Invaders From Mars
While watching the new Spielberg film War of the Worlds (a thrilling, well-crafted piece of filmmaking!) my friends and I were reminded at certain points of the classic sci-fi film, Invaders From Mars, which came out the same year as the 1953 version of War of the Worlds.
Invaders From Mars is a higher than "b" movie with many great moments that can still capture the imagination. Like the view of a glowing green saucer burying itself just outside a boys window, even more dreamlike and eerie because it is shown twice. Also, the possession of the boy's father provides some truly fearful moments. Near the end the movie gets a bit repetitive and silly in parts, but one image that leaves and impression is the creepy martian leader which is basically a emotionless head with tentacles sitting in a glass bubble. Freaky!
But the one image that is most iconic in the film is a shot of the end of a fence at the top of a hill in a murky atmosphere where the boy watches people get swallowed up by the ground. It's that setting that seems very close to a scene in the new War of the Worlds, where there is a very similar fence, hill and atmosphere. (Also, the IFM's martian craft are buried, as are the alien craft in the recent WOTW.) Now I could be wrong and Spielberg had something completely different in mind. But it was great fun to be reminded of those creepy vintage moments from the sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars.
To hear about this great era of Sci-Fi films from Spielberg himself and George Lucas, be sure to "Watch the Skies" on Turner Classic Movies, whenever they re-air this documentary!
Links to Invaders From Mars:
A cool french site with pictures.
A very comprehensive fan site!
Invaders From Mars is a higher than "b" movie with many great moments that can still capture the imagination. Like the view of a glowing green saucer burying itself just outside a boys window, even more dreamlike and eerie because it is shown twice. Also, the possession of the boy's father provides some truly fearful moments. Near the end the movie gets a bit repetitive and silly in parts, but one image that leaves and impression is the creepy martian leader which is basically a emotionless head with tentacles sitting in a glass bubble. Freaky!
But the one image that is most iconic in the film is a shot of the end of a fence at the top of a hill in a murky atmosphere where the boy watches people get swallowed up by the ground. It's that setting that seems very close to a scene in the new War of the Worlds, where there is a very similar fence, hill and atmosphere. (Also, the IFM's martian craft are buried, as are the alien craft in the recent WOTW.) Now I could be wrong and Spielberg had something completely different in mind. But it was great fun to be reminded of those creepy vintage moments from the sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars.
To hear about this great era of Sci-Fi films from Spielberg himself and George Lucas, be sure to "Watch the Skies" on Turner Classic Movies, whenever they re-air this documentary!
Links to Invaders From Mars:
A cool french site with pictures.
A very comprehensive fan site!
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