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Summary: Nothing to fear in Kaufman's Invasion but fear itself
Review: The FDR quote "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" is the thought-provoking premise of Philip Kaufman's remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While Kaufman's Invasion offers a similiar plot(humans battling inert alien replicants)the subtext is refreshingly different. The original's subtext was infamously McCarthyist(the battlelines of Communism encroaching on a 'sleepy' postwar America). Kaufman's version isn't as judgemental, and plays like a Jack London shortstory in that it reveals one of life's sad truths: nature often shapes us in ways we are unable to control. Kaufman makes Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, and Veronica Cartwright more anti-heroic than 'good'. And the pod people's purpose isn't political--it's survival. While Sutherland and company are the last remnants of humanity, they mostly embody everything that is bad about it(from Sutherland and Adams's adultry to Goldblum's relentless envy of Leonard Nimoy). As Invasion transpires, it is increasingly evident that the pod people represent the amorality that change itself often is, and Sutherland and company embody man's natural aprehension to it. In fact, Kaufman brilliantly inserts a scene where the song "Amazing Grace" wafts in the background. The song metaphorically summarizes Invasion's point: the real enemy isn't change but those who fear it and refuse to adapt.
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Summary: Good
Review: The remake of the absolutely wonderful remake livelier, faster paced, and relatively lame. The Directors shows off behind the camera with obtrusive camera angles, and the ending is an insult. The acting is excellent, though.
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Summary: Creepy!!!!!!!
Review: One of the few times when the reamke is better than the original. An excellent cast, terrific direction a dog with a human head and one smacker of an ending make this one of the genres' best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Summary: Freaky
Review: This one beats the 1993 version by lots of stars. I really liked this one. The ending was so cool!
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Summary: A wonderfully creepy movie...
Review: I've always been fascinated by the 1978 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Its theme, the loss of humanity, is presented with subtlety and great intensity, through the sound design, the acting, the music, the photography, and the special effects. So this new DVD is really a treasure. It has excellent picture and sound quality, a great trailer, and a very informative and insightful commentary by the director, Philip Kaufman. This is an epic movie about one of the 20th century's greatest tragedies: the systematic, deliberate conversion of humanity into drones. As such, it is mostly serious in tone, but it does have many moments of quirkiness. Highly recommended!
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Summary: A superb remake
Review: I don't understand all the praise given the original. As I see it, the remake is superior, being much more effective. END
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Summary: They're coming! They're coming!
Review: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is one of the earliest science fiction films I remember seeing. A superior remake of the 1956 original, it's both chilling and funny. In San Francisco, people are beginning to "change". They seem to lack feeling. This is because they are not human, they are replicas, grown from seeds that came to Earth from space. Donald Sutherland plays a health inspector. His friend and co-worker (Brooke Adams) tells him that her husband seems different. Over time more and more people are becoming unlike themselves. It feels like some sort of conspiracy is afoot. Sure enough, an alien invasion is slowly unfolding. This film is about four people's fight to preserve their humanity. The basic message is, if you are not an individual, your own person, you are virtually dead. Love, hate, fear, and anger are what colour our lives. There are certain things in the film that suggest dark humour. Whenever you see the rubbish truck, you know another person has been "replaced". If you listen carefully, you sometimes hear that alien shriek among the everyday noises of traffic and city crowds. Kevin McCarthy, who starred in the 1956 version, has a cameo, again trying to warn people what is happening (to no avail). The film's ending is completely unexpected.
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Summary: Don't go to sleep
Review: One of the creepiest movies I've ever seen. Instead of the humanoid-appearing aliens so typical in most sci-fi films THIS movie goes in the other direction by portraying the aliens as seemingly harmless plants, which adds a rather terrifying irony to the proceedings. What these plants do once near a sleeping person (or animal) has to be seen to be appreciated because the special effects here are unsettlingly real. All of the actors do a splendid job in portraying their characters, from the quirky and nuerotic Jeff Goldblum to the intuitive and resilient Veronica Cartwright. The stolid but slightly off-beat Donald Sutherland, to the emotionally suspicious Brooke Adams. All are terrific here! Another thing that makes this movie so suspenseful is the masterful use of paranoia, which starts on a low simmer, building gradually, till by the movie's end everything is turned up to a heart-pounding, raging boil. All along the way you're virtually on the edge of your seat. So the next time you're out walking and find a rather strange looking plant growing amongst the shrubbery, think twice before bringing it in your home. But why worry, it's only a plant - right???
Rating: 
Summary: The Good, the Slow, the Cheap
Review: The Good are the effects. Really, this movie looks quite good for neary 30 years old. Often the effects border on what is being done now, which is an amazing feat. Sutherland gives a solid starring performance as does Brooke Adams (seen also in Shock Waves).
The Slow is the movie. This movie is longer than necessary and could have used a lot of editing. For instance: The silly conversation with Nimoy about who saw what body and when borders on an Abbott and Costello "whose on first" routine which doesn't bode well for a horror movie. Even when Sotherland shows up to destroy the "facilty" seemed like fluff. I mean the whole city has been taken over, what's the point? To show explosions? This sequence just seemed to further drag out the movie.
The Cheap is of course the price. Hard to imagine that movies would ever be this cheap with commentaries and the bells and whistles. I suppose I could assign "cheap" to the silly dog effect with the human face that looked terrible, not to mention... awful. It seemed forced also for the people (like Adams) to know "right away" that there loved ones seem different...
Still, this movie is worth your time but simply isn't a classic. In many ways this reminds me of John Carpenters "The Thing"; solid remake but eludes the greatness of true horror classics like the Exorcist or Halloween.
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Summary: Resistance Is Futile...
Review: Yep, the pods are here and only a poodle-haired Donald Sutherland (Animal House) can save us! Brooke Adams (Shock Waves) is Elizabeth, a woman who calls on him for help after her boyfriend starts acting strange. Jeff Goldblum (The Fly, Jurassic Park) and Veronica Cartwright (Alien) are a couple who find an odd humanoid, covered in goo, in their mud-spa salon. The city of San Francisco is soon overrun by these artificial people who look just like the folks they've replaced! You see, once you fall asleep you're doomed! Leonard Nimoy is a famous psychiatrist (or is he?) who may or may not be trying to assist Elizabeth and the others. Join in on the paranoid fun as our heroes attempt to stay awake until they can somehow defeat this green-blooded menace from space! Lots of creepy-crawly moments, like the infamous man-faced dog! I can still hear it's toenails clicking on the pavement! IOTBS is a sci-fi / horror feast for the true connoisseur of dread. A must for your DVD vault...
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