Invasion
of the Body Snatchers (1978)
MGM
Cast:
Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams.
Rating:
PG.
Run
time: 115 mins
Genre:
Science Fiction.
Verdict:
Bland
(see rating
system)
Scary
it ain't, despite the promising title.
Like
the recent dud remake starring Daniel *James Bond" Craig
and Nicole Kidman (The Invasion) recently, this is a rather
dull treatment of an interesting story.
The
best version was the first, made back in 1956 and starring
Kevin McCarthy who gets a brief cameo in the 1978 remake.
It
starts off well enough: a group of alien beings (more like
seeds) drift through space looking for a new home. Naturally
they stumble upon Earth, which is just perfect.
After
floating down to the surface, the seeds grow as strange plants
that make robotic replicas of humans, killing the originals.
By
the time San Francisco Health Department workers Matthew (Donald
Sutherland) and Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) find out what is
going on, thousands of their fellow citizens have already
been "alienated". But it's a hard sell trying to
convince the authorities what's going on, especially psychologist
Dr. David Kibner (Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy), who thinks it's
all mass hysteria.
On
a psychological level it works to a degree as a warning what
alien lifeforms might be lurking out there in the Universe
- no wonder NASA was so careful with the rock samples brought
back from the moon in case they harboured microbes that could
wipe out life on Earth.
While
the struggle of Matthew, Elizabeth and others to fight back
against the invaders is sometimes suspenseful, there aren't
any shocking moments or scary scenes. No wonder it got a PG
rating.
The
2-DVD collector's edition includes cast interviews and featurettes
on the making of the film.
