INVADERS FROM MARS (1953)
Label: Ignite Films
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 73 Minutes
Audio: English or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Korean, Japanese Subtitles
Video: HDR20 2160p Ultra HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: William Cameron Menzies
Cast: Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson
I first saw Invaders from Mars (1953) on TV as a kid, probably during WPIX-NY weekend matinee programming, a channel that supplied me with a a steady stream of youthful wonder, awe, and sometimes nightmare-fuel. The latter was the case with this flick, a paranoid sci-fi classic about a average kid named David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt, Sorry, Wrong Number) who wakes up one stormy night and witnesses a flying saucer disappear behind a the creepy looking hill behind his house. The kid tells his father (Leif Erickson, Straight-Jacket) what he saw and he throws on his slippers and heads up and over the hill to investigate his claims, but when he returns, saying he said nothing despite being gone an unusually long time, the usually loving father is cold, and even takes a swat at the boy out of anger. David knows something is seriously off with his pops, and takes not of strange markings on the back of his neck, then over the course of a few days his mother (Hillary Brooke, The Maze) and several of the neighbors also exhibit the telltale signs of... being body-snatched by an evil alien invasion force! David confirms this suspicion when he spies a neighbor girl walking around a sandpit over the hill and sees her disappear into the sand, those dastardly aliens are hiding beneath the sandpit! He reports his suspicion to the cops who absolutely don't believe him, but they call in psychologist from the health department Dr. Patricia Blake (Helena Carter, Double Crossbones) to get to the bottom of the kids delusional paranoid fantasies, but thankfully for the rest of the planet the kid is pretty convincing and the doc notices that people are acting a bit odd lately. This leads to a domino effect wherein they contact a local astronomer named Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man) who in turn reaches out to the U.S. Army, with the Pentagon getting involved, sending troops lead by Colonel Fielding (Morris Ankrum, Giant from the Unknown) - and wouldn't you know it, the dang kid saved the world!
This slice of paranoid mid-century alien-invasion sci-fi is one of my favorites, I hold it right up there with Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, George Pal's War of the Worlds (1953), and Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), I would consider it among the Big 4 of 50's sci-fi for sure, it's definitely carved in stone up on my personal Mount Rushmore of classic science fiction. The film has a surreal, off-kilter look to it, with Menzies acting as his own art director, he having been a renowned art director before graduating to the director's chair, he even worked on Gone with the Wind, which is referenced in this film via a a split-rail fence. Everything seems just a little bit off, skewed angles and oddball set design that are just a bit off, but it adds so much to the flick.
The paranoid elements of the flick are fantastic, as a kid this one caused me so much dread, I had nightmares for weeks after my first time watch when I was around eight or so, even in my waking hours I found myself looking at the back of people's necks looking for the signature scar that might tell me that my parents and relatives might be alien-controlled drones - I never did find one but at times they acted mighty strange! Watching it as an adult the magic is still there, I'm not so paranoid about alien-drones now, but I'm still plenty paranoid about a lot of other real-life assimilations of family members these past few years. The one thing that doesn't quite hold up to youthful nostalgia are the fuzzy-green mutant slaves that do the big-brain alien's bidding, oh brother, it cracks me up big-time now, but other than that one cheesy element this sucker still is mighty impactful, and most important entertaining. I love the "SuperCinecolor" employed for this one, the porcelain skin tones, and the eerie emerald green and blue lighting employed in the film looks fantastic, I specifically recall that peculiar eerie green color bleeding into my nightmares shortly after watching this.
Audio/Video: The domestic theatrical version of Invaders from Mars (1953) arrives on region-free 4K Ultra HD from Ignite Film in 2160p UHD framed in the original 1.37:1 fullscreen aspect ratio, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the film. The restoration is nothing short of stunning (as explicitly detailed in the liner notes and restoration featurette), it's an organically grainy film with some scenes a bit granier than others, but that's inherent to the various sources. Textures and detail are exceptional throughout, there's no overbaked denoising or aggressive grain management evident here, and depth and clarity are also quite pleasing. The film benefits from a wonderful WCG HDR10 color-grading that presents deep blacks and superior contrast, and those colors are quite lush, particaurly the eerie emerald greens and reds in the title cards. The John F. Seitz (Night Has A Thousand Eyes) cinematography, special effects and striking production design all look fantastic on UHD, and skin tones are vastly improved. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles, dialogue and vintage sci-fi sound effects of a death ray, military ordinance, gunfire and the sound of the saucer sound terrific, appropriately vintage but surprisingly clean and strong, as does the score by Raoul Kraushaar (Curucu, Beast of the Amazon) - or is it Mort Glickman as is widely believed these days?
