Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) | Brooke Adams, Maurice Argent

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) | Brooke Adams, Maurice Argent | Kaufman's revisonist remake of "Body Snatchers" will keep you awake

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Invasion of the Bo...

	Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Brooke Adams, Maurice Argent MGM (Video & DVD), 1997 average customer review:based on 101 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel has been the basis of three big-screen adaptations, beginning with the 1956 chiller Invasion of the Body Snatchers and most recently as 1994's underrated Body Snatchers. This acclaimed 1978 version from director Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) is every bit as creepy as the '56 original, and it fits perfectly into the cycle of paranoid thrillers that thrived in American movies of the 1970s. Kaufman stylishly directs from an intelligent screenplay by W.D. Richter, while Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams lead a distinguished cast (including Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and Veronica Cartwright) and must fight for survival as the population of San Francisco is systematically cloned by alien "pods" from a distant, dying planet. The atmosphere of dread and paranoia grows increasingly intense as the complexity of the alien invasion is gradually revealed, until nobody can be trusted to be who they appear. Finely tuned performances enhance the film's eerie atmosphere, highlighted by moments that will lurk in your memory long after the movie's over. MGM's DVD release includes a full-length audio commentary by Kaufman, a "pod culture" retrospective, Body Snatchers trivia, production notes, and the original theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon

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"There are people who will fight you, David..."

Philip Kaufmann's 1978 sci-fi/horror masterpiece "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" creates a sense of paranoia as effectively as ingesting a bad dose of LSD while being pursued by the local police, the Army, and Homeland Security.

Donald Sutherland plays Matthew Bennell, a local health inspector with a happy life in San Francisco who first appears admonishing a restaurant owner for trying to disguise rat feces in his customer's spaghetti as chocolate. "It isn't chocolate", Sutherland says as the camera closes on his huge nose: "It's a rat turd!" This otherwise humorous introduction is a fitting introduction for the film's content and underlying message: that somewhere, even in the calmest and most placid of situations, there is something very wrong.

Brooke Adams, a fellow scientist who works at Bennell's lab, begins to notice that her boyfriend is behaving very strangely. Once an average guy who enjoyed baseball and worked hard, he becomes numb and emotionless in his actions. Wondering if this is some kind of problem in her relationship, she makes the mistake of consulting Dr. David Hicks, the classic late 70's Freudian, self assured, Transcendental Meditation goofball. Kaufmann is obviously having fun ridiculing the post-1960's cultural debris: even the veiny, disgusting pink flowers that are slowly growing in the gardens of every SF resident suggests a rejection of the naivete of "Flower Power". Well here it is, Kaufman seems to be saying, and it can be used any way the establishment wants.

The Pod People, according to the logical Dr. Hicks, come from a dying planet and want to survive; they wait for human beings to fall asleep, and then create an exact double which eradicates memory and personality entirely. There are such repulsive, I-want-to-throw-up moments in this movie that I'm surprised it was rated PG-13. When Sutherland's Bennell is forced axe and torch his Pod duplicate, the special effects are so realistic as to make one churn. The streets of the city become gigantic Pod Production areas: people mechanically carrying what look like gigantic watermelons. The atmosphere of panic and terror (there is no real chance of Bennell, Adam's character, Jeff Goldblum's pretentious but noble poet actually escaping) grows to such a pitch that within half an hour it's pretty obvious what is going to happen. Perhaps the most chilling scene is when Bennell calls 911 to inform them of what is happening. The response on the other line is: "Stay right there, Mr. Bennell." They know exactly who he is and exactly where he is.

The ending of this movie is perfect, though I won't reveal it. This is chock full of surprises, gross-outs, and in it's own way serves as a sort of warning sign for what happens when we stop paying attention to controlling factors around us. A must see.

