Customer Reviews
A Lifetime's Cosmic Bliss ... 
2008-04-15
A reviewer below, A. Cormier, seems to be under the impression that this originally was a) a black-and-white movie that b) has been colorized. It a) wasn't, and b) hasn't been - although the DVD's faded print quality might suggest as much. It was released in full, gloriously rich color, as I well remember; on its initial UK release this film blew a galaxy-wide hole in my consciousness (I was a very young child - 3 years old when it was released), and my fate was sealed - I became a lifelong movie lover and specifically a SciFi/Horror aficionado. And those passions have never deserted me, have consoled and inspired me through the years, kept me sane when all about me were apparently losing their minds, and still keep my imagination going at full throttle. And it all began with 'Invaders fom Mars', and judging from the reviews, I'm not alone.
Invaders from Mars 2008-04-05
I remember this movie as a child. I had nightmares. I now enjoy it for my childhood memories.
Thanks for redistributing it, but it would had even be better if film stayed in Black n White instead of colorization.
"A real Movie"
Fun and Campy 
2008-03-03
The original Invaders From Mars is a fun film. It was created back in the days when women dressed up to clean house and men wore suits everywhere. The kid is so funny as he says things like "gosh!" a lot. The special effects are hilarious. Little kids might still be afraid of the monsters and the concept so maybe not good for under 8. Good movie for groups of people having a movie party and like making fun of the flick.
I got the special edition which has the British version. Skip that version, it's a snoozefest of over-information.
TERRORIZED AT TWELVE, SMILING AT SIXTY 2008-02-26
I am So happy to have found this film. When I was little I saw this and couldn't sleep all night . I was terrified. My mother actually sat up with me and gave me a glass of milk. LOL
Now I find this just plain fun to watch. The funny part is how the Army comes out in their TANKS (along with their theme song)after a few people have been "taken" by UFO's. Not exactly how the Army would act now! They would say, "Case Closed or Else." File under "Classified."
The acting is really good. One policeman, if you look closely, is the doctor on Gunsmoke! Doc whatshisname. Oh, these tanks are funny.
Great Movie,Horrible DVD 
2007-12-29
Invaders from Mars is a great classic science fiction movie from 1953.This 50th Anniversary Special Edition comes with some nice artwork and a nice booklet but the quality of this DVD is just aweful.A lot of these old Sci-fi movies are certainly not in pristine quality condition and come with some flaws which is OK and acceptable but this movie is bad from start to finish,faded,grainy,dull and scratchy all over.Shame on Image Entertainment for even releasing such a poor copy.Why even bother,it's no better than the $5.00 VHS copy I bought 15 years ago.As far as I know there is no decent copy of this movie available.Hopefully someday this classsic movie will be restored and released as it should be.Hopefully!!
Poor quality DVD 2007-12-19
A young boy is awakened during a storm to witness a flying saucer land in the field behind his home. No one will believe his story as one by one the townspeople are captured and put under the control of sinister forces from the planet Mars! Brilliantly created by visionary set designer and director William Cameron Menzies (designer of "Gone with the Wind" and H.G. Wells' "Things to Come") with a haunting musical score by Raoul Kraushaar this golden age sci-fi classic has lost none of its chilling power. Surreal imagery brought to terrifying life in a Cinecolor world just beyond our nightmares!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 014381136227 Manufacturer No: ID1362CODVD
Glad I Waited 
2007-08-30
When this movie first came out on DVD it carried a premium price (around $27). Many times I picked it up and put it back on the shelf in order to buy something a little less pricey. I really wanted the movie, not only for my collection, but also because I had never seen the entire movie. When Amazon offered it on a double bill for $14 I had to order it. Boy am I glad I waited. At seven bucks it's not a bad deal, but if I had paid twenty-seven for it, I would have been sick.
Not that this is a bad movie. Its just not on the same tier as Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds, When Worlds Collide, etc. To rate it 5 stars would be far too generous, so based on the movie alone it gets four stars.
