DVD Review The Invaders: The Complete Series DVD Review (1 Viewer)

[bmasters9]

It is very serious and grim, so it isn't a show I can "binge" - but that intense tone is spot-on for the concept.

The same way I feel about The Man From U.N.C.L.E.-- much too serious for a binge, but intriguing when I do see an episode.

 

[ScottRE]

The same way I feel about The Man From U.N.C.L.E.-- much too serious for a binge, but intriguing when I do see an episode.

I would say this sooner about Mission: Impossible which, after the initial "finding their tone" episodes had no humor whatsoever. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was fairly tongue-in-cheek, which actually is one reason why I didn't get the bug for it. The second is very light and then the third season totally goes off the deep end with "camp" and parody. The 4th season is so refreshing because it gets back to more serious spy stories.

The Invaders - especially in its first season - was wonderfully paranoid and scary TV. The problem was that it's a dead end series. Without serialization, the aliens can't really progress and Vincent can't score major victories. Unlike The Fugitive, this show can't be about the guest stars who have a problem unrelated to the lead's plight. It has to be about the alien invasion or it doesn't belong in the series. Imagine if David Vincent spent 51 minutes dealing with a marriage going south with no alien invasion connection at all, just Vincent being in the area because of it. Why would anyone want to tune in? Meanwhile, Richard Kimble can have the same plot with some tension because there's a cop nearby or something. They tried to spruce it up with Edgar Scofield's group, but at that point, Vincent was in immaculate 3 piece suits and lacquered hair and really kind of a stiff. They were also slavishly trying to ape The Futigive's format, right down to announcing Vincent's profession in the opening, as if that really made a difference. Kimble being a doctor was relevant to the format and stories. Vincent being an architect? What ethical dilemma's can be tied to that? Why not a used car dealer for all the impact it had?

Having said all of that, the series had some very strong stories, was great fun and had phenomenal music. The QM roster of company players was in full view (so if you love Pat Hingle, J.D. Cannon and Carol Rossen, you'll be in heaven) and, as I said, the atmosphere was well sustained in the first season. It's 60's sci-fi and even with those faults, I still love it because it is 60's sci-fi.

 

[Museum Pieces]

Sometimes I watch my DVD set just to see the Invaders disappear when they're killed. Even my wife thinks it's cool to see.

 

[Harry-N]

I loved the whole idea and realization of THE INVADERS. At the time, I was just at the point of really loving and appreciating the ABC Quinn Martin series THE FUGITIVE. I suppose its my status as a Capricorn that has me really liking the form and function of the Quinn Martin series, the whole "guest stars in tonight's story" routine, and the whole Act I, Act II, setup, and yes, the series setup at the start.

THE FUGITIVE in 1966 had just gone to color episodes, and then in January 1967, we were treated to the series "little brother", THE INVADERS. Both shows occupied time slots on ABC's Tuesday nights. I liked the fact that the opening narration featured "Architect, David Vincent", mirrored the "Doctor, Richard Kimble" of THE FUGITIVE. I liked the fact that the William Woodson narration on THE INVADERS mirrored the William Conrad narration on THE FUGITIVE.

 

[The Drifter]

Still making my way through TI S01. Really impressed by the PQ in this DVD set - overall, it's excellent. It's on par with the Hawaii Five O & Streets of San Francisco DVD sets. I.e., very crisp & clear remastered picture (for the most part), with good color, etc.

One of the best episodes (so far) is The Ivy Curtain. It features Jack Warden as gruff pilot Barney Cahill. The pilot is offered a lot of money by the aliens in order to transport new-comers to a New Mexico college which is a "front". It is actually a place that is indoctrinating the aliens on how to infiltrate human society, etc. David Vincent tries to convince Cahill that his actions are furthering the spread of the alien invasion, but Vincent's pleas initially fall on deaf ears - due to Cahill seemingly only being interested in how much $ he's making from the operation.

Spoiler: SPOILER

Finally, Vincent gets through to Cahill...and, as the pilot is transporting the aliens to the school - he suddenly intentionally crashes the plane into the main college building, resulting in the death of everyone aboard - and also presumably some of the top aliens on the ground. Very dark episode, with a shocking ending.

I suspect the overall storyline of the series owes a lot to the concern/paranoia that the U.S. & other countries had about the spread of communism in the 1950's/1960's. This is also reflected in other sci-fi films/TV shows from the era.

 

[JohnHopper]

One of the best episodes (so far) is The Ivy Curtain. It features Jack Warden as gruff pilot Barney Cahill. The pilot is offered a lot of money by the aliens in order to transport new-comers to a New Mexico college which is a "front". It is actually a place that is indoctrinating the aliens on how to infiltrate human society, etc. David Vincent tries to convince Cahill that his actions are furthering the spread of the alien invasion, but Vincent's pleas initially fall on deaf ears - due to Cahill seemingly only being interested in how much $ he's making from the operation.

---

One of the best scene is Vincent infiltrating the Midlands Academy and discovering how to train bland aliens to become typical humans and Americans through various rooms: he first enters a red room where a giant screen displays vivid emotions, an orange room where the aliens are connected to a computer through a brain helmet.

