The Invasion — The Invasion(Blu Ray)
The Invasion is an early 2000s alien epidemic sci-fi thriller, featuring Nichole Kidman as a Washington, D.C psychiatrist who starts to notice something a miss with both her patients and her estranged husband. In the cast, she’s joined by Daniel Craig (latter-day James Bond) as a Doctor friend- for a nicely pacy and paranoid-edged ride of a film. Here from Arrow- both in the UK and stateside- is a new Blu-Ray release of the picture-taking in a new print, a new commentary track, and a few other new/old extras.
The Invasion was directed by Hamburg-born Oliver Hirschbiegel. He has nine features to his name- these go from prison-based psychological drama/ thriller The Experiment (2001), bio picture Diana ( 2013 )regarding the last two years of Princess Diana’s life, and documentary Der Maler (2021) which looks at the life of German contemporary artists Albert Oehlen.
The film is basically a sleeker, less horror-fed, and modern re-telling of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers- with the film’s script being co-credited to David Kajganich ( Blood Creek, Bones And All) and Jack Finley- who of course wrote 1955’s The Body Snatchers, which the Invasion Of The Body Snatcher films were based on.
After a brief flash forwards to the end of the story, the one-hour and thirty-nine-minute film opens with a Challenger-like spaceship crashing on earth- which is covered in strange green/ grey jelly-like substances. One of the first people on the crash site is CDC Director Tucker Kaufman(Jeremy Northam)- he gets some of the substance on his hand- taking it home to his dog, and girlfriend.
Meanwhile, his ex Carol( Kidman) is very close/ protective of their around ten-year Oliver(Jackson Bound). Trying to balance looking after him, while working as a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist. The beginnings of the building paranoia/ doubt come when one of her patients Wendy Lenk- played by Veronica Cartwright, who of course appeared in the 1978 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers- goes to see her talking about how her husband, who was previously violent/ aggressive, is now placid/detached.
Suspicions build when at a neighbourhood Halloween party, when Oliver finds an unusual patch of "skin". At first, Carol speculates that the skin may be connected to reports of a fast-spreading flu. She takes the sample to her friend Dr. Ben Driscoll(Craig) to have it analyzed…. They find out it’s some form of alien DNA, that alters what it attaches to humans in sleep, basically making them part of an emotionless hive mind.
The film follows the expected paranoid thriller tropes- with suspicions abound, and folks acting like they are changed, when they're not to survive. As mentioned earlier most of the horror elements have been stripped from the picture- we see brief body changes( basically eyes shut and bodies covered in a grey film), and that’s about it aside from the rather unpleasant spitting in human faces the infected do.
Both are two leads Kidman & Craig are fine- though I’d say the former is the most effective, as you do well & truly believe in the powerful love for her son Oliver. The film speeds along at a pace- with neat thrilling/ tense scenes- one of the highlights of these is where Carol locates her son after he’s been with her husband for some days- neither knowing if the other is changed.
The film features a fair use of animated via computer blood/ antibodies footage- this does look somewhat dated now. The other slight issue/ niggle with the film is that a few plot elements are left unresolved/ unexplained, so when we get to certain points in the plot, you are not completely sure why some of the characters are still around.
On the whole, The Invasion is an engaging/ entertaining Sci-Fi thriller, which has certainly become more effective/ chilling since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moving onto this new release, and as this is a relatively recent film the new HD scan is less notable, but it looks very well defined throughout. On the new extra side, we get a few things- a commentary track from film critics Andrea Subisati and Alexandra West, co-hosts of The Faculty of Horror podcast. They start off discussing how it’s an enjoyable if messy film, with more than a few loose threads/ red herrings. The talk about the film sits in an uncanny valley, and the vagueness of the jargon in the picture. They discuss the meaning behind the lack of pods in the film, and how this makes the whole thing feel less dangerous. They chat about the shift in gender of the lead character, and what this means for the film's concept. We find out it had a fair few rewrites/ reshoots- which cost ten million dollars. Later on, they talk about the moments the characters try to figure out who is infected. How the film pallet gets steadily more grey as it goes on, and the film's moments of dodgy logic/ plot issues. The track is fine/ worth a play- though the pair do start to run out of steam later on with more than a few lengthy gaps in their track.
Otherwise, on the new side, we get the following: Body Snatchers and Beyond (23.53) a visual essay from film scholar Alexandra Heller Nicholas- looking at the differences between the three main cinematic versions of Finley’s 1955 novel, as well as touching on some of the cheap rip-offs over the years. That Bug That’s Going Around (16.17) a visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson- discussing how the film almost predicted the COVID pandemic, and how the film stands after all the world went through. The first video essay is the most interesting, the second felt it wasn’t really saying much/ felt stretched out.
We also get a good selection of archive material taking in the following featurettes: We’ve Been Snatched Before. The Invasion: A New Story. The Invasion: On the Set. The Invasion: Snatched. And a theatrical trailer and image gallery.
The finished release features an Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by film critics William Bibbiani and Sally Christie. A Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket, and a double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket.
It’s good to see The Invasion getting the Arrow treatment- with a nice selection of new and old extras. If you enjoy paranoid thrillers with light Sci-fi undertones, I’d say this is worth a look.