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Summary: A Classic, Classy '50s Sci-Fi Excursion Into Paranoia
Review: This '50s film is one of a handful that capture something essential about the era in which it was made. American society was catapulted without much (if any) preparation into an era of atomic weapons capable of unthinkable destruction and an implacable enemy (communism) which had those same weapons and seemed bent on wiping us out. It was something straight out of science fiction, so how better to address it than in a science-fiction story? By virtue of its low budget, the film doesn't go in for many special effects but concentrates, like Hitchcock at his best, on slowly building foreboding and fear of something that can't be real...then little by little we learn that maybe it is...then it is right there in front of us, unbelievable but TRUE! Whether one thinks it is about Red-baiting McCarthyism (which fits) or the creeping Red menace (which also fits), the film works in the best sense because it shows the effects of a deadly but seemingly familiar enemy on identifiable characters and setting (a small, wholesome American town). And, like so many American characters in fact and fiction, Kevin McCarthy's Dr. Miles Bennell, trying to warn us all and having lost everything in the attempt, winds up on a highway shouting, "They're HERE ALREADY! You're next!" to people who just don't want to hear. A remarkable film, and in its intimacy and truth, perhaps as relevant today as when it was made.
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Summary: Packing a Wallop!
Review: One can only imagine if the audiences of 1956 upon first viewing this film would have been effected without the absurd prologue and epilogue. This is about the tighest 76 minutes ever commited to film. Don Siegel does not waste a frame. As one gets engrossed in the film , real time vs. reel time become disjointed. Finally, just imagine audiences leaving the theater right after seeing Kevin McCarthy yelling " Your,e Next..Your,e Next ...Your,e Next!!
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Summary: One of the finest sf films ever made
Review: I remember the first time I saw Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I was scared. Very scared. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched it in the intervening years, yet seeing it in its original aspect ratio on this dvd was like seeing it again for the first time. This cleaned up, digitally remastered version is excellent. Although not on a par with the stunning Psycho Collector's Edition, Invasion's black and white picture is reasonably sharp and has a lot of depth. The sound is, naturally, mono but clear and has minimal hiss.The movie still has the power to invoke an incredible sense of paranoia. Kevin McCarthy - in easily his finest role (Flamingo Road, anyone?!) - plays Miles Bennell with assuredness, making his transition from a calm rational man into the panicked messenger of humankind's ultimate fate all the more enthralling. Memorable moments abound: the seed pods in the greenhouse, the final kiss, the closing moments on the freeway. All are outstanding, but the scene guaranteed to rivet you to your seat is when the eyes of the body on the pool table open for the first time - a masterfully directed scene courtesy of Don Siegel. Easily on a par with other 50's sf classics such as The Day The Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet (and Invasion has more tension and excitement than either) this comes highly recommended. But don't watch it just before you go to bed... END
Rating: 
Summary: It's alright but I probably missed the political point
Review: Having been born well after the McCarthy era the political sub-text was lost on me. I just thought it was another one of those 50s sci-fi b movies made. Of course I had vague ideas of America at the time and how they were run but I didn't exactly join the dots together and link them up. What I saw was a sci-fi b-movie - nothing else. Still it wasn't bad I got this really cheap in a store ( 5 euros ) and basically what I got looked like I bought a copy of some guy's video. I'm not complaining about it considering 5 euros for a DVD is alright and besides - it was nothing major. It was in colour and it started off bizarrely. Bizarre in the sense at how the music was so strange and how for the first 15 minutes of the film it was all just people falling down a hole somewhere out in the fields. Seems fairly stupid so far but I do admit that it was quite frightening when the dad lashed out at his son. The realism in that shot was something I hadn't seen before. Basically you can get the story now about what's about to happen and I won't want to say anymore in case I might ruin the film for you ( nobody likes that do they ). But I will say that I found the Martians and their underground lair to be rather pathetic. OK just the lair then. When the men in green suits start undertaking their tasks it's pretty funny to see white balloons just sway a little as if a little gentle breeze had passed. And the amount of times you had to hear " Let me go let go let me go " it really begins to get on your nerves. Historically you could say that this is a good film if you know your history. If you just want a bit of an enjoyable sci-fi movie then this can also be achieved. Either way you get enjoyment out of it.
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Summary: Great movie, period!!
