The Aliens Are Coming (1980 TV Movie) User Reviews

The Invaders Won't Be Coming Here

[Theo Robertson · 3/10 · 1 March 2014]

The Uk Horror Channel is showing the 1967 Quinn Martin SF serial THE INVADERS and with a timing that probably isn't coincidental also broadcast another Quinn Martin production with a very similar premise that was intended as a pilot for a series that never went in to production . Watching it you'll be struck that it was no surprise we never got a full run of THE ALIENS ARE COMING but surprised it got beyond script stage

THE INVADERS might have been produced by Martin but the whole ethos of the show belonged to Larry Cohen hence we got a rather serious ,downbeat feel to the show as you'd expect from a show directly inspired by INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS and INVADERS FROM MARS . It also owed a nod to film noir as an outsider from society tried to warn humanity that the human race is getting infiltrated by an alien species . The premise isn't original and is very self limiting but the dark tone and sense of gravitas made up for it . Here we have a science fiction thriller that has a tone more in keeping with American network inoffensive family shows like THE LOVE BOAT

An alien spaceship lands in a remote American desert and eye up the Boulder Dam and right away the script starts tripping itself up .. The aliens have no idea what it is but decide it will make a good power source for them . They have no idea about hydro electric power but realise a hydro electric dam would make a good power source ? The aliens themselves when revealed just look very silly , a sort of robotic , organic hybrid resembling a Dalek and a man dressed up It just doesn't make sense because there's no chance evolution throwing up this type of creature . The human characters are broadly drawn such as geeky UFO freak , ballsy female investigative journalist etc with a hint of a blossoming romance between the two lead characters . Sick bags ahoy and let's be thankful this didn't go to a full series even though there's a cynical open ended last act that screams " We know it's rubbish but give us a full series " , Stick to THE INVADERS instead . In fact stick to THE LOVE BOAT as well

Quinn Martin!

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 10 May 2021]

Quinn Martin was the king of TV for two decades. His QM productions produced a string of successful television series - he had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years - that includes Twelve O'Clock High, Dan August, Tales of the Unexpected, The F. B. I., The Invaders, The Fugutive, The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon and Barnaby Jones. He also produced sixteen TV movies, The Force of Evil, Code Name: Diamond Head, Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. The Ku Klux Klan and his lone theatrical movie, The Mephisto Waltz.

This was one of his last productions, other than four Dan August TV movies. This movie has a great pedigree, however, as it's directed by Harvey Hart, who also directed The Pyx, and was written by Robert W. Lenski, who wrote Who is the Black Dahlia?, Mafia Princess and Farewell to the Planet of the Apes.

The Aliens are Coming was obviously a pilot that never got picked up. It's a lot like The Invaders, as aliens are looking to possess humans. Sadly, the budget isn't what it should be, so a lot of the inside of their ships just look like light shows.

I was quite possibly the only eight-year-old Max Gail fan when this came out, so I know we definitely watched the premiere on NBC. I would have had no idea who Matthew Labyorteaux was at this point in my life because I hated going to anyone's house who had the gall to make me watch Little House on the Prarie.

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

[rixrex · 8 October 2006]

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.

Never saw a worse sf movie

[s.manders · 1/10 · 15 July 2000]

First of all: all visual effects were really bad. You could even see it was fake, even while trying not to think hard about it. The plot was bad. The point is, we rented this movie in the time Aliens was just on video and we were really disappointed with this one. Well, at least we could a lot. So maybe it's a comedy???

*** 300 th review *** the nightmare of my childhood (TV)

[leplatypus · 10/10 · 12 August 2010]

This review is very symbolic for a lot of reasons:

First, today is my birthday, just as my 200th review was written on the birthday of my most special friend!

Second, after writing having about a unseen movie for my 100th ("Indy 4" still in production at the time) , about a "forbidden" movie for my 200th("Island Fever 4"), now i want to review a movie that i am sure i will NEVER see again!

and the winner (or the loser, it depends!) is ..... this "Aliens are coming".

Why ? because it ranks among the first movie i have seen in my life and i recall very clearly that it frightens me very deeply as a little kid.

Unlike my twin brother (happy birthday to him too!), i had always been very sensitive, impressionable. Thus, a lot of movies has left big fears on me, numerous nightmares, blank nights or cries.

I can quote a lot: here's my black list: "The cat from outer space" (i know, it's a Disney but whatever, for our 1st movie on screen, i got only one urge: going to toilets!); "Empire strikes back" (fever the day after...kuff..kuff..); "Behold the man"; "Fantomas"; "The cage" (with the big Lino Ventura); "Horror of Dracula"; "Invasion of body snatchers (1956)". Have fun psychologist with my neurosis !

But this one is very memorable even if i watched it 1 time 30 years ago: i'm pretty certain that my father taped it then with our Betamax (!) and i had really bad time watching it! I felt very uncomfortable because the character played by Russ Garner really changes his mood when he becomes taken by the aliens. He suddenly turned cold, unaware of his family and i was totally scared by this.

