1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers has the reputation of a classic, so I put it in my Netflix queue. Given that I really like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, I decided to watch the 2007 remake, The Invasion as well. And then, watching a featurette on the Snatchers DVD, I found out that that movie itself was a remake of the 1956 original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which at that point I had to watch also. I’m gonna review them all together in order to compare and contrast them.
All three movies deal with an alien life form that arrives on our planet from outer space and starts replicating and replacing human beings with emotionless copies that resemble us in every aspect. In all three, some people realize what is happening and try to fight back, with varying degrees of success.
That’s where the similarities end though, as each movie is a clear product of its time. 1978’s Snatchers is definitely the darkest of the three, while Invasion is the only one that leaves nothing to the imagination of the spectator. In spite of 1978’s Snatchers reputation, however, my favorite is decidedly the 1956 original.
1956’s Snatchers is the only one that doesn’t show us the alien form in its original state or how it got to our planet, and its visual effect are quite crude, but given the sparsity with which they are used, this is not a problem. What it does have is a lot of suspense and build up towards a final act that is hopeful but not fully resolutive, leaving us to imagine what happens next. The acting is very good and the script briskly moves the action along while giving us enough character development to make us care for our hero (Kevin McCarthy). Overall, I don’t have any negative comments about this movie.
1978’s Snatchers is not only the darkest, but also the scariest, and perhaps the most effective at creating a tense, horror-like atmosphere, which no doubt contributes to its ‘classic’ status. The visual effects are fairly good and the acting, while too theatrical for my tastes (especially Donald Sutherland’s and Jeff Goldblum’s – I guess the campiness is part of its appeal too), is good. However, the script lacks polish and it’s a little too hard to believe how these huge, mysterious pods don’t get noticed until it’s too late. The best part of this version though [SPOILER ALERT] is a finale that leads us to believe that the aliens are actually going to prevail. [/SPOILER ALERT]
The Invasion, keeping in line with Hollywood’s current modus operandi of nicely tying up all loose ends and leaving nothing for the audience to guess or imagine, tells us exactly [SPOILER ALERT] how the humans defeat the alien invasion in a quick final montage.[/SPOILER ALERT].
The fact that Hollywood has so little faith in a spectator’s ability to make use of his own imagination speaks volumes about the quality of contemporary cinema productions. However, I also have to give credit to The Invasion’‘s producers for brilliantly reworking the alien life form’s origin, arrival, and transmission into a much more believable story. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and Jeremy Northam all do a good job, and I loved Veronica Cartwright’s cameo after having seen her in 1978’s Invasion. The script is just average though, and the final product is lukewarm at best.
Grades:
1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers: 8
1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers: 7
The Invasion: 6
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