When I was looking in IMDB to verify the name, I saw the following:
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jvnjnr
Dublin, Ireland
Date: 22 April 2000
Summary: Nostalgia probably has a lot to do with my affection for this film.
It could never be legitimately argued as one of the masterworks of Cinema. And, while its director was at the very least always regarded as competent, and more usually engaged as a production designer, he would never even be considered by critics when ranking the greats.
But at a time when computerised sleight-of-hand can achieve the impossible in depiction of alien worlds, few modern science-fiction films can match the portrayal of a young boy's fear and wonderment of the unknown as depicted in the original version of Invaders from Mars.
Nostalgia probably has a lot to do with my affection for this film. Although the original release date of the film was before my time, even some years later the early 1960's Irish schoolboys were still endlessly fascinated with the possibility of flying saucers. And while we wanted to believe that there really was something out there, the Red Planet was seen as this great evil place which we had to be constantly wary of.
So I really do identify with Jimmy Hunt and his sense of wonder. But the film is more than just a festival for nostalgia-freaks.
The wonderful design and look of the film, those marvellous garish colours; the feeling of alienation (sorry) by Jimmy when it seems that not only can he not trust the local police but even his parents seem to be under the control of the aliens. And that wonderful ending when it seems that the nightmare will never end.
Of course you can pick faults: the master alien is rather ridiculous looking. And the scenes of the aliens running through the tunnels would never strike dread in you. But I'm sure the budget, even by the standards of the time was not much above Poverty Row. But these are minor quibbles. Its the overall impact that matters most. And the accurate portrayal of the concerns of the time.
I know there are many films of the 1950's which Americans maintain are allegories of the McCarthy witch-hunts and the Cold War. I don't know about that. But I do know that however much I may admire the computerised sci-fi films of the 80's and 90's, this film will always have a special place in my collection.>>
I'm sure that nostalgia has a lot to do with which ones we remember. Regarding triffids, I must have been well into my thirties before I saw it. I've never been able to stay up late, at least until very recently. When I was married, my husband was always up watching Johnny Carson and then the late movie. They must have played Triffids a lot in those days because I don't know how many times I opened an eye and saw the early scenes, but I could never stay awake to watch it. Many years later I spotted it in the TV program at a suitable hour and finally watched it. So, much of my fondness for it is probably a function of how hard I had to work and how long I had to wait to see it.
I remember It Came From Outer Space, too. It seems like Richard Carlson was in all those moview. He was all over the "playhouse" type shows on TV, too. |
