| Invaders from Mars (Special Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: William Cameron Menzies
Actors: Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.99
Buy New: $5.54
You Save: $4.45 (45%)
Buy New/Used from $5.54
Avg. Customer Rating:   (96 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2255
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Special Edition, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 78 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: ID1362CODVD
UPC: 014381136227
EAN: 0014381136227
ASIN: B0000714AG
Release Date: December 3, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: April 22, 1953
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
A young boy is awakened during a storm to witness a flying saucer land in the field behind his home. No one will believe his story as, one by one, the townspeople are captured and put under the control of sinister forces from the planet Mars! Brilliantly created by visionary set designer and director William Cameron Menzies (designer of "Gone with the Wind" and H.G. Wells' "Things to Come") with a haunting musical score by Raoul Kraushaar, this golden age sci-fi classic has lost none of its chilling power. Surreal imagery brought to terrifying life in a Cinecolor world just beyond our nightmares!
Amazon.com
The cold-war paranoia of the McCarthy era had America in its grip when the original Invaders from Mars was released in 1953, and this atmospheric, highly influential science fiction film--the first of its kind to be filmed in color--was perfectly in tune with the mood of its time. Jimmy Hunt plays the quintessential American boy of the post-war years--a freckle-faced kid named David who's curious, alert, and possibly prone to elaborate flights of fancy. Then, during a midnight thunderstorm, he witnesses the landing of a flying saucer that buries itself underground in a nearby field. David's father (Leif Erickson) indulges his son's urging to investigate... and thus begins a bizarre and chilling story of alien invasion, with David's cries of "Martians!" falling on deaf ears as more and more adults are abducted, probed, and placed under alien control. Designed and directed by William Cameron Menzies (one of the greatest production designers of Hollywood's golden age, whose credits include Gone with the Wind), this eerie little thriller benefits from Menzies's skill at combining physical settings with psychological undercurrents of paranoid terror and resistance against the alien threat. It's still most effective for younger viewers, with Jimmy Hunt providing the story's youthful point of view. And although the malevolent aliens look campy now, with a leader who resembles a bubble-brained squid in a fishbowl, Invaders from Mars remains one of the seminal science fiction films of its time, paving the way for The War of the Worlds and the rapidly developing trend of alien-invasion thrillers. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 91 more reviews...
 suspenseful! October 25, 2008
Movie captured my imagination and held it entire length. Never boring throughout and I was anxious to see how it would end! Saw movie long ago and stirred the same memories up again of an enjoyable yet scary and entertaining movie. Still sends chills as if it were a true story that could possibly happen in real life if aliens did invade our earth. Good color and clarity! Music background excellent as was storyline. Enjoyable and truly a keeper!
 Goofy but fun October 21, 2008
Don't you just hate it when you're trying to get someone to believe you, and no one will? Especially when it's something important and sounds completely crazy. That's the frustration of David, the young boy in the movie who can't get anyone to listen to him. When he does get a sympathetic ear, he spots the "mark" on the back of their necks indicating they've already been brainwashed by the martians. It was bad enough to see the spaceship land out behind his home, but then his parents get caught and brainwashed too! Then the policeman is the same way. The story is good and keeps you interested even though you do chuckle throughout the movie. The special effects are nothing like todays standards, but this is another one of those great classic sci-fi movies that's fun to watch. The thing that made me laugh the most was the sound that always came about when the sand was opening up for the people to fall through. Sounded more like a chorus of people singing than something eerie but effective anyway. Definitely worth adding to your collection of classic sci-fi / monster movies.
Fun Sci-Fi Classics September 30, 2008
This movie has an ending that sticks with me after more than 50 years! The special effects are just plain silly in places, especially the guys in the green suits charging around in the tunnels time after time after time, and a lot of "leaps of faith" are required to believe the plot, but that is part of the fun.
Real Cult Classic September 24, 2008
I remember seeing this when I was seven years old and the impression it made. It filled my imagination for a week. Compared against modern stuff with special effects it may seem wooden or hollow. But keep in mind that it was made with a shoestring budget when special effects were very limited. Six years later people marveled and were slack jawed when the Red Sea parted in the "Ten Commandments" Arguably, I would group this film with two others of that era, "The Day the earth stood still" and "Forbidden Planet" as sci-fi classics of the time.
 Destroyed by Colorization September 1, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
An OK film, rendered completely worthless by colorization. Not one of the skin tones looks realistic. If I was one of the technicians working on the transfer I would hang my head in shame. Everything looks like a very poorly drawn cartoon.
Please stop doing this to old films. I highly recommend not purchasing this DVD until a black and white version is released.
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