The Invaders (1995) (TV)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Paul Shapiro

Writers (WGA):

Larry Cohen (television series)
James Dott (written by)

Release Date:

12 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

The classic sci-fi series of the '60s returns as one man, Scott Bakula, tries to stop an invasion of the earth by aliens disguised as humans. |

Plot Keywords:

Alien Invasion

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Scott Bakula	...	Nolan Wood
Elizabeth Peña	...	Ellen Garza
Richard Thomas	...	Jerry Thayer
DeLane Matthews	...	Amanda Thayer
Terence Knox	...	Police Lt. 'Mac' Coyle
Shannon Kenny	...	Grace
Raoul Trujillo	...	Carlos Suarez
Richard Belzer	...	Randy Stein
Mario Yedidia	...	Kyle Thayer
Roy Thinnes	...	David Vincent
Erik King	...	Dr. Josh Webber
Debra Jo Rupp	...	Rita
Channon Roe	...	Det. Rudnik
Jack Kehler	...	Monck Patterson
Jon Cypher	...	Sen. Alex Feinman

Runtime:

Brazil:148 min (video version) | 60 min (3 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

1st Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox Television Network

Goofs:

Factual errors: Nolan Wood as well as the train dispatcher refer to the subway 'driver' as "engineer" when in fact he is either a "motorman" or "train operator." Engineers run railroad trains.

Movie Connections:

Follows "The Invaders" (1967)

What a wasted opportunity for a follow-up.

The Invaders (a Quinn Martin production!) is widely regarded as one of the best sci-fi shows of the sixties or ever. I only ever saw it in re-runs here in England, but I just loved the original show. So imagine my excitement when I started reading in genre magazines that a new Invaders was going to be made. And Roy Thinnes was in!

Oh. Dear.

The pre-credits sequence was actually pretty good. Somewhere out in the desert a huge and interesting-looking mothership is unloading some aliens and stuff, and there watching it all is none other than David Vincent.

And that was the end of any hope of a good series. The rest is quite frankly too bad to detail. The effects were cheesy, it was PAINFULLY slow, and worst of all, Roy Thinnes has a total of about ten minutes screen-time across the first part and then vanishes. So that's it? They get Roy Thinnes to reprise his near-thirty year old role and THAT'S IT!!!

Roy Thinnes as David Vincent was the only reason I was interested in this. Richard Thomas is pretty good - although he still looks about 25 and as if he just wandered off the set of The Waltons.

All in all, give your money to a homeless person, you'll get better returns.