Themes: Technology Run Amok, Robots and Androids, Benign Aliens
Main Cast: Douglas Barr, Royal Dano, Ariana Richards, J.J. Anderson, Gregg Berger
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
This slapstick parody of space movies chronicles the riotous exploits of a group of dim-bulbed, misguided aliens under the mistaken impression that they are supposed to invade the Earth after they hear a rebroadcast of Orson Welles' notorious "War of the Worlds" one Halloween night. Thinking they are late, they rush in with their ramshackle spaceship and end up in Big Bean, Illinois, a peaceful midwestern town. Naturally after they announce they want to kill the "Earth scum," the residents want to kill them. Fortunately, the town sheriff and his daughter try to keep the moronic Martians safe and help their captain get them safely back in space. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Wayne Alexander - Vern; Joe Alaskey - Dr. Ziplock; Fred Applegate - Russell Pillsbury; Jimmy Briscoe - Capt. Bipto; Debbie Lee Carrington - Dr. Ziplock; Tony Cox - Pez; Patrika Darbo - Mrs. Vanderspool; James Eustermann - Clown; Adam Hansley - Pig Kid; Justin Henry - Dody; Patrick Read Johnson - Commander and Enforcer Drone; Bruce Lanoil - Pez; Tommy Madden - Giggywig; Kent Minault - Dumb Guy; Barry O'Neill - Clown Kid; Rose Parenti - Old Wife; Tony Pope - Giggywig; Hal Riddle - Old Guy; Casey Sander - Radio Announcer; Kirk Thatcher - Spiff; Ryan Todd - Sid Ghost; Glen Vernon - Old Guy; Tonya Lee Williams - Ernestine; Jeff Winkless - Capt. Bipto; William Holmes - Dumb Guy; Kevin Thompson - Blaznee/Voice of Blaznee
Credit
Scott Lawrence Alexander - Art Director, Perpetual Motion Pictures, Inc. - Animator, Caroline Pham - Associate Producer, Sanja Milkovic Hays - Costume Designer, Patrick Read Johnson - Director, Seth Gaven - Editor, Daniel Gross - Editor, George Zecevic - Executive Producer, David E. Russo - Composer (Music Score), David E. Russo - Musical Direction/Supervision, Michael McClure - Songwriter, Kirk Thatcher - Songwriter, Richard J. Lawrence - Songwriter, David E. Russo - Songwriter, David Friendly - Songwriter, Suzanne Sanders - Makeup, Tony Tremblay - Production Designer, James L. Carter - Cinematographer, Luigi Cingolani - Producer, John S. Curran - Producer, Chava Danielson - Set Designer, Frank Ceglia - Special Effects, Criswell and Johnson Effects - Special Effects, John Knoll - Special Effects, Whiz-Bang Effects - Special Effects, Spiro Razatos - Stunts, Patrick Read Johnson - Screenwriter, Scott Lawrence Alexander - Screenwriter
As the armed forces of the planet Mars fight a vast interstellar war under the direction of imperious "Enforcer Drones", the idiotic crew of a small Martian spaceship intercepts a rebroadcast of Orson Welles' 1938 The War of the Worlds radio dramatization. Mistaking this for the real thing, they land the ship in a podunk, drought-stricken farming community (Big Bean, Illinois) and ineptly attempt to conquer Earth. Because it is Halloween, their appearance is taken to be very good costumes, except by a handful of locals who come to realize the truth, among them the town sheriff (Barr), his young daughter (Richards), and a crotchety elderly farmer named Wrenchmuller (Dano). In a comedy of errors, the Martians eventually realize they have made a horrible mistake, but the intransigence of their ship's resident Enforcer Drone threatens to cause a mass catastrophe. The sympathetic humans manage to destroy the Drone, and help the grateful "invaders" return to space.
The original trailer for this movie stated that the movie was about aliens that came to earth for springbreak.
Influences
The title of the flim is a play on the video game Space Invaders.
During the end title music, there is an homage to the TV series My Favorite Martian as the first bars of the show's theme song are sung by one of the Invaders.
