They're Here! The Film Festival From Beyond the Stars
The theme for this outing is aliens, but not aliens in space where you expect to run into them, but aliens among us, right here on planet Earth. I wanted to narrow the field even a little further to the inimical visitors from the great beyond, so we (happily) needn't consider E.T., but (sadly) won't be considering some of the other excellent friendly-and-or-bewildered alien visitor films. We'll get back to these. Has there ever been an alien invasion movie where the aliens won in the end? I can't think of one offhand. As primitive, ignorant, stupid, backward and barbaric as we are, humanity always seems to triumph when the credits roll. Films like Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Invaders from Mars, and War of the Worlds were staples of my childhood movie-viewing, and it's always been a theme near and dear to my heart. As one gets older, one starts to wonder what on earth (so to speak) technologically advanced aliens would want on earth, but there's always a little place inside where one hopes that they'd show up anyway so we could kick their xenomorphic asses. So, charge up your pulse rifles and grab your popcorn, and get ready to be invaded.
- Mars Attacks! Tim Burton makes a full-length feature out of a series of cheesy bubble-gum cards, and does a terrific job of it. Lots of little homages to other movies in here: the Martian flying saucers are close to identical to the ones in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and the bit with the flag in the War Room is a steal from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. A great cast, including Jack Nicholson and Jack Nicholson, Michael J. Fox, Glenn Close, Martin Short, Natalie Portman before she got to be Queen and even Tom Jones. The Martians are just great, and the secret weapon at the end is priceless. If you haven't seen this movie, what's wrong with you?
- The Hidden. There's an alien on the loose in LA, and it might be hiding inside your next-door neighbor's body. Said alien enjoys stealing cars and robbing banks, and tends to get its hosts' bodies so damaged in such short order that it needs to move on to the next one right away. The best part of the film (aside from all the other great parts) is the chemistry between Michael Nouri as the homicide detective who thinks he's seen it all and Kyle McLaughlin as a very strange sort of FBI agent, even stranger than Dale Cooper. A must-see from the otherwise un-noteworthy Jack Sholder.
- Independence Day. The Titanic of alien invasion films, but better scripted and better acted, with extremely decent direction by Roland Emmerich. Special effects are a big draw here, and they're great, from 15 mile diameter alien ships to blowing up the White House and Empire State Building to incredible dogfights with the alien UFOs. Another star-heavy cast, but put to good use, with Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner is possibly his most un-Data-like role ever. This movie is proof that a wily hacker can beat any operating system, even an alien one, if he's fortunate enough to be using a Mac. Macintosh: the choice of nine out of ten defenders of Earth!
- Predator. Kind of a small-scale invasion, but the alien in question is definitely inimical. One of soon-to-be-governerminator Schwarzenegger's better vehicles, it has him battling--along with his rapidly diminishing Special Forces team--a big game hunter from beyond the stars in the jungles of Central America. May be particularly interesting in that it's probably the only movie ever made which will have featured two future governors, Ah-nold and ex-governor of Minnesota, Jesse "The Mind" Ventura. John McTiernan knows how to do action and horror, as evidenced by his previous film, Nomads, and his subsequent one, Die Hard. This film's the best of both worlds. So to speak.
- The Arrival. Charlie Sheen is a radio astronomer who stumbles upon the true source of global warming: alien invaders are busily xenoforming our planet to their preferences by masquerading as humans and taking over power companies. Not a big budget picture, but still has a bunch of decent effects. The aliens are cool, the story's reasonably intelligent and David Twohy give non-intrusive, if not especially inspired, direction.
- Bad Taste. An early Peter Jackson outing which would probably horrify a lot of Lord of the Rings fans. Aliens are here, and making away with people, having discovered that...we're delicious! An intergalactic fast-food chain is hitching its wagon to its own version of Soylent Green, and it's time to stock up on supplies. Made on an excruciatingly low budget, but giving great value, this has cheesy special effects, bad acting, but is way funny.
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers. A quieter than usual invasion, these aliens come in giant seed pods and turn into you overnight. I'm torn between the 1956 Kevin McCarthy version, which has a quiet underlying sense of paranoia that made it such a fine metaphor for a host of Cold War worries, and the 1978 Donald Sutherland version, which is rather more overt, which--of course--appeals to me. You'll just have to see 'em both and make up your own minds. Keep an eye out for a cameo by Kevin McCarthy in the remake.
- Invaders from Mars. Another one that's been made twice. The 1953 original was similar in its paranoid approach to Body Snatchers, with some very imaginative direction by William Cameron Menzies--check out some of the weird camera angles and the forced perspective on a number of the sets, which enhance the sense of increasing oppression. This movie pioneered the "implant at the back of neck". The Martians are incredibly cheesy, as are the rest of the effects, which is one of the reasons I'm happy that they remade it. The 1986 version is a lot of fun, true to the original but with much bettter effects and a cast that manages to get a lot of fun out of imitating themselves as they become mind-slaves to the invaders. I especially like Timothy Bottoms and Laraine Newman as the parents who are the Martians' first victims. One of Tobe Hooper's better pieces.
- Strange Invaders. This one's an odd little film that I've always liked, although it's hard to pin down why. It's a sort of spoof of this genre of movie, but it's a little on the edgy side. Lots of funny little touches, and side references to everything from The Day the Earth Stood Still to Close Encounters. Not much in the way of effects, but entertaining nonetheless, especially if you're enough of a genre fan to spot the jokes.
- The Blob. Most alien invaders are intelligent. This one's just hungry. Proving that you can't rehash a good theme often enough, this one's been made twice as well, but I find the 1988 remake to be head-and-shoulders better than the 1958 original. Any movie which stars Steve McQueen is not going to be getting any Oscars for acting, and I find the first version is best suited to the Mystery Science Theater treatment: "CO2, Dave! CO2!" "NO2, Steve! NO2!" The remake is a lot better put-together, with nifty effects. Chuck Russell's a solid action director, also responsible for Eraser and The Mask.