Main Cast: Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Laraine Newman, James Karen
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Invaders from Mars, horror-film director Tobe Hooper's remake of the classic 1950's science fiction film, directed by William Cameron Menzies, centers on a young boy named David (Hunter Carson) who tries to stop an invasion of his town as aliens take over the minds of his parents George (Timothy Bottoms) and Ellen (Laraine Newman), his teachers and the townspeople. With the help of the school nurse (Karen Black), the boy enlists the aid of the U.S. Army to help save the world. With makeup effects supplied by Stan Winston and visual effects by John Dykstra, Invaders From Mars is a wild sci-fi feast that hearkens back to the 1950's invasion films, made popular by the original film and others like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
With two months before his wild follow-up to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1986 proved to be a strange time for Tobe Hooper, as evidenced with this peculiar remake of the 1953 sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars. From start to finish, the movie is grounded in a kind of firm PG territory that works as a fun remake of the original, but is ultimately hampered with an in-your-face '80s aesthetic where Stan Winston's creature effects take precedent over the story's deep-rooted fear of paranoia. Filmed stunningly well by expert cameraman Daniel Pearl, Invaders certainly is packed with its share of iconic shots that show off the production's skill with optical effects. The trouble comes with the casting of the main little brat Hunter Carson, who might have dazzled some with his role in Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas, though his wild overacting chops aren't fooling anyone in this one. Karen Black and the rest of the cast do an acceptable job in their roles, though Louise Fletcher ends up cheesing it all up with her frog-eating performance and one note delivery -- "I'll get you, David Gardner!" Invaders is certainly a tale that the kiddies are safe to watch, but it might be a little too goofy for those that don't have a love for the sci-fi of yesteryear. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Louise Fletcher - Mrs. McKeltch; Jimmy Hunt - Police Chief; Christopher Allport - Captain Curtis; William H. Bassett - NASA Scientist; Debra Berger - Corporal Walker; Shawn Campbell - Classmate; Debbie Lee Carrington - Drone; Joe Anthony Cox - Drone; William Frankfather - Ed; Donald Hotton - Old NASA Scientist; Brett Johnson - Classmate; Ken Kimmins - Officer Kenney; Michael McGrady - Marine #2; Eric Norris - M.P. #2; Bud Cort - Mark Weinstein; Eddy Donno - Hollis; Dale Dye - Squad Leader; Steve Lambert - Demolition Man; Scott Leva - Marine Officer; Eric Pierpoint - Sgt. Rinaldi; Joseph Brutsman - M.P. #1; Charlie Dell - Mr. Cross; Margarita Fernandez - Drone
Credit
Craig Stearns - Art Director, Wade Williams - Associate Producer, Carin Hooper - Costume Designer, Tobe Hooper - Director, Alain Jakubowicz - Editor, Christopher Young - Composer (Music Score), Sylvester Levay - Composer (Music Score), David Storrs - Composer (Music Score), Leslie Dilley - Production Designer, Daniel Pearl - Cinematographer, Yoram Globus - Producer, Menahem Golan - Producer, John Dykstra - Special Effects, Don Jakoby - Screenwriter, Dan O'Bannon - Screenwriter, Richard Blake - From Screenplay by
Invaders from Mars is a 1986science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby. It is a remake of the 1953 science fiction film Invaders from Mars, and is a reworking of that film's screenplay by Richard Blake from an original story by John Tucker Battle. Its production was instigated by Wade Williams, millionaire exhibitor, science fiction film fan and sometime writer-producer-director, who had reissued the original film in 1978 after purchasing the copyright to the property. Elaborate creature effects were supplied by Stan Winston and ornate visual effects by John Dykstra for the remake.
On the night of a comet storm, young David Gardner (Hunter Carson) sees an alien spacecraft land in a sand quarry behind his house. This is the beginning of an alien invasion that sees David's parents George (Timothy Bottoms) and Ellen (Laraine Newman), his teachers and the townspeople slowly assimilated by the alien lifeforms. The only one who believes David is the school nurse (Karen Black). Together, the two enlist the aid of the U.S. Marines to help save the world.
Box office
The remade Invaders from Mars was released on June 6, 1986 to disappointing box office, opening in seventh place. In total, it earned a paltry $4,884,663[1] at the US box office.
David watches a few moments of Lifeforce, Tobe Hooper's film from the previous year, on television.
Jimmy Hunt, the young star of the original, appears in the remake as a police officer who initially investigates the landing. While heading up the hill, he says, "I haven't been here since I was a kid."
The Supreme Martian Intelligence prop from the 1953 film (a head and tentacles inside a transparent sphere)appears in a barrel of Christmas ornaments in the basement of Cameron Menzies High School.
The mind-control, neck "caterpillars" used by the Martians, make a cameo appearance as specimens in a file cabinet of the classified U.S. Government vault on The X-Files.
