Gli invasori

The Invaders was a wonderful show. Roy Thinnes played architect David Vincent. One night, he stumbled upon an alien craft landing. Aliens had come from a dying world to take over the Earth. What should Vincent do? Contact the Air Force and get them to kick butt?

Actually, no, Vincent was alone on this one which is what made this show great. The authorities didn't believe him, in fact no-one did. Whenever an alien was killed, he/she would vaporize. At first, there was no way of knowing who to trust; anybody could be an invader, the Invaders could take over anyone. Of course, later on we learned that the aliens had a funny little finger even when in human form.

Like most films and shows of the 1950's/60's, the Invaders was about paranoia. No-one could trust anyone. Vincent could never be sure that potential allies were not really invaders themselves. He tried in vain to convince people but he was fighting a losing battle. The great thing was that he was alone in his battle. It was a great-if depressing-show.

One of the other things worth mentioning is that there are viewers who suspected that Vincent was actually an invader himself and had been placed on Earth and told to try and convince the population of the danger. Apparently, the invaders used him to test the likelihood of their discovery. Is it true? Your guess is as good as mine.

For a guy supposedly on a lone (un-paid) crusade he seems to be doing incredibly well. Every single week he's out there in a crisp new suit, with a different gleaming car and limitless gas money. I wonder if there's a good dental plan too? But seriously, I love this series. One of my earliest memories of childhood was watching The Invaders on my parents' first TV set back in the late 1960s. This was just before the moon landings and we were all obsessed with Space; even little kids like me. It's really nice to see the show back on British Channel 5 - even if it is shown at 04:20. Basically, Architect David Vincent stumbles on an Alien plot to conquer Earth and each episode shows his lone struggle to fight the nasty aliens and convince fellow earthlings of the threat. I really don't know if this show will appeal to young people but to 40-somethings like myself it's delicious nostalgia & I'm hooked all over again. A really good example of '60s US television. What I particularly enjoy is seeing minor roles played by people who went on to become famous, even stars. Last week the lead "guest" alien was an obscure young actor called Gene Hackman. Several months later he won the role of Buck Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde, and the rest is history. It's quite fascinating to ponder on what made him SO much more successful than others who've long faded into oblivion, including (sadly) Roy Thinnes who played David Vincent so well. "That's Hollywood" I guess. All in all it's an excellent sci-fi series and to my mind it hasn't aged. The admittedly "formulaic" lay-put and 1960s feel to the show seems to be fashionable again. Well worth watching.

This was a milestone series in my opinion - the acting was usually above average. Roy Thinnes was excellent - the way he shows his frustration when explaining the aliens is very good. Roy was cast perfectly for this series. I recently was able to buy all the episodes on DVD - just watched "Dark Outpost" - This is one of the best episodes as well as the first one.

If I remember rightly, the whole series doesn't end by driving the invaders off the Earth, when I get to that DVD I'll see of course

Theme music excellent too (Dominic Frontiere I think)

WELL DONE ROY!!

Of all of the TV shows of the past made into movies that stink, maybe, just maybe, some young, serious minded script writer will stumble upon this on late night TV somewhere and produce a script for a motion picture version.

No MTV style quick cuts, no gangsta rap, no tricked up CGI, except as needed. Keep the seriousness of the Quinn Martin original and turn it loose. This was an amazing series, especially for a 12 year old, coming as it did, at the height of series of UFO sightings and reports during that time period.

The whole concept was chilling. This would be a good movie, or even better, a new series, keeping in line with the original.

I think Roy Thinnes' role as "David Vincent" was unsurpassed; it is awfully difficult to appraise one's acting ability when the role they play has never, ever been played before--By anyone! I mean, Acting is an art of "role" playing-Mimicking- How does one confront such a disturbing revelation, as discovering

that Alien beings have infiltrated the earth, especially, when they look exactly(almost)as we do? His bewildered look, and keen reactions--and sometimes, non-reactions, were the hallmark of his craft- I think he was underestimated as an actor- His "down-to-earth" behavior is perhaps his saving grace.

Maybe it is a blessing in disguise- Actors today are wrapped up in their own self-certifying egos; and their idiot pride usually accellerates their status of, "Who was that?" after only a few years of practice. Roy, on the other hand, is impossible to forget- Ask anyone who is between the ages of 45 and 60, today if they know who Roy Thinnes is--or "DAVID VINCENT"--and I bet almost everyone will say,

"THE INVADERS"! The Show itself had promise- Perhaps, if I were to rewrite it, I would have opted for a more Soap-Opera, serial "hook" to follow a sequence- The Aliens seemed to have no plan- but, for the Obvious-Take over the world- Some episodes were comical! Donald Davis played a funny kind of Alien-- and, most had no sense of Humor-but, even some of the Women Aliens were too weird to be true. Their gadgets were cool. Spinning Crystal hypno-beams to extract info for interrogation was cool; and the "Death-Disc" was sinister, to say the least- The Ray Guns were clumsy the first season; new model in '68- The Aliens'willingness to commit suicide, unquestionably, was also odd. The Aliens also seemed to be good fighters, in a fist-fight; but also, died easily when wounded or shot- Roy Thinnes is from Chicago--and his accent came through--! It was cool- and here is a kicker--I am related to him! My mother's family is "THINNES" from Wisconsin; then Illinois--and yes--it is the same Family, originally from Luxembourg! I hope only one day to meet him, and introduce him to my son, Dominic- He is a Fan of "The Invaders"! as am I! Try to find these on Video--they are worth it- Nothing Gross, or Evil--just good, wholesome science fiction, at it's best- FrancoDomenico Lisanti