One night club scene featuring aliens emulating hip youngsters reminds me a similar scene from a Mission: Impossible episode entitled “The Carriers” and that Mission episode shows a bogus American town in Russia which is a veiled refence to a notorious Danger Man episode entitled “Colony Three”.

---

 

[The Drifter]

They tried to spruce it up with Edgar Scofield's group, but at that point, Vincent was in immaculate 3 piece suits and lacquered hair and really kind of a stiff. They were also slavishly trying to ape The Futigive's format, right down to announcing Vincent's profession in the opening, as if that really made a difference. Kimble being a doctor was relevant to the format and stories. Vincent being an architect? What ethical dilemma's can be tied to that? Why not a used car dealer for all the impact it had?

I've thought about this as well. I suspect that Vincent's profession gave him some kind of credibility in the context of the show.

Also, Vincent's almost always being dressed in suits & being well groomed, etc. is probably designed to make strangers more likely to hear him out. I..e., if he was a poor slob dressed like a bum, I'm not sure he'd be able to get through to anyone re: the alien invasion - and he has a tough enough time doing that already

 

[The Drifter]

Recently finished S01. Again, incredible series.

One of the many stand-out episodes was "Panic". This revolved around a young alien who was on the run from the main group of aliens. He had some kind of condition that caused any human he touched to freeze to death. He presented himself as a victim to David Vincent, but was a criminal on the run from his own people.

This episode was especially interesting to me, because it presented an alien that was marginalized even amongst the larger group of invaders - and was in many ways more dangerous than any of them.

 

[jcroy]

I've been meaning to get this for awhile, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

The complete series set has been at a nearby wallyworld for several years. (Dunno about recently).

 

[johnnybear]

Nick Baxter was more dangerous than the rest of the Invaders as he really enjoyed killing the people, like the old lady, with his icy touch! Hell he even murdered the dog!!!!
JB

 

[The Drifter]

I recently started watching The Invaders S02, and have watched about half of the season. I know this show only lasted two seasons, so wanted to stretch out my viewing so it wouldn't end too soon

Great season - so far. In fact, I would have to honestly say this season may even be slightly better than S01 (and that was great too). S02 explores more of how the aliens are trying to take over Earth society by infiltrating the military, religion, etc.

One of my favorite episodes here is "The Spores", which was an obvious homage to the film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - which "The Invaders" owes a lot to.

Also great was "The Prophet", about an alien who has amassed a group of Earth followers due to his claiming to be a religious prophet/leader;

Spoiler: SPOILER

they believe him due to his being able to "glow red" but still survive afterwards (similar to the way the aliens die) This is the first time we see an alien "glow" like this without dying right afterwards.

Also, very notable guest stars in this season, including Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Pat Hingle, Dabney Coleman, Gene Hackman, Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still), Shirley Knight, etc.

 

[johnnybear]

Dabney Coleman and Michael Rennie had both already appeared in the first season as well!
JB

 

[Charles 22]

A bit of wordplay here. There's so much to like about this series, and it's a surprise to me, because it's a show I HATED as a kid. Why? Because I felt cheated that it started with a UFO, and then they were all but absent, and the aliens were just completely human-looking. But I will say, buying it pretty a few years back this leaves a very pleasant memory for me.

My late mother and I in the closing years of her life, would watch a few dvd series at her house on disc, and this was one of them. My mother, for the prior forty years, had nothing but the male members of the family with her, and so she started acquiring male tastes quite a bit. Heck, I got her to see quite a few Have Gun Will Travel seasons, I really treasure ol mom for making the switch to a lot of male programming.

Anyway, Invaders was one of her favorites, and she really got into it, and I was surprised I did too (me caring far less about neato UFOs and now being willing to favor story over it). Why the very first episode was basically a summation of how the whole series would run, so I was majorly hooked from the start. Imagine, a sympathetic female character to a lonely drifting hero, and she turns out to be alien. I just couldn't believe it! What a way to start a series. So as impactful as that first episode was, so was the last, and when you think about it, it's actually sort of the first episode all over again, with the exception that the hero was, believe it or not, the alien girl, and then, well I won't spoil it, but mother and I were blown away.

Off the top of my head, other than those two episodes, I think my favorite might had been the one where David almost falls for that phony alien city. And then it was so weird that alien girl in the convertible, freaking out as she was figuring out that David was coming out of his lethargy. I mean I was starting to think David would really join up with them for a episode or two (and then come back of course). That was a wild ride. And what can you say about the music in that series? - absolutely killer. Unfortunately, my mother never heard that music, except what amount we heard the show when it originally aired, because she had completely lost her hearing in '71. So in later years she enjoyed tv by means of captioning and sub-texting. IIRC, Invaders did a very good job on the captioning.

