INVADERS FROM MARS [1986 / 2015] [Collector’s Edition] [Blu-ray] [USA Release]
The Thriller Classic Gets “A Slick, State-Of-The Art Remake!”
From the director of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ and ‘Lifeforce.’
This space-age creature feature is crawling with horrifying hordes of Martians hell-bent on stealing your soul: as well as your planet! Little David Gardner’s starry-eyed dreams turn into an out-of-this-world nightmare when invaders from the red planet land in his backyard and unleash their hostilities on unsuspecting earthlings! Paralyzed with fear as the aliens take over the minds of his mom, dad and even his schoolmates, David must somehow find a way to stop them: before they turn the whole human race into brain-dead zombies!
Showcasing “magnificent” special effects from John Dykstra (‘Star Wars’) and the “horrific” creations of Stan Winston (‘Aliens’), this thrilling remake stars Karen Black (‘House Of 1,000 Corpses’), Hunter Carson (‘Paris, Texas’), Timothy Bottoms (‘Rollercoaster’), Louise Fletcher (‘Flowers In The Attic’), James Karen (‘The Return Of The Living Dead’) and Bud Cort (‘Harold And Maude’).
FILM FACT No1: ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ [1986] is a remake of the 1953 Invaders from Mars science fiction film ‘Invaders from Mars’ and is a reworking of that film's screenplay by Richard Blake from an original story by John Tucker Battle. Its production was instigated by Wade Williams, millionaire exhibitor, science fiction film fan and sometime writer-producer-director, who had reissued the original film in 1978 after purchasing the copyright to the property. Elaborate creature and visual effects for this remake were supplied by Stan Winston and John Dykstra.
FILM FACT No2: The scenes shot on location at David's school were filmed at Eagle Rock Elementary School in the Eagle Rock suburb in Los Angeles, California. The school bore a temporary fake nameplate in the film that read "Menzies Elementary School" as a tribute to the 1953 film's director, William Cameron Menzies. The Gardners home in the film is the same house that was purpose-built for the 1948 Cary Grant/Myrna Loy film, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and still stands as the administrative offices for park employees at Malibu Creek State Park. Other locations include Simi Valley, California.
Cast: Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Laraine Newman, James Karen, Bud Cort, Louise Fletcher, Eric Pierpoint, Christopher Allport, Donald Hotton, Kenneth Kimmins, Charlie Dell, Jimmy Hunt, William Bassett, Virginia Keehne, Chris Hebert, Mason Nupuf, William Frankfather, Joseph Brutsman, Eric Norris, Debra Berger, Eddy Donno, Mark Giardino, Daryl Bartley, Roy Mansano, Shonda Whipple, Amy Fitzpatrick, Shawn Campbell, Brett Johnson, Dale Dye, Douglas Simpson, Lonny Low, Scott Leva, Randall Wulff, Frederick Menslage, Michael McGrady, Lawrence Poindexter, James Acheson, Matt Bennett, Aaron Scott Bernard, Steven Lambert, Debbie Lee Carrington, Margarite Fernandez, Joe Anthony Cox, Salvatore Fondacaro, Peter Firth (archive footage) (uncredited), Phil Fondacaro (uncredited), Peter Genovese (uncredited), Bobbie Paulson (uncredited) and Brian Penikas (Supreme Intelligence) (uncredited)
Director: Tobe Hooper
Producers: David Rodgers, Edward L. Alperson Jr., Menahem Golan and Wade H. Williams III and Yoram Globus
Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon (screenplay), Don Jakoby (screenplay) and Richard Blake (based on Richard Blake’s screenplay)
Composer: Christopher Young
Cinematography: Daniel Pearl, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Cinecolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 99 minutes
Region: Region A/1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: CANNON / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Shout! Factory
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: Fans of Tobe Hooper’s 1986 film ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ will make you jump for joy, with this Scream! Factory’s New Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, and it’s definitely a release to check out. Loaded to the brim with brand new and retro special features, the film does an excellent job of bringing back not only a sense of nostalgia for old school fans of the film, but introduces a fun and campy ride for its new viewers.