Review: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", I consider this film to be 1950's scfi/horror. I love this movie a lot, I would say that it shares my #1 spot with "The Blob" and "The Thing From Another World". I also read the book but I actually like the movie better. I'll focus my review on my favorite scene from the film. "You tell me, you're the doctor"..Jack tells Miles as he urgently called the doc to his house. Miles approaches the pool table curiously with the most creepy climatic music score building. You get the sense of something very unclean and sinister is about to happen. And it does, Jack has an unformed double growing on his pool table! For me this movie's story is gripping from the beginning till the end. It's hard for me to find anything about this movie that I don't like....cept for when Mile's girl Becky turns into one of them. And the actress that plays Becky is one of the most beautiful British actresses named Dana Wynter. Later
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Summary: Definitive Cold War Film
Review: The 1950's brought many films that contain thinly veiled references to Communism, the bomb scare, or McCarthyism, and while some weren't so good, like the Thing from Another World, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the best and one of the better horror movies from the 1950's.
The plot of the film is well-known, in large part due to a slew of remakes and reworkings, most recently 1998's The Faculty: creatures that come from large seed pods take over humans and replace them with slightly altered variants, or "pod people." When Dr. Miles Bennell returns to his hometown of Santa Mira, it seems that many of the dozens of people who clamored for his assistance have cancelled their appointments, but those have not tell about how their relatives appear different. Through a series of events and occurances it becomes clear to Dr. Bennell that something very wrong is going on in Santa Mira, and the rest of the world is next.
The acting, in particular by Kevin McCarthy as Bennell and Dana Wynter as his love interest Becky, is very solid, and McCarthy's voiceovers help the film instead of hindering it. The direction by Don Siegal effectively utilizes light and darkness, and succeeds in making a place the size of a town very claustrophobic. The storyline of the 83 minute film moves very briskly, and the ending is suitably ambiguous, albeit less than it would have been without the annoying bookending sequences. Highly reccomended, even to horror fans of today expecting a gruesome murder every seven minutes. 8/10
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Summary: Black and white becomes this thriller
Review: It is a good movie but I am tempted to think half the reason it works is it in black and white. In color with the same direction, script, and actors this film would have been much less scarey. The pod folks once they (with talk) reveal themselves are vaguely explained, not very frightening and not very threatening either (the '78 version of IOTBS explained them way better). A few kudos to lovely Dana Winter for her fine portrayal of Becky Driscoll.
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Summary: A world without love
Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a powerful film not only because it involves bizarre and creepy alien pods taking possession of human bodies in their sleep, but because it presents the truly terrifying possibility of a world without love and emotion. The love story here is key to the story for that reason, and there is an especially poignant scene where Becky describes her fear of waking up and not loving her doctor boyfriend anymore. The rest of the film involves these two lovers trying to flee from the pods and save themselves. The ending is quite tragic, and lingers in the mind for a long time.
Some people write of the 1950s as if it were another, super-conservative world that is far inferior to what we have now. Although there have been many, many important and positive changes since the 1950s (civil rights, rights for African Americans and Gays, womens' rights, etc.), I think we have also lost something. Nobody really loves anyone anymore. Perhaps that is why some consider the love story, central to the film and the fear itself, so lame. Maybe that is also why some can look back on this film and not consider it scary at all--for a world without love is not too far removed from the world we have today.
Rating: 
Summary: Not scary
Review: I love horror movies, and can remember late nights of watching all the classics on my family's old 15" color TV with the broken knob: Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Unbound, Son of Frankenstein, Frankenstein and Me, Oasis of the Zombies, and Legend of Boggy Creek. So, it's pretty obvious that I'm something of a horror authority.
So it boggles my mind that this movie is considered something of a horror masterpiece. How? It's just a movie where people get replaced by giant green beans! Does that seem scary to you? Maybe the sequel will have a Cauliflower serial killer. We can only hope.
Again, you don't have to take my word for it. But unless you've ever worried about produce taking over our world, watch something else.
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Summary: Emotions and humanity...
Review: Is it better to experience life's high happy peaks and its disastrous valleys of pain, or to live in a mediocre stasis with no ups, but no downs either? How important are emotions to the state of humanity?
Such are the questions posed by this influential black and white 1956 classic. Kevin McCarthy is great as the last hope Dr. Bennell, who must escape from the pod people to warn neighboring towns about the body snatchers! The story is great, the acting is good, the lighting and cinematography prove that you don't need today's modern colorization.
Its just an all around great watch.
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