I wish I had got Braindead on dvd before she died, she would had been losing her mind, and the fact that I have a crush on Mary Elizabeth Winstead wouldn't have had diminished things any. I can just see it now, on one of the "previously on Braindead" segments, well, I would had been doing what I did over here on my own, and that was completely losing my mind with laughter. I heard that first previously segment on the start of episode tow, and I'm thinking "What the hell is this?" I must had played that one part like fifteen times in a row on one of the following episodes and I couldn't stop laughing. And there were quite a few moments like that on that series. Believe it or not friends, this show, from the second episode on, actually showed you what the previous show was about, and they showed you some clips, and a guy would sing a rhyming song as he told you what happened. It's just such a blasted unique series. Just look at amazon reviews on it. I bought it only for Mary Elizabeth at first, but then I saw all the glowing reviews on amazon, and no doubt about it, I absolutely had to have it. I still can't believe they made that series, and it only ran one year because of bad ratings.

 

[johnnybear]

The Invaders was a classic series agreed but the UFOs or Saucers as they were referred to in the show made regular appearances from time to time too!
JB

 

[Charles 22]

The Invaders was a classic series agreed but the UFOs or Saucers as they were referred to in the show made regular appearances from time to time too!
JB

Yes, but they were way too infrequent for a guy expecting to see something like War of the Worlds quantities. Imagine that, multiple UFOs blitzing the living hell out of things, or failing that, the assault we saw in Earth vs flying Saucers. I just love those two movies even today, though I'm not half as much into mindless action. Man those two movies were awesome, especially back then. Ray Harryhausen - wow.

 

[johnnybear]

The Saucers were conveyors of the alien race determined to bring down humanity not the war machines of H G Welles Martian conquerors! It was mentioned a few times that the aliens were not strong enough to take on humanity on military terms but with superior thinking and planning and alien specialists in the field, the people of earth would be felled eventually. How long this would take we don't know although their plans were for possibly a decades long conflict!
JB

 

[Charles 22]

The Saucers were conveyors of the alien race determined to bring down humanity not the war machines of H G Welles Martian conquerors! It was mentioned a few times that the aliens were not strong enough to take on humanity on military terms but with superior thinking and planning and alien specialists in the field, the people of earth would be felled eventually. How long this would take we don't know although their plans were for possibly a decades long conflict!
JB

I think you lost my overall essence there. I was saying my interest in The Invaders, from the time it originally was running, was just to see UFOs like crazy, on the scale of the two movies I mentioned, irrespective of anything else. Their UFO ratio was wholly inadequate for such desires. As well, the aliens at least had to make up for the lack of UFOs by looking Outer Limits alienesque, so yes, they failed wholly, and my perspective just had to change to enjoy the series. When I was doodling in school, I was always drawing UFOs and WWII planes in battles. I was obsessed.

 

[johnnybear]

Did you like the Gerry Anderson series UFO? They had flying saucers most weeks and missiles blowing them up!
JB

 

[Charles 22]

Did you like the Gerry Anderson series UFO? They had flying saucers most weeks and missiles blowing them up!
JB

To a degree. The fact the UFOs looked like they came a lot out of the Godzilla movie didn't help much. But if we must put it in my childmind of the past, I think I can say that my authenticism was much less active, and so just having anything UFO was great. I have bought the series in more recent years, and I was generally pleased, and it beat the daylights out of Space 1999 for me, even though my later 1999 was BD, while UFO was dvd.

BTW, when I was a kid, I got the notion, not having seen the whole series, that UFO was nothing more than a fetish for putting girl's butts on closeup as they walked away. But if the most you ever saw of that show, the butt shot they have in the theme, you would think the whole series was latent with them. So I bought that series with vague memories of it. So guess what the VERY FIRST SHOT of the actual series proper is? A butt shot of a woman walking away. But the weird thing is, apart from the theme and that, I'm not sure if there was a single butt shot at all. Really weird to go all-out on the theme and the first frame, and then it all BUTT disappears.

BTW, I LOVED the part of the theme where one of the console girls makes a friendly wave Striker's direction, and he completely ignores it like a badass and keeps walking. Maybe he was too disgusted at all the butt shots seemingly in the future? You know, I just had to see that scene again, and there's something I didn't notice. It's time lapsed a bit, but when he's storming away, you'll notice he's moving his lips. It makes it look like he just bitched her out for being too friendly. Wow. I guess it's supposed to look like she's flagging him down for something on the scope, and he's saying something like (red alert, red alert), but it tends to look like he just bitched her out.

Oh man, this is hilarious. I just looked at it again, and it does look like she's being over-friendly, no matter why she got hsi attention, but if you look at her reaction as he's walking away, she's not looking at the scope, or whatever, she's looking at him walking away, as if in shock that he's such a jerk. She has a nice little smile on her face, and suddenly there's an almost frown. OH I love it.

 

[ScottRE]

I think the shot of the girl waving was at Alec Freeman, but the opening theme is edited to a shot of Straker. The first episode is filled with ogling of woman's backsides. Freeman is off to a really bad start as he cant stop boring holes in one operative's ass with his eyes and the Barry Gray soundtrack goes into a slide whistle and porno funk music. Yikes!