The Aliens Are Coming (1980)

An alien mother ship hovering in Earth's atmosphere is the base for an attempted alien invasion of Earth.

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writer:

Robert W. Lenski

Stars:

Tom Mason, Eric Braeden, Melinda O. Fee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Mason	...	Dr. Scott Dryden
Eric Braeden	...	Leonard Nero
Melinda O. Fee	...	Gwendolyn O'Brien (as Melinda Fee)
Fawne Harriman	...	Joyce Cummings
Matthew Labyorteaux	...	Timmy Garner (as Matthew Laborteaux)
Ron Masak	...	Harve Nelson
Caroline McWilliams	...	Sue Garner
John Milford	...	Eldon Gates
Max Gail	...	Russ Garner
Ed Harris	...	Chuck Polcheck
Hank Brandt	...	Lt. Col. John Sebastian
Laurence Haddon	...	Bert Fowler
Gerald McRaney	...	Patrolman Ashley
Curtis Credel	...	Frank Foley
Richard Lockmiller	...	Patrolman Strong

Storyline

An alien mother ship hovering in Earth's atmosphere is the base for an attempted alien invasion of Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

low budget sci fi movie | alien | glowing eyes | unsold tv series pilot | extraterrestrial | 

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Taglines:

They Were Alive. They Could Hear Them. They Could Feel Them. But They Could Not See Them...Until It Was Too Late.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Was meant to be pilot for a TV series never released and thus has unusual plot-holes.

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Alternate Versions

There are actually 2 TV prints of this TV Version. In 1989, ITV (Scottish Television) in the UK aired the movie with clearly bright green titles. In 2013, The Horror Channel also in the UK has aired the movie with clearly yellow titles. The Horror Channel print is not as sharp and quite blurry and is overly red especially for facial coloring. This may suggest why the titles appear yellow as excessive red to green can make colors appear yellow as one is mixing two primary colors.

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Connections

Followed by The Invaders (1995)

User Reviews

It's "A QUINN MARTIN PRODUCTION" and looks like it too.

The only thing missing is the typical voice at the beginning announcing the fact that this is a QM production. They even have William Conrad (Cannon) in a voice over near the end saying, "The nightmare is just beginning!" which was probably lifted from some other production, but at least they got that great voice of his for a bit. This is obviously a failed pilot episode where our brave scientist tracks down the invading aliens week after week. Sound familiar? It was done better as THE INVADERS in the 60s. But still a fun TV film to watch if only for the enjoyment of seeing the late 70s period paraphernalia, and to muse about the formulaic production of these types of TV pilots/movies. It's always a great thrill to get to the point of the TV commercial cutaway, and not have a commercial come in! Full of lots of cheesy but nifty TV production special effect leftovers and plastico robotic creatures from Galactica and Buck Rogers, unfortunately without the beautiful Erin Grey, though. If you can find it, it's worth a look.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 March 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien Force

Filming Locations:

Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada Border, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quinn Martin Productions (QM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1