Invasion

The stage curtains open ...

I am probably of the minority here, but I actually really enjoyed this latest re-make in the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" line of movies. I even liked it better than the black & white original, placing this at #2 behind the 1978 version (which was the best one IMO). Certainly hands above the rather plain and flat 1993 version. I really liked what Nicole Kidman brought to the table here - a fun film to watch.

This time around, our main protagonist is Carol Bennell (Kidman), a psychiatrist who is a single mother, who's ex-husband is a CDC agent who is heading the investigation into a space shuttle crash which has captured the attention of the world. Unknown to everyone involved, the shuttle brought with it to Earth's surface an unknown organism which starts off a chain of events that would change everyone's live. Bennell first notices it when one of her patients, Wendy (played by Veronica Cartwright who was also in the 1978 version), claims that her husband is not really her husband. Before Bennell knows it, she is running to save both herself and her son from an unspeakable end.

Of the four movies, this one was clearly the more action-packed version with foot races, car chase scenes, explosions, and helicopters. Yet, I felt it still delivered a healthy dose of tension and paranoia ... not really knowing who you can trust or who to run from. Nicole Kidman delivers a fine performance, and Jackson Bond was perfect as her son. All of our supporting actors were also very good here, with believable performances.

I highly recommend this one. It is anything but boring, and provides an adrenalin rush in addition to the fear of becoming an emotionless, empty shell of your former self. The angle is different here, but still effective. I give this one a solid 8 stars out of 10. I've watched it a few times over the years, and have enjoyed it just as much with each viewing. Stay tuned ... apparently, there is yet another re-make in the works!

I honestly don't think the movie is worth an 8, not in its released form. But since the cuts and additions from the suits are so painfully obvious, I'm willing to give a higher rating to the movie that could have been... and for now, only the original director Oliver something has seen.

So the original movie (which is still discernible somehow) was supposed to be a dark, slow take on isolation, pill overuse and boring modern life. With a twist: a mom so desperate to protect her child, she would silently watch other people being killed as long as she can find her kid. That's actually moving and seldom seen in a macho-dominated Hollywood. I won't say that ice cold Kidman is the right choice to depict a desperate mom, but given that her role is to often look emotionless (so she can pass as another "pod people") she doesn't do too badly.

Now, the suits didn't like that and called those soft-brained Wachowski bros to make it -supposedly- more mainstream. And what they did was to add car chases, crashes, helicopters, fires and senseless violence in general. Inserted into the original movie at close intervals to keep people amused (or so they thought). Now, there are a few good directors who can pull out a combination of slow burn and crazy action. But a patchwork movie made of two different directors' bits, guys with widely opposed instincts and goals, no wonder the result is a flop.

If anything is to be learned from this, it's how little do Hollywood executives know about what makes a good movie. Granted, a non-stop mishmash of violence and fifth-drink bar philosophy like The Matrix can earn the big bucks, but you can't expect Matrix-like bits to improve what was intended to be a slow paced, moody film. Which was probably condemned to be a box office failure, but also could have been pretty good.

Invasion!.. of the people without emotions. This is pretty much a re-telling of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with a modern setting and look. Interesting concepts are presented, but it turns out to be your run-of-the-mill thriller entertainment with recognizable actors. Nothing bad. It just took the Hollywood direction. The suspense is great in some scenes, especially in the first half. When we get to the climax things start to become too convenient and even a little predictable. What the movie really utilize well are the main leads. The characters are like-able which is super important here because you have to care for them when they are on the run from the invaders. The antagonists are annoying in just the right way. Imagine someone you know loosing all of their emotions and becoming an outer shelf of what that person used to be. That's a pretty scary idea. The movie plays it safe. What it lacks is some extra emotional punch and we never truly get that. So, I think the filmmakers should have gone for something even riskier at the end. The impact would have been much better. We get the Hollywood finale. And I guess it works in some ways because less people will feel paranoid after watching it.

It's alright. You can put the movie on and be entertained by the suspense and seeing Nicole Kidman be chased by weird stale people. The look of the picture is pretty nice. The blue-ish color tint fits the movie well. You should probably stick to the original "Body Snatchers", but if you wanna go for something that's easier to process then check this one out.

We went to see this last night. After all of the horrific reviews, I was expecting a real P.O.S. I was pleasantly surprised. While not to say it was an AWESOME movie or anything. It was good Sci Fi fun. I get irritated when a lot of movie buffs are looking for every film to be a Gone with the Wind or something. This was just a fun, smooth, entertaining production. I've never been a real fan of Nicole kidman, but I must say, she was quite fetching in this movie. If you are looking for the 50's version of War of the Worlds..The forbidden planet..John Carpenter's the THING...etc..it doesn't qualify. If you are looking for a fun Sci Fi Thriller to watch, it does the job.

This fourth adaptation about vintage novel deals a space shuttle blows up and the fragments transfer an alien virus that recodes the human beings DNA. It creates an altering the human behaviour. Meanwhile a psychiatrist named Carol(Nicole Kidman) must to protect her son(Bond) who may hold the means to avoid the extraterrestrial invasion. The mysterious epidemic from outer space is spread her friends, ex-husband and Washington people, everybody are being take over by emotionless,cold behaving. Carol is helped by her good friend Doctor Driscoll(Daniel Craig) and scientific Doctor Stephen(Jeffrey Wright).

This scary Sci-Fi displays a tense screenplay based on Jack Finney novel titled ¨Body snatchers¨. Packs suspense,chills, thrills, spectacular car pursuits and pretty turns and twists. Good performances from Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Jeffrey Wright.Appears in secondary role Veronica Carwight as deranged wife, she acted in the second version by Philip Kauffman, besides cameo role by Jeff Wincott as a security agent,he's a B series star. The motion picture is professionally directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, though with no originality. His greatest hits were ¨The experiment¨ and ¨The downfall¨.

Another version about this known story are : the classic adaptation which emerged as a cinema classic directed by Donald Siegel(1956) with Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, concerning about mysterious seeds duplicating people ; a magnificent semi-sequel which takes place in San Francisco directed by Phil Kauffman(78) with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, and Leonard Nimoy; and inferior rendition by Abel Ferrara(1994) that takes place in a military base with Forrest Whitaker , Meg Tilly and Gabriella Anwar.