The Invasion (2007)

Director:

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writers (WGA):

David Kajganich (screenplay)
Jack Finney (novel)

Release Date:

17 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep.

Plot:

As a Washington psychiatrist unearths the origin of an alien epidemic, she also discovers her son might be the only way it can be stopped.

Plot Keywords:

Epidemic | Psychiatrist | Alien | Virus | Emotionless

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Carol Bennell
Daniel Craig	...	Ben Driscoll
Jeremy Northam	...	Tucker Kaufman
Jackson Bond	...	Oliver
Jeffrey Wright	...	Dr. Stephen Galeano
Veronica Cartwright	...	Wendy Lenk
Josef Sommer	...	Dr. Henryk Belicec
Celia Weston	...	Ludmilla Belicec
Roger Rees	...	Yorish
Eric Benjamin	...	Gene
Susan Floyd	...	Pam
Stephanie Berry	...	Carly
Alexis Raben	...	Belicec's Aide
Adam LeFevre	...	Richard Lenk
Joanna Merlin	...	Joan Kaufman

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (USA) (working title)
The Visiting (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and terror.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43529) | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Ireland:15A | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Malaysia:U | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:M | Japan:U | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Originally wrapped in early 2006, the film underwent massive reshooting in 2007. The reason for this was the studio which didn't liked the cut director Oliver Hirschbiegel delivered. To change that, Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski were brought in for rewrites and James McTeigue to direct the new scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Carol gets in the Jaguar, we see the tachometer red-line before we see her first step on the accelerator.

Quotes:

[first lines]
News Announcer: [off-screen] Tragic news tonight as the space shuttle "Patriot" explodes during an unscheduled landing attempt.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

Them Boyz in the Hood

The Fourth is the Worst

This is already the fourth large-scaled film version based on Jack Finney's legendary story "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and I must say this is just one too many. The two oldest films (the 50's film directed by Don Siegel and the 70's version by Philip Kaufman) are righteously regarded at as genre milestones, but the "newer" films don't manage to convey the creepy basic premise in a good old-fashioned and atmospheric way. Abel Ferrara's 1993 film "Body Snatchers" still contained a few very effective moments of fright, but this latest; big-names-involved version became somewhat of a disappointment. It's is clearly noticeable that director Oliver Hirschbiegel ("Downfall", "The Experiment") wanted to make his English language debut like a genuine throwback to paranoid & claustrophobic 50's Sci-Fi, with enthralling suspense, mysteriousness and character development. Unfortunately, however, the producers wanted more spectacle and explosions, and thus hired other people for re-writes and re-shoots. The finished product evidently suffers from this, so my advice would be to try and focus as much as possible on the substantially terrific sequences and the creepily-themed ambiance. The familiar concept is still, according to me at least, the archetype of superior Science Fiction. What if some sort of extraterrestrial force caused people to metamorphose into soulless, emotionless and insensitive replicas of themselves overnight? For some reason, I always found this the most nightmarishly plausible Sci-Fi formula, and apparently many genre fanatics with me. This time, the "epidemic" is generated when a US Space Shuttle, containing the unidentified alien substance, crashes down on earth. Shortly after, the entire population is gradually getting replaced by exact copies. Psychiatrist Carol Bennell desperately tries to get to her son, who's staying with his estranged father and happened to be one of the first victims of the infection. Apart from a couple of really powerful sequences and a few isolated moments of pure shock (the tunnel-accident, for example), "The Invasion" is a rather redundant movie that adds absolutely nothing to the original masterpieces. The alien menace isn't very detectable here and the fear in the eyes of the survivors is never fully convincing. The additions to the original storyline, like for example the sub plot on immunity, are inefficient and not compelling. Nicole Kidman, of whom I'm usually not a big fan, is quite good looking in this film and her performance is more than adequate. Her male co-stars Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam and Jeffrey Wright all give away much more intense and plausible performances, however. I hope that, one day, perhaps Hirschbiegel director's cut will be available and we get to see the film as it was initially intended: slow-brooding, uncanny and petrifying.