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| Invaders from Mars (Special Edition) | 
| 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: $5.13
You Save: $4.86 (49%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $5.13
Avg. Customer Rating:  (92 reviews)
Sales Rank: 5455
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Special Edition, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 79 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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Product 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!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating:NR UPC:014381136227 Manufacturer No:ID1362CODVD
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 87 more reviews...
 Destroyed by Colorization September 1, 2008
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.
 "Old Classic" August 16, 2008
This is an old classic sci-fi flick I remember as a child. I found myself checking the back of my parents neck for an alien implant..it really scared me as a child...watching it again as an adult, brings back memories... at which now I can laugh..great flick..
 INVADERS FROM MARS - Another Great Old Sci-fi Flick August 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
INVADERS FROM MARS is another great old sci-fi film that I remember from my youth. I could only grant the film three stars today but would have gladly rated it four stars as a child of the 50's. This film had outstanding screen images, interesting sound effects, great music, wonderful sets, and a basic theme which would be frightening to any kid who remembers desperately trying to convince "grownups" of anything.
Memorable screen images included: the classic saucer shape descending out of a dark stormy sky towards the earth, the scary looking fence on the hill out back, the green mindless slaves and the "head man" of Mars. The music was haunting, including the often repeated theme conveyed by vocals and beautiful flutes. Many of the sets were simple but effective, using a good solid dose of forced perspective, color and symbolism. Good vs bad folks were simply represented using black and white for costumes, in the well worn tradition of the American western.
I must agree with one comment made by others about the moderate quality of the DVD transfer. An accurate reproduction was made of every flaw and scratch in the original film stock (along with clear portions of the film). I am surprised a better quality original could not be found for such an important example of early American sci-fi film. However, it did not really interfere with enjoying the movie.
One last comment, the science presented by the local town astronomer, along with the good fiction of the story, was very poor and almost an embarrassment to any fan with a decent high school science education. What the hey, it was only the 50's and the film was mainly for kids.
Think how far we have come from films like Invaders from Mars in the early 50's, 2001 in the late 60's, to the current stock and trade of great sci-fi films having great special effects presented by the current masters of this film genre.
Classic July 27, 2008
My favorite all-time film brought back to life and better than ever. Nice addition of the British version as well.
Invaders: The Pros and Cons July 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
(By the way, 3 stars is for the DVD, not the movie. This is a very bad copy of a great film. The picture is grainy and filled with lines.)
Pros:
-This is one of the all time classic sci fi films.
-It starts off with a bang, very similar to Finney's Body Snatchers at first.
-Let's face it, this film is just plain fun.
-Wonderful exemplar of all things that are 50s sci fi!
-I love the Martian! (The little silver guy in the glass ball, not the "Mutants.")
-People getting pulled down through the sand and then later showing up acting different is very creepy stuff.
Cons:
-The "body snatcher" aspect of the story is abandoned too quickly, and was not played up enough.
-The quality of the film's picture is pure rubbish.
-WAY too excessive use of stock footage. You will quickly tire of watching tanks roll around in terrain that isn't even remotely similar to where the main characters are.
-During the climatic underground chase, the same exact scenes get played over and over and over again, as though we're so stupid that we wouldn't notice.
-The ending of the American version of the film is just plain dumb.
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