The Invaders

Re: The Invaders

Well, since those sets were PAL and our set is coming from NTSC sources, I think it's fair to assume that the R2/R4 sets used different masters than what are going on the US sets, so the R2/R4 probably does have the correct, uncut one on there (but playing 4% faster, thanks to the PAL speed-up effect).

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Got an early copy today - I think I know what I'll be doing tonight!!

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Review of Season One went up a few days ago at the site. I have been trying to add more analysis of the series, but I haven't had the time to yet:
DVD Review- THE INVADERS The First Season

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Hi everyone. I just thought that I would let you know
that Larry Cohen will be signing autographs for
everyone who buys their season one dvd of The Invaders
at The Rocket Video store on June 12th. Larry will be
there from 7 - 8:30PM. The store is located at:

726 N La Brea Ave. Hollywood California. phone (323)
965-1100

Please pass the word around to everyone you know who
might be interested in attending.

THANKS!

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Review with some nice screenshots at DVD Beaver, here.

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When you get it and A/B it, let us know what's missing.

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Does anyone know how the video transfers for the R1 set compare with those on the UK R2 set?

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Nice, I'm definitely picking this up at the next Deep Discount sale!

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We need to change the venue. Does anyone know where this event can be held in the Los Angeles or Hollywood areas? I believe that a small convention room will do. I do not know these areas since I don't live around there. Any help is appreciated.

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Try here, they might be interested. Ask for my buddy Donovan.

EDDIE BRANDT'S SATURDAY MATINEE

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Thanks, I really appreciate the lead. I will give them a call. I was told that the date MUST BE June 12th. Would you be interested in attending? It sounds like a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet many Invaders fans!

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I picked up THE INVADERS Season One on my lunch hour today, and have brought it back to my office. Playing it on the office computer's DVD drive, and naturally starting from the first episode, within ten seconds I realized that the "aired" version of "Beachhead" is a time-compressed version.

I'm one of those people that is extremely sensitive to speed-up, whether it be from the PAL variety, or just time-compression for the sake of syndication. This version is, to me, obviously from a time-compressed video master, probably done for the syndication market. I could hear it in the tones of William Woodson's narration, in the sound of J.D.Cannon and Roy Thinnes' speaking voices. They all sound like "chipmunks" to me.

This speep-up factor alone will account for the missing one minute and thirty-eight seconds, when compared to the old Goodtimes Home Video VHS tape.

Naturally, this DVD looks a lot better than that, but that speed-up will, unfortunately likely prevent me from watching that episode. It grates on me in ways I can't explain.

The good news is that the extended pilot, included on the last disc, is not sped up, so that will be the version I view every time, in spite of the lesser quality video.

I'm anxious to get it home and check it all out on the good home system.

Harry

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Well, that is indeed unfortunate. I'm not myself sensitive to PAL/NTSC "speed-up" but I just may become that way after your claims that Mr. Vincent sounds suspiciously like Theodore or Simon.

I'd be interested in your assessment of disc 1 vs. the other discs. I'm hearing that after the first four episodes, there is noticeable improvement in picture quality thereafter.

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I'm quite aware that seemingly few people are as sensitive to pitch speed-up like I am, and believe me, it's a bit of a curse.

For some it may be good news that at least the show isn't edited - just be aware that you'll be getting through the material about 4% faster. And the fact that it's about 4% leads me to believe that they might have used the UK version for the pilot.

When you get the set, if you have the ability, play the two "Beachheads" side by side and maybe you'll hear the difference. You'll certainly not be able to keep them in sync for very long!

Harry

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I know how that goes. Try listening to a symphony of Beethoven that is 8-10 cents too fast. As far as music is concerned, playing it too fast can do incredible violence to it. For reasons I've gone into in other threads, when pitch in music is slower (and thereby lower), it is not as much of a burden. In fact, for me it can be preferable.

I imagine that speeding up normal voices (without regard to music -- in other words, indefinite pitch) can create havoc (or be a curse) to those that are sensitive to it.

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I LOVE this show! You can check out HTF reviewer Matt Hough's review of this great set here: Matt's The Invaders: Season One Review.

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Hi Everyone. I just got through talking with the promoter of the event. Some of you might know him. His name is Douglas Dunning. Anyway, Douglas asked me to see if I could find out how many people will be attending the event so he might have an idea about the size of the room that is needed. Larry will be signing everyone's dvd. We are still looking for a venue in the Hollywood/Los Angeles area, but I believe that we will find one. It is possible that you might have to pay something like $10, if we have to find a venue that we have to pay for to cover the cost of renting that venue. Nobody is charging anything for the autographs. We are trying to avoid that one. If you are going to attend the event please let me know either by posting something on this chat site or emailing me at beatlefantastic1964@yahoo.com ASAP.