Personally, I think the film and its content all speak for themselves, but just in case you have a question or two regarding the release, we’ve got you covered, having taken a look at the release and we can definitely assure you, it’s one of the most entertaining family sci-fi horror films of all time.
Late one evening a small boy sees a UFO landing in the open field behind his home. He tells his parents who obviously do not believe him. However, the following morning his father is behaving strangely, as if he is possessed by an alien intelligence and we ask ourselves, what does his father do that is so weird? He gulps down his morning coffee in one single gulp, which perhaps isn’t all that weird . . .
More strange behaviour: the boy spies his less-than-favourite teacher gulping down a bull frog, now that's weird and his mother serves up breakfast bacon burnt to a crisp, perhaps not really that weird either and eats raw hamburger patty meat, not quite so weird. Anyway, all of the people displaying this weird behaviour have funny wounds at the base of their necks. Soon it is becoming apparent that Earth is being invaded by aliens, but who would believe a small boy?
If the story sounds familiar then you have probably seen the original 1953 film of the same title, of which this is a remake by producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. If you haven’t, but the material still seems familiar, then you have either seen any of the three versions of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (that’s right: three of them!) Interestingly enough, the original ‘Invaders From Mars’ actually predates the original 1956 Black-and-White ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’
Film critics were not the only ones, who didn’t take to CANNON’s produce film, but by the time the Nineties rolled around; the company had gone bankrupt as ordinary audiences stayed away in droves. Despite ‘Invaders From Mars’ being one of CANNON’s better films. The brilliant special effects by legendary John Dykstra [‘Star Wars’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica’] and the various creatures brought to life by Stan Winston are perfect for the time it was filmed in 1986 and to great effect.
The acting is suitably camp (you just got to love Louise Fletcher, who appeared in the film ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ as everyone’s Most Hated Primary School Teacher from Hell, plus the dialogue is so over the top, that makes the film enjoyable, especially when they say, “Marines have no qualms about killing Martians, son,” and also “Marines do not carry change” is my all-time favourite. But the film’s tempo is quick and keeps the pace going well.
Also, the material that seems fine for the paranoid Cold War-era 1950s seems a bit odd when remade for the mid-1980s despite Reagan-era gung ho-ism. Viewed today one can easily see what John Clute meant when he said that 1950s sci-fi movies were really about anti-intellectualism. In one scene in this film a NASA scientist tries to communicate with the aliens, naturally he is blown to smithereens with a death ray, quite a satisfying scene from the film and a warning never try to pacify a Martian Drone.
Sometimes, certain aspects of the sci-fi film can make up for areas in which its quality is lacking. I would say that’s the case for ‘INVADERS FROM MARS.’ The great visuals provided by the sets and the creature design combined with the story to help me enjoy this film very much and especially watching this re-mastered Blu-ray disc and I know of other fans of this cult sci-fi film will also enjoy viewing it and is definitely a fun ride for its time. So check it out you sci-fi nuts, as it is well worth purchasing this Blu-ray disc.
