence.
With
nowhere else to go, David turns to the school nurse, Linda Magnusson (Karen
Black), who is able to shield him from the clutching grasp of the nasty
Mrs. McKeltch. With Linda on his side, David sets out to save his town
from the invaders from Mars. Sporting some funky special effects and a
scene stealing, over-the-top performance from Louise Fletcher, INVADERS
FROM MARS proves to be giddy genre fun. The supporting cast of INVADERS
FROM MARS features the talents of James Karen, Bud Cort, Eric Pierpoint
and Jimmy Hunt, who starred in the original version of the movie.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made INVADERS FROM MARS available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that is also enhanced for playback
on 16:9 displays. As with earlier releases of the film, the image on the
DVD sometimes has a somewhat soft and grainy appearance. Not that INVADERS
FROM MARS looks particularly bad, just that this presentation isn’t
one that shows off the potential of the DVD format. Since previous home
editions of the film had the same general appearance, this is how the
prints of the movie looked, so MGM really can’t be faulted for the shortcomings
in image quality. Still, the picture is entirely watchable, with most
sequences being reasonably sharp and offering pretty good definition.
Colors are fairly well saturated and pretty stable, with little fuzziness
amongst the most intense hues. Blacks are solid and the level of shadow
detail is respectable. Digital compression artifacts did not mar the presentation
in any way.
The
Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack decodes to standard surround. This
is a typical mid-eighties mix, that doesn’t tax the older non-discrete
format. There is some channel separation in the forward soundstage and
a bit of ambient activity in the rears. Dialogue reproduces with complete
intelligibility, although some of the voices do have a "looped"
quality. The bass is unimpressive, but adequate for the material. French
and Spanish subtitles are present on the DVD. The basic interactive menus
provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as
well as a few extras. Included on the DVD are two publicity featurettes
produced at the time of the film’s release, plus a theatrical.
INVADERS
FROM MARS is good campy sci-fi fun that will appeal to genre fans
looking for a laugh. MGM’s DVD edition of the film looks and sounds respectable,
so is worth investigating because of its low list price.