Not only do we get a wonderful A/V restoration of the film presented in 4K with HDR10 but Ignite offer up some excellent in-depth added-value extras. We start of William Cameron Menzies: The Architect of Dreams which runs 16-min, in which James Curtis, author of William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Things to Come discusses the director's fascinating career leading up to this film. Then onto the the 10-min Jimmy Hunt Saves the Planet, the spry octogenarian is still with us and full of vim as he waxes nostalgic about the cast and crew he worked with on the film; and how he considers this his best film. The 22-min Terror from Above address the impact of the film on pop culture, in it directors John Landis (Into the Night), Joe Dante (The 'Burbs), editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist/Invaders from Mars expert Robert Skotak, in addition to film preservationist Scott MacQueen all chime in on this, often with memories of seeing it at a young age and how it affected them. Another fantastic extra is the 7-min Restoring the Invasion with film restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen, offering before/after clips of restoration from the original negative and archival film elements, highlighting just how massive a project this 70th anniversary restoration truly was, and how lucky we are to have it in such a glorious edition - I keep telling you, we live in a golden age of physical media! But wait, there more! We have the 7-min John Sayles’ intro of the film at Turner Classic Movies Festival in Hollywood, April 2022. While this is a restoration of the domestic version of the film and not the European version with alternate and extended scenes, we still get those segments presented on-disc as an extra - which is very cool. These come by way of 2K scans of the 2-min Alternate International Ending and the 9-min Extended Planetarium Scene, which were filmed with Menzies' involvement at a later date and it's quite evident. On-disc extras are buttoned-up with a Photo Gallery with original Press Book pages, behind the scenes photos from the restoration process, a 2-min Restored 4K Original Trailer (1953), plus a 2-min Newly Commissioned Trailer (2022).
The single-disc standard 4K edition arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork with a numbered spine - this being "01" from Ignite Films. Inside there's a 24-Page Illustrated Booklet containing the "Invaders from Mars: A Nightmare of Restoration" liner notes by restoration supervisor Steve McQueen, it's a fascinating and in-depth read about what it took to restore this paranoid sci-fi classic for it's 70th Anniversary, complete with before and after images - some of which can be referenced HERE on the Ignite Films website. This detailed breakdown of the restoration process includes listing the various elements used for the restoration and their condition, different cuts of the film, and the SuperCinecolor process. It's an interesting read, though I must admit my aging eyes struggled with the tiny print. I can confirm that this is the exact same edition as the website exclusive minus the limited edition slipcover with the same artwork as the wrap and poster signed by Earth's savior Jimmy Hunt that came with that offer, it has the same wrap and artwork, booklet and black case. I do kind of wish they had included a reversible art option with the original illustrated movie poster - that thing is wildly awesome - not that the newly commissioned artwork isn't cool, and looks to me modeled after the original three-sheet movie poster, it's just that if I had my druthers we would get some vintage artwork with every release.
Special Features:
- William Cameron Menzies: The Architect of Dreams (16:26)
- Jimmy Hunt Saves the Planet (10:30)
- Terror from Above - Featurette with acclaimed film directors John Landis, Joe Dante, editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist and two time Oscar Winner Robert Skotak (foremost expert on Invaders from Mars), and enthusiast and film preservationist Scott MacQueen (22:24)
- Restoring the Invasion - Before/after clips of restoration – original negative and archival film elements - with film restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen (6:50)
- John Sayles’ introduction at Turner Classic Movies Festival in Hollywood, April 2022 (7:02)
- Restored segments in 2K of the Alternate International Version - Alternative Ending (2:52) and Extended Planetarium Scene (8:51)
- Photo Gallery with original Press Book pages, behind the scenes photos from the restoration process
- Restored 4K Original Trailer (1953) (2:19)
- Newly Commissioned Trailer (2022) (2:17)
This is a truly wonderful restoration of a paranoid sci-fi classic, a must-own slice of cinema history lovingly and painstakingly faithfully restored in 4K Ultra HD with HDR10 color-grading and a fantastic array of extras - you need this on your shelf!
Screenshots below are sourced from Ignite Films Website as we currently cannot source 4K UHD screenshots:
