mariannealindsell

Warning: there is much violence and gore!

First, I confess I have yet to see the original "Predator", though I have seen the "Alien" films.

What I liked about this film was the original alien visitation concept (you'll have to watch it to see what I mean by that), plus the believability of that concept, plus the dramatic build-up and the gradual reveals. You don't get the whole story until the end.

Some of the creature effects (and the spaceship) were sub-par, but by no means all, and comparatively little suspension of disbelief was needed.

The worst part was the hackneyed military-run-amok plot, which you've undoubtedly seen before. But the plot was still layered.

It may not be a primetime movie, but it entertained me!

A surprisingly stylish spy flick, based in Munich and London.

It has a few twists (some of them predictable) but the aspect that intrigued me most was the information exchange.

It's all done with tremendous subtlety, and you could easily watch the entire film and miss most of the exchanges.

I had a similar experience with "Funeral in Berlin".

That's what I like about a spy film, when you can watch it superficially and miss what is really going on. So the film becomes a shill for real life spying, where the public see relative normality, but the spies, though present in the normal life of the public around them, are functioning on a completely different level.

I would have to watch this film several times to pick out and understand all of the communications.

The film was made in 1968, and is very much of that era (which I like).