Blu-ray Image Quality – ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ makes its grand arrival on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream! Factory on a Region A locked Blu-ray disc. The disc opens to the similarly formatted Scream! Factory’s main menus with music from the main film and clips in the background playing throughout. Film grain is alive and well, while never being too intrusive leading to outstanding detail levels. For a creature feature, all you have to do is look at the monster work by Stan Winston to see that this movie probably has never looked better. Colours are rich and totally wonderful. ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ eclipses its previous DVD and LaserDisc inferior releases.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Sporting a fantastic awesome 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and also a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track and ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ gets a truly pleasing audio debut. If you want to remain authentic to the original experience, then stick with the 5.1 audio sound track if you want to a sci-fi experience, because it immerses you in the film. But the atmospheric ambience on both tracks anyway is deliciously creepy in places as well as the voices, and the subtle sound effects are very effective. Audio levels are well balanced and the audio tracks are free from any hiss, pops, breaks or any kind of anomalies.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary with Director Tobe Hooper and Moderator Michael Felsher: This is a totally fascinating audio commentary and Michael Felsher sounds like a total enthusiast for the ‘Invaders From Mars’ and makes for an enjoyable audio commentary. We get to find out that Tobe Hooper copied the film title wording from ‘Superman’ and very effective they are and what a shame the film was not in 3D, as the titles would of looked totally awesome in that format. They also talk about the original ‘Invaders From Mars’ [1953] and mentions William Cameron Menzies [Production Designer], who had sadly passed away, plus most of the original cast from the ‘Invaders From Mars’ [1953] had also sadly passed away, but by luck Tobe Hooper was able to get the original actor Mr. Jimmy Hunt, who is one of the policemen in the 1986 film, who was the original boy in the 1953 film. A very nice thing they say is the acknowledgement of the fact that Karen Black had also passed away and totally respected her acting ability, especially in this 1986 film. Tobe Hooper wanted to put his own slant on this film, especially wanting Louise Fletcher in the film, who was not keen to eat the frog. Michael Felsher was in total awe of the Martian spaceship tunnels, that were built on the Howard Hughes Hanger and they were real neat sets, which I agree also totally amazing, and having Hunter Carson, the little boy in the tunnel, makes the tunnels look even more massive in size. When we get to chapter 7, where Karen Black and Hunter Carson go back to the school, Tobe Hooper points out several things relating to the original 1953 film, where he mentions again getting Mr. Jimmy Hunt, who was the original young boy in the 1953 film and also pointing out when Karen Black and Hunter Carson are down in the basement of the school, Tobe Hooper points out when the policemen are scanning their torches around the basement, you will see the original Martian Supreme Intelligent being in the glass bowl from the 1953 sci-fi film. Tobe Hooper also points out when the military are down in the Martian spaceship tunnels, and especially when the Martian drones appear, that inside the rubber suits are beach muscle guys, they had to walk backwards, while viewing everything on a small TV monitor and on top of those guys were small female assistants operating the arms. As we get to near the end of the film, Tobe Hooper says he had a great affection for making this remake film and a total homage to the original 1953 film and also hopes people over the years will appreciate his work on this 1986 film, but of course all sci-fi aficionados of this cult film find it totally brilliant, that has a massive cult following, which is what I also feel about this brilliant sci-fi masterpiece.
Special Feature: The Martians Are Coming! – The Making of ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [36:32] Shout! Factory presents us with a totally unique and special feature all-new retrospective featuring interviews, where we get to hear about this 1986 sci-fi film and takes us through a fascinating insight into this particular sci-fi genre film, because we get the likes of contributors involved with the film. Here they all talk a great deal at their great affection for this particular camp sci-fi film and the comments by Tobe Hooper were most interesting and wanted his 1986 film to be squarely aimed at the child’s view of what was happening to his family and his perspective on adults not listening to him. Tobe Hooper also informs us this his 1986 sci-fi film was at the time of its release was a complete financial flop, but when the film was released on a VHS video tape and other home viewing media, it has gained a cult status and now even more with this Blu-ray release, which I concur 100%. Another nice thing Tobe Hooper informed us that he was proud and honoured to have the well-established female actors Karen Black and Louise Fletcher. Hunter Carson was equally enamoured by Louise Fletcher, as they got on so well together, even to the point they always had their lunch break together and that Louise Fletcher was very funny. The two guys who did the special creature effects had a riotous ball and really enjoyed their experience, but not especially when Gino Crognale was in the Martian Supreme Leader rubber suit caught fire, they had a desperate job to get him out of the costume and was nearly badly burned, but luckily was able to be released from the costume. The only person I was not comfortable in viewing was the composer Christopher Young, who was totally weird and would hate to come face to face with him in a dark alley, as he looks totally menacing. But despite this, this was a really special feature and a definite must watch. Contributors include: Tobe Hooper [Director]; Hunter Carson [Actor]; Alec Gillis [Special Creature Effects Artist] and Gino Crognale [Special Creature Effects Artist] and Christopher Young [Composer].
