The Invaders - The First Season
Starring: InvadersStudio: Paramount
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Running Time: 869 minutes
DVD Release: May 6th 2008
Buy DVD:
User Reviews
OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! - Rating: 5/5
Oh Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!, thanks for bringing it back. My old Walmart VHS tapes were about shot. I loved this show, it followed after the old Star Trek went off and I needed to fill the void in the non-cable times of only three networks and this was fab-u-lous! What was really great was it did not utilize a lot of gimmicks, and there was no c.g. effects Good acting, suspense filled camera work, and bad guys who were bad! Let's hear it for good TV from the old days!
It is about time they released this - Rating: 5/5
I have been a science Fiction fan since before I could remember. I have always enjoyed shows like Time Tunnel, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of hte Sea and yes even Lost in space. However, when it comes to "The Invaders" well that show still is one that I remember fondly. I have often wondered why they have never released more episodes when they were releasing the VHS version. Well anyway it has been a long time in the making, but it is finally coming out. I have waited for this show for a long time and I am glad that I will now be able to watch all of the episodes that are availible. It is a shame that they left so many TV series and other shows hanging to where it always left a nagging question of what happened. Never a conclusion so we could have closure. There have only been a handfull that have concluded to the full end.
Classic, Short-Lived Sci-Fi Show Finally Makes To DVD - Rating: 5/5
The Invaders would definitely be at or near the top of the list of television shows that ended way before their time. That list has many science fiction series on it (the original Star Trek being one among many), but this series stands out because of its great production values (for the time), great performances, and the air of paranoia that shows like this must have to be believable.
Roy Thinnes played David Vincent, an otherwise ordinary fellow, an architect by profession, who happens to make the horrible discovery that we have been invaded by beings from another planet who have taken the appearance of being human, and whose intentions are to take over the planet. This sets in motion Vincent's lonely (at least in the first season) quest to root out and thwart the invaders' plans for world domination.
Thinnes hit the right note as a regular guy finding himself in extraordinary circumstances, and show producer Quinn Martin, having also produced The Fugitive, knew how to frame a series based around a lone wanderer who is destined to hunt and be hunted. The loneliness and isolation experienced by Vincent is very similar to that felt by the Fugitive's Richard Kimble.
This was a wonderful show, and now it will be seen and loved by a much wider audience.
Paranoid. (Vincents Nightmare Begins). - Rating: 5/5
Sci-Fi thriller with a coldwar background.
Most shows in the sci-fi genre are either pure science fiction, science fantasy or sci-Fi/horror.
But this show takes the less used path of sci-fi/thriller.
I find it's blend of science-fiction/thriller elements are done very well indeed.
The format has a vein of cold war paranoia running through it, (at the time it was made, 1960's, that's not surprising.) it could have worked equally well with east European enemy agents instead of alien invaders, but I prefer the sci-fi element in it. (The Invaders even glow RED before they disappear.)
One element of the show I could criticize though, is, if these aliens were capable of making spacecraft that can traverse solar systems, why could they not make a mutated free little finger. Which nearly every Invader exhibits during this first season.
I realize it was a plot-device used by the writers solely for dramatic purposes, but it just seemed a little too easy for me.
A clever device used by the writers to emphasize Vincents apparent paranoia, was the fact that whenever an Invader was killed, the body glowed then disappered, leaving nothing remaining as evidence.
~~~~
CHARACTERS.
Roy Thinnes hit's all the right notes as the frightened and intimidated architect David Vincent, leading a one man crusade against the Invaders.
As this was a Quinn Martin production some critics compared it to QM's other long running show;
"The Fugitive", and in some respects there was a degree of similitude.
(Both Heroes crossing and re-crossing the Country in search of their quarry).
But there was one big difference. Dr Kimble in the end got his man.
Vincent, no matter how many Invaders he got, he could never get them all.
In season two he meets Edgar Scoville (Kent Smith), and a group of like minded people called "The Believers", who provide cash and connections in which to help Vincent in his fight.
This is one of the best Science-Fiction shows of the late Sixties. With a good dose of paranoia added to the mix.
Overall opinion, a very worthy addition to any Science Fiction fans collection.
(I liked this show so much I even bought the model UFO.)
Region 2 release date:~ 17/Sept/07.
~~~~
DVD Info.
5 single side discs.
Picture - Full screen. But not remastered.
Sound - Mono.
Subtitles - English for the hard of hearing
The DVD case is one of the most irritating I've ever handled, as the holder of discs 2 & 3 overlap discs 4 & 5, so be careful getting those discs out.
Disturbingly, in small print on the back of the case it says.
"Some episodes may have been edited from the transmitted versions".
List of episodes:~ 43 in total.
Season 1:~
Beachhead
The experiment
The mutation (The first glowing death of an invader.)
The leeches
Genesis
Vikor
Nightmare
Doomsday minus one
Quantity:unknown
The innocents
The ivy curtain
The betrayed
Storm
Panic
Moonshot
Wall of crystal
The condemned
~~~~
Although this is a release of the first season only, hopefully the remaining episodes will be coming soon. And they are,
Season 2:~
Condition red
The saucer
The watchers
Valley of the shadow
The enemy
The trial
The spores
Dark outpost
Summit meeting (part1)
Summit meeting (part2)
The prophet
Labyrinth
The captive
The believers (The show undergoes a format change)
The ransom
Task force
The possessed
Counter-attack
The pit
The organization
The peacemaker
The vise
The miracle
The life seekers
The pursued
Inquisition.
Now bring on season two soon, please.
Holds up well, as opposed to some of my childhood faves. - Rating: 5/5
This is good news for science fiction fans as well as boomers who remember the show from its original airings. I got bootlegs of the show a while back and thoroughly enjoyed them. If you want to see what inspired X-Files, this is the show. There were some great guest stars in the 2 seasons this ran, like Gene Hackman, Roddy McDowell, Dabney Coleman and many familiar faces from the David Janssen "Fugitive" series. Quinn Martin Productions had a sort of "favorites" list for casting guest stars and supporting players, and it is fun spotting them in various shows produced by QM. Anyhow, my recommendation is to watch these shows a few at a time, not in a marathon. Remember, this is not like LOST, where back to back viewing reveals small details. Invaders was a weekly show, and while it has a continuity to it, it can get repetitive if you watch more than a couple in a sitting. The Fugitive - Season One, Vol. 1