As it's really a bad memory, i don't remember the story, only flashes are left: those aliens are associated with a green light and our dear mister Garner had a device he hid. And in a matter of course, the DAM ! That's the symbol that helped me find the name of this show! My research took a long time, even with IMDb but I finally succeed in identifying it: as soon as i see pictures from it, i said " That's him! I recognize the bastard that haunted my childhood!"...

So, this actor and the entire production must be proud because they have achieved their goals: what better reward for a scary movie than to fright its audience! But it's easy: i was 6 years old ! Today, i really don't know if i would watch it again! Maybe to watch it as an adult would be very funny and it would break those sweet memories forever! I just know that as a father, i would be extremely cautious of what our child would watch if (s)he has a lot of imagination.

I conclude this review with a call to IMDb reviewers: i got another skeleton in my closet but unfortunately i can't name it. I searched for "Space 99", "Twilight Zone", "Martians Chronicles" but it's not that. My memories are those ones: It's science-fiction, maybe in black and white, if not this is very bleak: it happens on a desert planet (the moon?) and there are only 2 astronauts. When it's time to take-off, one of them reveals he is an alien (lizard) and kills the other! Again my phobia of people changing suddenly for the worse! Thanks for reading me and helping me.

Your favorite coward wimp !

underrated

[nexusstudio · 7/10 · 29 June 2011]

I remember being surprised by this one when it slipped by on TV way back in early 1980. I immediately thought "Invaders" and "television pilot". Though this movie lacks the eeriness of the Invaders pilot "Beachhead" it makes up for it somewhat by being a little less edgy and with a little well placed light humor. Invaders had the virtue of not being placed squarely in the "Star Wars - Close Encounters" era and so establishes a kind of 'creep factor' among the aliens more than this one. The Aliens themselves appear to me as if they stepped out of a Doctor Who episode (not a bad thing!) and their ship looks interesting if hampered by the Star Wars era in looks and effects. The main character is actually quite believable (hey, I've met and worked with these JPL guys!) and Eric Braeden gets to do his "Forbin Project" character again (essentially the same character). I grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada where most of the filming was done and visited the Hoover Dam many times. I even got an 'unofficial' tour once and so I saw all the areas that were filmed in this movie (and many that weren't!) which made it seem more real for me (I was still living in Vegas at the time this movie came on). Max Gail is really good as the hapless dam worker who is the initial victim of the aliens. There is also later-famous Ed Harris in the opening sequence. The music score is by William Goldstein and though I like his synthesizer scores like "Ocean Quest" I feel this movie deserved someone like Dominic Frontiere (original "Invaders" composer) and was too reliant on droning analog synths which just sound murky in the mono sound of the day. Much of the movie has that 'pilot' feel to it and it squarely fits in that late 70's era network television genre. This movie actually is on the cusp of the transition from that era to the mid 80's television show with the syndication influence, and so has a lot in common with shows like "Buck Rogers" and "Galactica 1980". I have only the VHS tape of this film and have searched for a DVD but I guess, like many 'pilot movies' of the 70's and 80's it doesn't draw any attention to warrant a DVD release. DO watch or buy this film, it was underrated then...and now.

Barneby Alien: A Quinn martin Production

[Mahatma · 13 December 2001]

I was thirteen when this aired, and even at that young age, I felt insulted. I don't think this counts as a spoiler, but just in case, I'm throwing out there a SPOILER WARNING: Aliens want to invade the earth, for inadequately defined reasons. They possess the bodies of people who may be helpful in this endevour, in no adequately defined process. They are opposed by a Doctor, who functions as a detective, and is "The Only One Who Knows What's Really Going On." There's an extended sequence on the proper way to construct a hamburger - I kid you not - and then, after about an hour and a half, for no adequately defined reason, the movie ends. This was actually intended as a "Back Door Pilot" - that is, a 'made for TV movie' that, if successful, would launch it's own series. Clearly the premise for this series would have been a sort of cross between "Barnaby Jones" and "The Invaders." Mercifully, it appears I was the only one watching in twenty-one years ago, and the show never materialized.

TV sci-fi nostalgia for many...

[Vomitron_G · 6/10 · 3 August 2011]

From obscure TV-history comes producer Quinn Martin's unearthed swansong, which feels like a pilot-movie along the sci-fi veins of his '60s hit series "The Invaders" (at the end a threatening voice-over promises that "The nightmare is just beginning!"). Unfortunately, the aliens that land in Nevada and their non-benign planetary activities lasted only 90 minutes. Enough time for them to try and steal our hydro-electric energy by inhabiting the bodies of human workers and further manipulate things through mind-control. Lacking excitement and with leading man Tom Mason acting impossibly witty, we are left with some cheesy FX - oh, those fierce green glowing eyes! - and spotting a young Ed Harris in the opening sequence.