A young boy learns that space aliens are taking over the minds of earthlings.A young boy learns that space aliens are taking over the minds of earthlings.A young boy learns that space aliens are taking over the minds of earthlings.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination
- Sgt. Baker
- (as Bill Phipps)
- Mrs. Wilson
- (uncredited)
- Kelston's Secretary
- (uncredited)
- Brainard - Wilson's Aide
- (uncredited)
- Old Cop Blaine Who Vanishes
- (uncredited)
- Mutant
- (uncredited)
- MP
- (uncredited)
- Mr. Turner
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Richard Blake
- John Tucker Battle(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLuce Potter, one of the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939), played the Martian "head" enclosed in glass in the film. For years she received letters from fans of the movie telling her how much she had scared them as kids.
- GoofsThe same shot of a soldier manning a searchlight on a tower beside the side of a building is used in both the scene at the rocket base of the attempt to blow up the rocket, and (three times) in scenes in the field where the Martians landed: this latter use is particularly ridiculous because there is no such building as is seen behind the light tower in that location.
- Quotes
Mary MacLean: [waking up] What is it?
George MacLean: Well, ah, David says something landed in the field out back. It doesn't make sense, but he seems so convinced.
Mary MacLean: What do you mean "land"?
George MacLean: Well, he says he saw a bright light or something. He's not the type of boy that given to imagining things. After all the work at the plant is secret. And we have orders to report anything unusual. And there have been rumors.
Mary MacLean: Rumors?
George MacLean: Oh, Dear, you know I can't talk about it.
- Alternate versionsThe material added to the planetarium sequence for the British version includes a serious discussion of several American UFO incidents such as the Mantell case. Several UFO models, based on American UFO sightings, are also displayed and discussed.
- ConnectionsEdited into Batman: The Joker's Flying Saucer (1968)
"Invaders From Mars" is still potent in the most valuable way, and that's imagination. The storyline, which owes a great deal to "The Wizard of Oz" in it's final moments, has deep psychological effects which still resonate today. If it wasn't so effective, people wouldn't still be discussing it after nearly fifty years.
CGI effects have dumbed down movies to nothing more than computer-effects orgies, relying on a "gee-whiz" factor that ultimately comes up empty in more than a few cases (the big-budget "Godzilla" leaps quickly to mind here). IFM was originally set to be a 3-D movie, which was ultimately scrapped for budgetary concerns. William Cameron Menzies, the director, used the original sets which had been designed to force perspective. The resulting film, which throws the objectivity to a child's point of view has fascinated viewers for years. Menzies did the best with what he could afford, and the visual results are still gripping even today. Yes, the film has it's flaws, but we need to consider the making of IFM in its historical context. Menzies was an Oscar-winning art director (for "Gone With the Wind", no less). Also consider his work on "Thief of Bagdad" with Sabu, one of the most beautiful color films ever made. IFM shows the same visual excitement (referred to by some viewers as "garish"), but rising above it's badly slashed budget to gain a foothold in popular memory.
It's sad to think that the work of a real artist will be dismissed simply because he worked in an era where technology hadn't swallowed vision.
- Kingkitsch
- Jan 25, 2002
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $290,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1