Rating: 
Summary: Good of Kind - Great Production Design
Review: Some great images for film enthusiasts in this 50's thriller: The swirling, sucking sand pit; pretty woman face down on glass slab as the Martians' hi-tech lobotomy-needle descends to realign her chakras; proto-fascist-looking Police Station; and Mr. Big Head the Martian King with Tentacles in the see-through Globe leering left and right. This is one of those Grade B sci-fis from the early 50s that scared the bejesus out of kids who grew up on TV in the early to mid sixties, as it played almost every other Saturday morning on the rabbit-eared black-and-white. Post-mod critics contend it was a 'cold war' film whose subtext warned America of the evils of Communism, but one could just as easily posit it a warning of falling into any 'popular mind'. What lifted INVADERS above most low-budget widgets of that period was Menzies' super production design: the designer-director had a great gift for queasy imagery (ok, call him a 50s Lynch if you must), and a lot of that is on display here, as mentioned above. Jimmy Hunt turns in a good performance as the spooked kid who may be dreaming, or not. Mom and Dad are your typical good-looking 50s archetypes, and contribute well to the sense of menace suffered by the poor kid. And then there's the scary choir/organ music that accompanies every image of someone getting sucked down into the sandpit.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Sci-Fi
Review: Attempting to remake this Sci-Fi classic back in 1986, was a mistake from the time it was even suggested. It could never be done. What we have here is a fictional story that was written almost 50 years ago, when alien life forms were described as "little green men" and UFOs were decribed as "flying saucers." But, the idea was there and it made for a truly classic science fiction film that in some regards is still underrated by Hollywood today. What's sad is that a classic film such as this, was never well cared for in the vaults. As a result, the current VHS and DVD releases had to be made from different sets of prints, where we see scratches, drop-out and deterioration along the way. Despite this, what's nice about the current video and DVD release is that they contain scenes that were taken out when distributed to TV stations when shown in the 70s and 80s. So, if you grew up watching it on late night television like I did back then, it'll be a whole new experience. Watch it with your kids and skip watching "Gone With the Wind" or "The Godfather." This is a real golden oldie.
Rating:
Summary: Thanks To Mr. Wedding...
Review: Thanks a lot to Dan Wedding(a reviewer of this film in March 2001) for ruining the film for anyone who hasn't seen it. He's done everything but the soundtrack. A wonderful "period piece" over-reviewed by an online amateur with no idea of when to stop writing.
Rating: 
Summary: ¿They Were Green and Had a Raygun!¿
Review: The 1953 (original) Invaders from Mars, directed by William Cameron Menzies, opens with an epilogue about the importance of science. It then quickly switches to a scene in which we are introduced to an idyllic family: a doting father and mother and their scientifically precocious son. The father is an engineer working on a top-secret project ("Mary, you know I can't talk about that"). The son is looking out of a telescope in the middle of the night when a flying saucer happens to land in his bucolic backyard, only to be swallowed up by the sand dunes behind the house. The father, incredulous at first, goes out to investigate, only to return a changed man. David, the son (played by Jimmy Hunt ), is certain his father has changed because of Zombie-like expression and his dramatically different personality. David's suspicions are further confirmed when he discovers his father has a small but bloody protrusion on the back of his neck. This turns out to be a crystalline device that alien invaders (Martians) have used to take control of the father's mind and destroy his personal volition. A large number of other townspeople are subsequently swallowed up by the sand dunes and emerge to wreck havoc on the little town (e.g., a sweet little girl becomes demonic and burns down her mother's home). A local health official, Dr. Pat Blake, befriends David and appears to be the only person willing to place any credence in his story. She confirms the intellectual plausibility of his claims by consulting with a scientist she is dating, and together she and her boyfriend rally the military to take on the alien invaders. The military use altogether conventional weapons (tanks and dynamite) to fight the invaders, but appear determined and equal to the task. ("If it's a fight they want, they're going to get it!"). The Martians are large green automatons, wearing jump suits and goggles, who comically lumber through the underground caverns they create. The are controlled by a multi-armed being who apparently lives in a bubble, incapable of even rudimentary ambulation, despite the assertion that "He is mankind developed to its ultimate intelligence." This being has bloodshot eyes and never speaks, but constantly casts nervous, furtive glances from side to side as the battle unfolds. David and the beautiful Dr. Blake are eventually swallowed up by the sand and taken captive by the green men. Tension builds as we watch a whirring needle about to pierce the nubile neck of Dr. Blake; fortunately, she and David are rescued before penetration actually occurs. The spacecraft emerges from the earth like a large, pustulant boil about to erupt; however, the munitions of the Army ultimately prove to be effective and equal to the task of defending the country. The saucer is blown apart at the last possible moment. Some critics have suggested that Invaders from Mars is the classic cold war film. It suggests paranoia regarding nuclear warfare and the development of new weapons that we cannot comprehend (e.g., rayguns). The enemy surreptitiously positions itself while the town leaders sleep, and everyone refuses to believe only person who really comprehends the full magnitude of the impending destruction. Good eventually triumphs over evil, but the triumph may be illusory - David awakens from what turns out to be only a nightmare, goes to the window, and then sees the identical flying saucer once again landing in the backyard. It is clear that constant vigilance is the price we pay to avert conquest by alien enemies.