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Kaufman's revisonist remake of "Body Snatchers" will keep you awake

Usually remakes of films that were successful the first time don't succeed but sometimes they do like in this sci-fi/horror film by Philip Kaufman. Aided by a great cast headed by Donald Sutherland in a rare good guy role, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy as ever Spock like as the New Age shrink--we get off beat thriller with overtones of dark humor. The humorous puns at the age of conscicousness fall right in the line with the impending horror of the situation that the main characters fall into. This is what marks this remake or revisonist film of the original a little different. Also of course with a higher budget, we get some pretty good gross out effects particularly when Sutherland and Adams run over one of the pods. Jazz composer/musician Denny Zeitlin's score also accentuates the drama and tension of this piece. As far as the other remakes or revisions of this classic tale by Jack Finney, forget it!! The latest one with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig was a dud and the Abel Ferrara version with the lovely Gabrielle Anwar was passable and short--that's the only praise I can give. If you liked the original '56 version with Kevin McCarthy (who does a cameo here along with the original director, Don Siegel)--then do check it out. I only gave this 4 stars because the original is still the best!!

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Insatiable

Excellent! A must see! Certainly a collector's choice. Well acted! I'd definitely recommend it to others!!

Nice To See It With Good Transfer & Plenty Of Extras

It's nice to see a good widescreen transfer of this solid horror/sci-fi story from 20 years ago. It looks great!

Solid production values include outstanding direction by Philip Kaufman, camera-work by Michael Chapman and acting by Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright. Of the group, Sutherland had the most lines and was the most impressive. All of it added up to a pretty classy film, a lot more than you'd expect reading the movie title.

There was some profanity and nudity so maybe it wasn't totally classy, but the profanity was light and the nudity was a few very quick shots.

The movie clicked because it built up the suspense beautifully, and proved you don't need a lot of violence and gore to scare the viewer. Too bad modern filmmakers of horror films can't seem to understand that. In fact the scariest thing of the movie - and it WAS scary - might have been the eerie noises emanating from the "re-born" humans.

The original film in 1956 is a good one but it's generally conceded this re-make is superior. The star of that first film, by the way - Kevin McCarthy, makes a cameo appearance in here. That was a nice touch.

In addition, this package offers a second disc full of features: great stuff!

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Of all remakes, this one is worth the money.

Let me say that I am usually against all remakes of classic movies, even if it is meant to update the subject and bring it forth to younger audiences.

In my view, younger audiences should make a culture for themselves, by watching the classics as they were and then, eventually, move on, not the other way round.

It is just watching "Romeo + Juliet" (Leonardo DiCaprio's vehicle), and pretending to know Shakespeare.
It is simply an insult to good taste and culture as such.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) is no Shakespeare and does not pretend to be an everlasting classic.
It is not even a remake as such. It is a follow-up to the original 1956 counterpart of the same name, which still remains a chilling and effective movie to this day (a bit like Hitchcock movies).

It is serious and respects the parameters of the earlier movie, only adding some more scientific detail and auto-ironic undertones to the subject.

The cast could not have been better chosen. Donald Sutherland, who also later appeared in Robert Henlein's "Puppet Masters", Jeff Goldblum (The Fly, Jurassic Park), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock of Star Trek lore), Veronica Cartwright and Brooke Adams, are all very dedicated actors.
The brief appearance of Kevin McCarthy adds to the ties with its original counterpart and reminds us that the threat is still among us,... and spreading.

I have watched it through the years, and must say that this is one hell of a movie.
The only thing that may set it in its own age, are the clothes (the fashion) worn in the late seventies, but once you get dragged into the story, you might even forget that and be really "sucked" in it.
From then on, it is a movie that really grips you and keeps you alert.

It is more than just a common Sci-Fi flick. Like the classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still", it is science fiction for the thinking man.

It is more metaphor than just plain and simple sci-fi and addresses issues of ethnology and sociology in a manner not usually seen in other movies.

For that, this Collector's Edition, which also sports a cleaner image and a conventional, but very clean Surround sound, and a few extras for the cinephile in you, is well worth your attention and your money.

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