Jack Finney’s novel ‘The Bodysnatchers’ was ideal fodder for Hollywood with its science fiction story seeing an outer space virus taking over humans using them as hosts in a bid to inhabit Earth. It was a story that was also open to subtext and its first big screen iteration in 1956 helmed by Don Siegel where a small town doctor learns that his local community is being replaced by alien duplicates, It was seen as a metaphor for communism and became a sci-fi classic. 1978 saw an equally good remake with Donald Sutherland and one of science fiction’s great final scenes. But Hollywood, with its dearth of good idea remade it only fifteen years later in 1993 with Abel Ferrara of all people helming the project scripted by B-movie master Larry Cohen. It fared badly at the box office and 2007 saw the fourth and to date final remake simply called The Invasion.
This version saw a space shuttle crash to Earth carrying an alien organism. Soon people are changing, becoming detached and emotionless. People like CDC director Tucker Kaufman (Jeremy Northam) who is investigating the crash. Meanwhile his ex-wife, psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman), sees the same behaviour in a friend of their son, and a patient claims that her husband is no longer her husband. As people all across Washington D.C. become infected and the insidious epidemic spreads, Carol must fight to protect herself and her son, who might just hold the key to stopping the escalating invasion.
Produced by action producer Joel Silver he hired German director Oliver Hirschbiegel whose film ‘Downfall’ about Hitler’s final days had garnered much acclaim and attaining meme greatness with Bruno Ganzl Hitler screaming, Nein Nein Nein’ repeatedly. With Nicole Kidman cast as the lead and an upcoming Daniel Craig who would find out he had been cast as James Bond during filming the relatively short shoot would almost immediately displease the studio who hired the Wachowski’s to rewrite scenes and bought in James McTeigue to direct those new scenes at great expense.
What finally hit the screens was a far from bad film and today, after a worldwide pandemic caused by the leaked Chinese virus, has ‘The Invasion’ feeling alarmingly prescient. But audiences just didn’t take to it with the film making only $40m worldwide, roughly half what the film had cost to make. Unfortunately a featurette of the films woes is not included in the bonus features included on this new blu-ray release of The Invasion. What we have instead is…..
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by film critics Andrea Subisati and Alexandra West, co-hosts of The Faculty of Horror podcast
• Body Snatchers and Beyond, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller Nicholas
• That Bug That’s Going Around, a new visual essay exploring The Invasion as pandemic prophecy by film scholar Josh Nelson
• We’ve Been Snatched Before, an archival featurette from 2007
• The Invasion: A New Story, an archival featurette from 2007
• The Invasion: On the Set, an archival featurette from 2007
• The Invasion: Snatched, an archival featurette from 2007
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critics William Bibbiani and Sally Christie
• Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket - Double-sided fold out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
The Invasion is far from being awful but it pales in comparison to the first two iterations of the films both classics in their own right. For an action producer like Joel Silver whose credits include Die Hard, Letha Weapon and Predator it’s light on action preferring instead claustrophobic atmosphere.
The bonus features are a mixed bunch too with archival featurettes from around the film’s release belying what was going on behind the scenes and instead we have the dreaded commentary from critics and experts which are rarely if ever satisfactory when what you want to hear is that of the director himself. Equally ‘visual essays’ are the stuff of the college academic and its little different here making this new 4K UHD limited edition re-release one for completists of the novel’s many versions and remakes.
related feature : Stop Motion genius Phil Tippett and how George Lucas hired him for Star Wars & that chess set scene
related feature : Abel Ferrara talks Ethan Hawke, pandemic film shoots & a Driller Killer sequel…..
Here’s The Invasion trailer ……
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