The Invasion (2007)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writers (WGA):

David Kajganich (screenplay)
Jack Finney (novel)

Release Date:

17 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep.

Plot:

As a Washington psychiatrist unearths the origin of an alien epidemic, she also discovers her son might be the only way it can be stopped.

Plot Keywords:

Psychiatrist | Epidemic | Alien | Emotionless | Virus

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Carol Bennell
Daniel Craig	...	Ben Driscoll
Jeremy Northam	...	Tucker Kaufman
Jackson Bond	...	Oliver
Jeffrey Wright	...	Dr. Stephen Galeano
Veronica Cartwright	...	Wendy Lenk
Josef Sommer	...	Dr. Henryk Belicec
Celia Weston	...	Ludmilla Belicec
Roger Rees	...	Yorish
Eric Benjamin	...	Gene
Susan Floyd	...	Pam
Stephanie Berry	...	Carly
Alexis Raben	...	Belicec's Aide
Adam LeFevre	...	Richard Lenk
Joanna Merlin	...	Joan Kaufman

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (USA) (working title)
The Visiting (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and terror.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43529) | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Ireland:15A | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Malaysia:U | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:M | Japan:U | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Release prints were delivered to theaters with the fake title 'Human Beast'.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Carol and Oliver enter the elevator, she hits the button for the 29th floor. This causes the button 29 to light up. Yet a wide shot of the elevator interior a few seconds later reveals that neither 29 nor any other floor buttons are lit.

Quotes:

[first lines]
News Announcer: [off-screen] Tragic news tonight as the space shuttle "Patriot" explodes during an unscheduled landing attempt.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

So Through

Taunt and Smart, Kidman shines here.

First of all, this is not a scary movie. Instead, there is an atmosphere of tenseness, especially when Kidman and Craig's characters must pretend to have already changed in order to survive. Kidman easily carries this film, and she makes you believe the plot line that another actress would have easily made ludicrous. I have read some critical reviews questioning the casting of Kidman in this role, mostly due to the fact that her icy demeanor is seemingly miscast in a role that calls for emotion. However, I believe that it is this very demeanor that allows her to be believable in this film. She plays an extremely smart psychologist who catches on to the situation fast. She is an analyzer, and it is her lack of deep emotion that allows for her to think quickly and critically, without it, she would have easily succumbed to the body snatchers and there would have been no movie. There is indeed a liberal undercurrent through this movie. It questions our role in Iraq but more importantly, it questions our actions as a species, our emotions, our anger, our selfishness, and their effects on our society. To create a world in which everyone is equal, rational, no war, no disease, no famine, no inequality is what the body snatchers are offering...and for this movie goer, there was at least one point in the film in which I found myself asking whether that would be so bad. Sure, the ending was a little too quick and tidy, but overall, this was a great movie.