Rating:
Summary: A classic 1950's Sci-Fi
Review: If you like 1950's Sci-Fi movies, or enjoy watching them with your kids (I love educating my kids to the classics),this is the perfect "watch-at-night-with-popcorn movie." There are no whiz-bang effects (ballons and something that looks like boiling spaghetti sauce are used inside Martian tunnels under the sandpit) and the Martian costumes are pretty silly, but the story and character development more than make up for any shortcomings. I own both the VHS and DVD of this movie and I love the DVD. I don't think a print worthy of total restoration exists and the audio is just OK (no spectacular Surround effects) but the DVD does have original trailers on it and it does not have the inherent pifalls of tape (drop outs, even worse color and audio). My kids (and even my wife) get hooked on this film when I play it. The suspense starts right away and the film gets you "inside" David (the starring character in the movie) so you feel his frustration in his attempts to reveal the secrets of the "Sand Pit." Everyone, at some point in their lives, will have a nightmare where they run from an enemy and can never escape. This is the movie made from that nightmare.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Quality
Review: This is a great movie! I remember watching it as a kid and getting so scared! If you are into old Science Fiction movies, than you will love this! I would recommend that you get the VHS copy, because the DVD version is horrible! This is why I have given it 3 stars. No remastering has been do to it! Still, buy the VHS. It's great!
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Scary and Satisfying
Review: My only regret when i watch this film is that, although i have read that it was made in 3D, (apparently) no 3D prints still exist. That's sad, because i can imagine that the effect of several of the sets would be even greater in 3D. The basic plot is fairly well-known -- boy sees flying saucer land and hide itself in a sand-pit near his home, sees his father captured by aliens, and can't make anyone believe him till it's almost Too Late. This is a film designed to play to several of the things that children feel even if they can't voice them clearly -- that adults are arbitrary and uncaring, that no-one listens to what kids have to say, and so on. The visual design (Menzies was, after all, primarily a designer) plays to that quite well. Since the main part of the film is, apparenly, revealed as a dream, Menzies can go in for such surreally-portrayed sets as the police station, in which the desk sergeant's desk looms so far above the boy who is trying to report horrible events, and almost the only other feature of the set is the clock on a wall far away. (Imagine that shot in 3D). And, yes, the costumes of the "aliens" are a bit cheesey, and the special effects are almost fifty years out of date... but these are details, and minor ones; the film as a whole does a wonderful job of capturing a childhood nightmare and making us, if only briefly, live it and recall what it was like to be a child... ((The recent wonderful film "The Iron Giant" includes a brief visual homage to this film...))
Rating:
Summary: This film is a True Classic!
Review: This film is a true classic! It scared me half to death when I was a kid, and my best friend still does an excellent job of making that bubbling sound when the aliens boil and dissovle walls in their paths. I absolutely love this film. Yes, I know it was made around the time of the cold war paranoia, but I think it has more to do with wierd aliens and wierd sounds and science fiction than fear of any human political systems. You have to buy this film if only to see that cool little guy in the glass bottle with the shifty eyes.
Rating: 
Summary: Quintesssential '50's Sci-fi
Review: The 1950's were a movie theater-goers dream come true, particularly if you were a kid and loved sci-fi. It seemed like every Saturday in the summer we were off to the matinee with our silver quarters to see the likes of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", or "Them!", or "The War of the Worlds", or this low budget marvel, "Invaders from Mars." By now, almost everyone knows about it and its cold war innuendo. But as kids, we didn't know and couldn't have cared less. All we knew was "Invaders from Mars" was scary and memorable, particularly the last sequence with the flash-backs and the Martians' bizarre surgical procedures which turned lovable citizens into obedient, nefarious saboteurs (anyone for a commie takeover)? And who could forget the tentacled, silver-painted, cold blooded Martian leader in the glass dome? ("He is mankind developed to it's ultimate potential"). Instant nightmare material. The picture quality isn't anything to rave about, even on the current DVD. There are plenty of celluloid carry-over scratches here and there and some segments, particularly during the last third of the film where they're in the dark a lot, seem a little washed-out. What's most irritating to me, however, is that the section in the observatory where Arthur Franz and Jimmy Hunt are reviewing models of various types of space craft which could be visiting Earth, has been omitted. Most people probably won't miss it though. Nevertheless, "Invaders from Mars" is still quintessential sci-fi of a bygone era. It is testimony to just how a fast pace, good story and keen directing (William Cameron Menzies) can overshadow a modest budget. It is every bit worth the price of admission!
Rating:
Summary: hmm, i've seen better
Review: well this seems to be one of the first bodysnatcher type movies, so it has its originality. the paranoia and fear of the kid when no one will listen is relatable too. for those points i gave it a 2. however the ending makes no sense, and i particularly don't like it when a movie ends with someone waking up, because either way it wasn't real to me anyway. the remake of this was awful. i wouldn't dare call this scary though, however, it has its originality in that it was one the very first and has since been copied in hundreds of ways. I wouldn't recommend it though.
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