But then there is the terrible video quality. The picture has vertical wear lines off and on throughout the movie and often the picture is so dark that the action is incomprehensible. Oops, there goes another star.
On the positive side the director did a good job of conveying the boy's paranoia in an adult world. I guess you can read whatever subtext or cold war message you like into the movie, but I prefer to take these fifties sci-fi movies at face value. The acting tends toward the hammy side while the effects are cheesy. So there you have it. A three star ham and cheese on wry.
Quit Griping 2007-07-24
Oh, quit your griping, all of you who rated this flick only 1 or 2 stars. There are some lines running down the center of the first few scenes, and then they disappear. The print is not bad. This movie scared the hell out of me when I was eight or nine; I dreaded spending the night alone in a dark room after watching it. Loving parents suddenly turning cold and cruel. An innocent little girl is murdered by a brain hemorrhage. Once normal people are suddenly enslaved. And, in the end, a nightmare . . . becomes a reality? The terror in this movie is relentless. And the movie has pacing; it moves along, which is a lot more than I can say for a movie like the tedious "Fire in the Sky." And that cold, impassive, oily-eyed, evil face in the glass globe - Eeeek!
Invaders from Mars, still one of the better films. 2007-05-25
I'm watching the British version as I write this, I just saw the American version.
First of all I take exception that some reviews keep mentioning the zippers in the back of the martian's. What did they expect, magnetic clasp, buttons, hooks and loops? Unless you were expecting to see naked martians I'd say the zippers are just fine--they are wearing cloths and shoes you know. Nor do I really believe it falls into campy--so old it is amusingly funny. I feel they did a fine job except for that "mutant" crack they kept using as an excuse to have martian slaves or servants. The obvious science involved in this film (inside the spaceship) looked fine to me--and who cares if they turned over a can of latex paint and blew bubbles through it to simulate the martians melting walls of dirt...it looked fine to me.
This movie, though a popcorn movie, is still somewhat serious and acted very well by the kid and all the cast.
So let's get to it.
PROS:
1. Neat idea carried out properly.
2. Fine acting, that's a star.
3. Written just fine, that's a star, lots of tense moments and no filler I could spot, no sub plots.
4. Neat special effects.
5. Look at how those cuties dressed. I remember them from when I was a kid. Look at the scene where the kid runs to his mother at night. She wakes up, hair is brushed, lips properly lipsticked, the correct amount of war paint around the eyes. Yes sir, maybe we shouldn't tell them that the realitly was they all went to bed in curls and cold cream. But I got to tell you, did they all look like that outside the house...well, they tried to.
six. Just got to the end of the British version, I think there's a couple extra scenes in it!
7. Movie starts out with the right type of science fiction music and background paintings and voice-over of the day. On the back of the case it says 1953--the year I was born. They did a fine job making this a character study as well as an action movie. Even when the General's sergeant got sucked into the hole and the General says to the man restraining him, "Renaudies' been with me twenty years...we may have no counter weapon but if it's a fight they want they're going to get it!" Even that one line character study is sufficent to understand the General's mind set. Yes...above average writing.
8. Lots of stock footage showing the Army packing up equipment and moving it to the site. So what, you can't have a military unit go on manuevers just so you can get some new stock footage for a movie...not even back then.
I don't see any reason to go futher. This is one of those old classical science fiction movies that cries for popcorn and a deeper study to get its' full impact. CONS: There really aren't any no matter what everybody else says. The only thing you could have done better is updating the special effects and we've seen what Hollywood does when it remakes a movie--so we don't want that!
Looking at it more...no, definitly well written, acted and directed.
So that's it, Buy, don't rent.
NEEDS A BETTER DVD TREATMENT 2007-05-02
"This is a very good movie with a cheesy alien suit. The DVD transfer is horrible and this film deserves better! No cheese collection is complete without it!"