Theatrical Trailer and TV Spot: Here you get to see just two trailers for the film .INVADERS FROM MARS,’ which are as follows: Theatrical Trailer [1986] [480i] [1.78:1] [1:26] and TV Trailer [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [00:32].
Special Feature: Original Production Illustration Gallery from Artist William Stout with Audio Commentary by William Stout [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [14:02] Here we get an extra specially presentation by William Sout, who does an awesome audio commentary, especially while his stunning personal illustrations are being shown on your TV screen and talks extensively of his love for the 1953 ‘Invaders From Mars’ sci-fi film and especially informs us that he is a massive huge fan of the work of William Cameron Menzies [Production Designer], who is also one of his biggest heroes as well. One of his favourite designs that he hoped would get accepted, was the crew T-shirts, but sadly was not accepted. Another interesting anecdote he informs us about, is the theory why people work in the film industry, especially in America, is that some only work just for the money, which he feels is a very negative attitude, which is totally ridiculous, as you earn every single penny that you make in the movie industry, whereas his favourite thing on working on movies is the story he walks away with each individual movie and especially working on the 1986 ‘Invaders From Mars,’ which is personally his all-time favourite story. He also tells us that they contacted the United States Air Force, because they needed a lot of military hardware for the 1986 film and they were sent a script; but after sometime there was no reply back and eventually they came back to the studio after a lot of panic and came back with a statement, which William Stout reads out the actual statement that reads as follows, “I’m sorry, but the United States Air Force cannot co-operate in the making of this motion picture” and he asks them, “Why, because you guys are the heroes and you are the good guys, and the military that saves the day and kills the Martians,” and they reply back, “It is the official position of the United States Air Force that there are no Martians and there are no UFO’s” and William Stout never thought this an issue and was panic stricken. But with a stroke of luck, he was able to get in contact with the United States Marines Public Relations Liaison Officer and he was told that he would have complete co-operation of all the United States Marines in the making of the 1986 sci-fi film. He also gives great praise for Cannon Films, as they were very enthusiastic in making films for up and coming young ideas. But what I liked about this special audio commentary by William Stout, who has a really terrific calming voice and is also very interesting and fascinating intelligent guy and also you get to see in great detail all of his fantastic illustrations and is a definite one to view. Happy viewing!
Special Feature: Original Storyboards [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:16] Here we are presented with a slide show, where you get to view all of the storyboard drawings used for the film ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ and at the same time you get the background composed music from the film. I personally found this rather boring, as all the drawings are in black-and-white!
Special Feature: Still Gallery [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [12:12] Here we get to view lots of wonderful colour image stills from the sci-fi film ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ in the form of another automatic slide show and you finally get to view a total of 27 images. Sadly it is totally silent compared to the storyboard slide show. But despite this it is great to view. So happy viewing!
Finally, ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ is a wonderfully camp rollercoaster well done film, made at a time when Tobe Hooper was given the opportunity to create big, elaborate sets and ambitious projects. The colours look astonishing on this Blu-ray release, and that ambitious period of Tobe Hooper’s filmography just screams for a good Blu-ray release and this is definitely it. Some think the last quarter of the film heads into silly-territory, but it’s just the kind of silly that one would expect from a film called ‘INVADERS FROM MARS’ and will also fit nicely in your Blu-ray collection. It has all the elements of the coming-of age films of the 1980s directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, and others. The only difference is it delves a bit deeper into the horror and sci-fi genre realms. It’s exactly the sort of genre sci-fi film you would expect from ‘Poltergeist’ Director Tobe Hooper. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