We are also going to try to put on an Invaders convention that will co-inside with the Season 2 release of the Invaders which we are guessing will come out somewhere around Christmas time or the first part of next year. Hopefully, we can have many of the stars including Roy of course, Larry and some of the crew. This would be a great time to meet these people and find more Invaders fans!

Thanks!

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So I picked up this set as a blind buy, based on the very positive reviews I've read online and the positive comments from this HTF thread.

Watched the first 2 episodes last night and I am hooked. The production values, acting, music and storytelling are all top-notch for a show of that era. I don't recall too many shows wherein the main character must contend with danger lurking around every corner in any given moment of the show. This sustained suspense makes for fun television viewing, and I look forward to getting through the remaining episodes.

The introductions by Roy Thinnes are nice, but he did give away a minor spoiler about Roddy McDowall's character in the second episode. No biggie, and it's nice to see that he's involved with this release.

On a side note, I did notice the time compression on the first episode, but it wasn't as severe as a number of region 2 PAL shows I have seen. In fact, I may not have even noticed it at all if folks here hadn't mentioned it. Video quality appears good so far, slightly below the quality of CBS DVD's Mission:Impossible and Hawaii Five-0 releases.

Thanks again to everyone who recommended this show. There were only 3 copies at my local Best Buy, the spot on the shelf where it sits was empty, and I was lucky to find one of three remaining copies up front on the New Release shelf.
Hopefully we will see Season 2 get released in the near future!

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Nice recent interview with Roy Thinnes posted here:

Premium Hollywood » A Chat with Roy Thinnes (”The Invaders”)

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Mr. Thinnes seems like a very personable fellow and is still quite knowledgable about details of his film and tv career. I liked the story about how Suzanne Pleshette got him out of a bind one evening after that day's filming of an "Invaders" episode.

Thanks for that link, Bob.

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I've watched a few episodes and the unaired pilot. There's this strange anomaly regarding the extended version of BEACH HEAD. For years there's been a bootleg recording, from Canadian tv channel CHCH/Hamilton Ontario, of this version floating around, which was a bad multigenerational dub. The scene of the UFO landing in the intro used an alternate efx shot which was superior to the U.S. aired regular version. Now the new DVD extended pilot has 2 new scenes we've never seen before, which were not in the Canadian nor regular US version...but the saucer landing on the DVD is the standard efx shot from the normal US version!! The difference is: on the better efx shot the saucer is first seen coming straight at the screen horizontally thru the trees and is much better model work. They must've re-shot the scene because the standard shot shows the saucer coming down vertically from the top of the screen with visible matte lines on the right side of the ship. So there's at least three edits of this pilot...(and four if you count the legendary lost 75 minute version) I was looking forward to being able to toss my DVDr of the Canadian version but now will have to hang onto it just for that better UFO scene. LOL
As pointed out elsewhere, the first few episodes seem over-saturated colorwise and a bit too much contrast at times. The quality improves as you move through the discs. It's been pointed out that the 35mm masters were unavailable for this DVD project so this is probably as good as it gets.At any rate, a vast improvement over the bootleg sets that have been around for years. I hope season two will include some surprises as well.

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I enjoyed the unaired pilot and had never before seen any kind of extended version. My only reference has been what aired on ABC and what was on the old Goodtimes Home Video tape.

The scene with Vincent and his partner after the initial ordeal was a good character-builder, and the extended stuff with Ellen Corby made her more menacing than she appeared in the edit.

I also liked seeing the telephone call to James Daly with Vincent telling him that he's heading to Kinney.

Harry

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Jeff,

Not to mention that extreme paranoia sets in after about the fourth episode. I loved "The Leeches," "Vikor," "Counterattack," and (esp.) the two-part "Summit Meeting" a lot. Here are a few good sites if you're not already aware of them.

"The Invaders Unofficial Web Site and Episode Guide"

The second one had a bit of trouble loading for me this morning (but so did HTF), so the problem may be at my end.

http://www.the-invaders.com/

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I couldn't get the site in the second link to load, but I'm sure I've visited it before. In the former (the UK site), I've always liked the mini-reviews posted for the episodes. In the absence(!) of a "companion guide" to "The Invaders" I intend to refer to this site now and then as I watch the episodes in the S1 set.

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Michael,

The site that isn't loading properly today has a ton of clips from every episode of the series. Those were all I had before I owned the series on DVD. They've done a good job with that site IMO--it's packed with a lot of information.

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I was disappointed that the video quality of this release was not on par to their Mission Impossible or Hawaii Five O releases. Nothing like having the original negatives!

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED...!!!!!

It is somewhat of a sad irony with all the advances made in digital restoration and remastering that this new technology isn't consistently being applied to the older tv properties released on DVD.

Generally the rule-of-thumb seems to be if the available source elements are deemed in reasonably good condition then it's not necessary to invest any extra effort and expense in improving upon them.

Compounding this is that major DVD distributors have no way of (conclusively) knowing just what will succeed with the buying public out there and what will fail. A good example is the VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA DVD sets which were all fully restored and digitally remastered to pristine condition...yet future of the final season episodes is now uncertain!

The source elements of THE INVADERS - FIRST SEASON 5-disc are the best that I have seen of this incredible 1960 SF tv classic since its original primetime network run some 40 years now and who knows there may well one day be a much improved upon edition with all 43 colour hour long episodes including the unaired extended 60 minute pilot fully restored and digitally remastered to finest picture and sound quality possibly.

As it stands I am becoming privy to numerous visual details that I was never aware of before attesting to the above average quality of the source elements that were used.

THE INVADERS - THE FIRST SEASON 5-disc set is still lightyears ahead in terms of genuine quality of either the (abortive) ROUTE 66 or THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN releases!

Whatever one makes of the video quality the episodes themselves are truly outstanding and make for incredibly entertaining television viewing to be sure.

THE INVADERS has certainly proved its considerable muscle in retail sales on both AMAZON.COM and AMAZON.CA with already an impending August 2008 second season (1967-68) Region 4 DVD release due out in Australia.

Both STAR TREK and THE TWILIGHT ZONE are perenial DVD releases marketed a number of time in various incarnations and THE INVADERS may well also become a similarly valuable tv property that Paramount Pictures-CBS Television Home Entertainment will profitably exploit again-and-again!

Somehow I don't think that we have heard the last of THE INVADERS!

Jeff T.

Re: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED...!!!!!

That last bit is what we all should take into account: not that the DVDs "could have" looked better, but that they are as good as (or better) than the original broadcasts. Indeed, for those here who saw those original broadcasts, most of you probably saw them with rooftop antennas (or rabbit ears) with snowy (or less-than-perfect reception) and they were probably broadcast from 16mm prints anyway. These DVDs likely look better than any TV broadcast you'd have ever seen, and certainly better than those LP-speed VHSes put out by Goodtimes.

Hardly a reason to be disappointed enough to not buy them!

STILL A 'GREAT' BARGAIN AT THE PRICE!!!!!

I originally saw THE INVADERS on our local ABC Television Network affiliate WKBW-TV, Channel 7, Buffalo, N.Y. via a tower antennae in black-and-white and the picture image was excellent albeit not in colour.

I still hold up hope that a later improved upon issue will one day come about but the interim this will have to do. What can one reasonably expect for just $25 anyway?!

But this isn't the only CBS Television property that was not given (absolute) primary consideration (GUNSMOKE, THE WILD WILD WEST, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW).

Naturally I would have like the selfsame exacting quality comparable to the (absolutely) pristine PERRY MASON or I LOVE LUCY source elements but THE INVADERS has been kept in wraps for an indeterminably long time and has changed (ownership) hands several times as well. In some of these instances the original 35mm print negatives prove to be no longer available. If THE INVADERS had been produced by a major television company instead of an independent (that has long since been discontinued) the situation may have been different.

Jeff T.

Re: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED...!!!!!

Amen! Here on message boards we tend to focus on the negatives of any release. Somehow being first to spot something wrong and report it to the world has become a bit of a game that many of us play. I know I'm guilty of that - even on this release.

When I popped in that first DVD and spotted the time-sped version of the first episode, I couldn't wait to jump on here and "report it to the world."

And yet, in the scheme of things, the few minor problems that have been noted about THE INVADERS, Season One are truly just that - minor. I've said it in my posts before - not everyone will even care about a time-sped version. It's minor - it bugs *me*, but will probably not bug everyone.

As for the positives, and they are many, the show looks better than it probably ever has - just because we have better display devices and these are likely better prints than even ABC aired back then.

I don't know if anyone else recalls, but I remember that ABC filmed shows back in the '60s and early '70s always had a bit of a *dirty* look about them. Dirt marks and imperfections were noticeable even back then on the old TV's we had. It always seemed to me that NBC and CBS shows always looked a bit better than ABC shows. And it's not because of reception problems. We lived near enough to the transmitters back then that we got perfect reception of all of the big network signals.

I just recall shows like THE FBI, THE FUGITIVE, THE INVADERS, and the IRWIN ALLEN shows having visual flaws, easily noticeable in clear, blue skies.

I find much to like in watching THE INVADERS on DVD. I've started disc two and so far everything looks and sounds great - the way I'd hoped that all of the episodes would be. And as I've mentioned, the unaired pilot actually looks better than I would have expected. They did a great job getting that one to look good.

Harry