If you are socialist (or left-wing politics) must be an alien? If you are a human being must be individualistic, egoist, aggressive, exploiter/exploited...?
That seems to say this movie.
Well, it's true that people on my planet tend to be nice to one another, but I wouldn't generalise from there. What if you guys came visit ?
shareIrked me, too. I know the 'Body Snatchers' concept was supposedly a political metaphor, but having the message so overtly stated further took away from the film. I'm a liberal myself and don't mind films that have hidden political meanings, even if they are conservative or radical; just don't condescend to the audience by pushing such thinly disguised messages. The other versions of 'Body Snatchers' didn't stoop as low and were pretty entertaining.
shareI loved the portrayal...Seemed spot on to me....
You Have a Hard Lip, Herbert..
Better Living Thru Chemistry
" just don't condescend to the audience " .... You mean like the liberal movies that seem to show anyone who hunts as a half bright red neck.? Or if you own a gun you are some kind of crazy nut.? And how about the ones that depict anyone of the Christian faith as some kind of psyco. cult nut job.? I suppose you are like most liberals I have met ie.) The only right way of thinking is your way and anyone who disagrees with you must be a neo con or a nazi. If however you're not .... Then I tip my hat to you and will forgive you for voting Obama in for a second term. =)
shareToday's PC nonsense is telling us when we all have to agree on certain issues/values & that any dissent makes you a homophobe, racist, bigot, 'tea bagger', etc.
I don't mind others disagreeing with me but I hate it when I am not allowed to think for myself or have differing ideas, even if they do differ from the accepted mainstream point of view.
No one has EVER stopped you from stating your beliefs, certainly not the government. There are NO PC police arresting people and putting them in jail. But you are so weak that if someone disagrees with your opinion, you're screaming in your best victim voice "That's not fair that they won't agree with me." I am so tired of you conservative nuts with such thin skins that you can't stand to be called a name (eg. racist, tea bagger, etc). Why don't you just grow up? It's a man's world, not a victim's world.
I think I am taking all of this rather well.
You apparently don't know squat moron! Did you read the other day where a liberal professor wants climate change deniers jailed?
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/03/18/college-professor-jail-climate-change-deniers/
We have Beyonce wanting the word "bossy" banned. Nowadays the word homosexual is termed "gay". Why? Who demanded we change the term?
School children have been told they may not wear shirts with the American flag on it, even though Mexican flags are okay.
You apparently bury your head in the sand & think b/c it hasn't affected you directly everything is okay. But that is exactly how freedom is stolen- a little at a time. That way no one really notices how much has been taken away.
As for being called a "Tea Bagger" or "racist", then you are okay with others calling people queers or fags? Or what if someone calls you a wife-beater?
Perhaps you need to step out of your shell & read more.
Little by little speech is being threatened and it isn't just "conservatives" who are complaining. Read this link:
http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/protect_freedom_of_speech.php?page=all
Or this one which details how Christians in the military apparently lack free speech rights:
http://patriotpost.us/alexander/24167
Please grow up and stop being a victim. No one has ever been jailed for calling someone a "bad name", so there is no persecution of you and your opinion.
I think I am taking all of this rather well.
Did I say anyone was jailed? No, so stop making up quotes. But if you want to pretend that language & speech isn't more watched by the PC police then continue to live in your dream world.
By the way, by looking at your other posts I realized I am dealing with another far left loon. You deliberately seek out topics/movies/topics dealing with religion or God apparently just so you can start an argument about it. If you don't care about God or faith then just go about your merry way. No one is seeking to convert you. Your intolerance for any view other than your own makes you dangerous.
Please grow up and stop being a victim. No one has ever been jailed for calling someone a "bad name", so there is no persecution of you and your opinion.
I think I am taking all of this rather well.
You just seem to be one of those old white dinosaurs who misses the days when you were able to "call a spade a spade" with no thought at all towards who you might be hurting. Racist is not a slur, it is a description.
And the Military should not have any right to free speech. They should follow orders and the chain of command.
I know the 'Body Snatchers' concept was supposedly a political metaphor, but having the message so overtly stated further took away from the film.
There's the conversation at the dinner party early on about where humanity is going (which gets repeated on the soundtrack at the very end), the news reports about peace treaties breaking out everywhere as the aliens take over, and the conclusion with Jeffrey Wright saying "have you seen the news? Better or worse we're back to normal" or something along those lines.
It all seems to boil down to the movie saying that violence and discord are human nature, but who knows what the movie actually thinks about that. It certainly doesn't present the aliens as a good thing, and humanity isn't saved through any means that have anything to do with this theme. It's less a message than whatever scraps of a message were left after reshoots, I guess.
Once I gave up thinking this would have anything real to say like the other versions, I liked it well enough; it's got issues (the choppy, non-chronological editing being at the top of my list, I found it seriously annoying), but even though the story isn't particularly well thought out, if you love suspense/chase movies it has its moments. I thought there were some nice smaller touches as well; they really seemed to nail what it would look like to watch an alien trying and not quite succeeding at human behavior and conversation. And the first time I saw this was on very, very little sleep, which gave it a sense of atmosphere it didn't quite provide itself, ha ha.
I'm surprised to hear it's anyone's favorite version of this story, though, I have to admit. You liked it better than the 1978 version, even?
Thanks for responding, enfilmigult. To start at the end, I definitely like it better than the '78. Tell the truth, I've been disappointed at some level with all of the previous versions. When I saw the first one, I wanted it to end like the book. I've gotten over that, though. It's a good film and maybe I like it as much as this one -- it's hard to compare movies from so different eras. I saw them both when they were new though.
Part of what I like about this one is it seemed new and I didn't know where it was going. I really liked Nicole Kidman in it, too. And the other actors as well.
Regarding the dinner conversation and news reports, I don't remember specifics but I'm pretty sure I didn't pay attention to them. I tend to do that with what seems like background stuff.
By the way, I don't know if you've read the original story, but the protagonists actually "defeat" the aliens. With the fire in the end of the '78, I thought maybe they were going to do that, but they went for the same ending as '56. I've seen the 3rd version, but I don't remember it.
Take care,
Timmie, if you don't bring that rocketship back this instant, you'll get the spanking of your life!
You know, I completely forgot about that ending; I have read the book but it's been ages. It's good, but I can see why nobody's filmed it; in a movie it would be pretty anticlimactic. (I have to admit I love the pessimistic endings of the 1956 and 1978 ones, as well.) Then again, by this late date it would be a pretty daring way to end it; nobody would see that coming. I wonder if somebody could pull it off after all.
Definitely liked the acting in this one too, it's the #1 reason I've watched it more than once. And you're right, it was different enough that you at least couldn't predict every story beat after watching/reading the others, which I did appreciate (although the 1993 one goes even farther from the original story and is better than this one, I would say).
Yeah, there's a reason you don't remember specifics, ha ha. It's not you—they throw out political discussion that sounds like it means something in relation to the story, but it never really comes together into a coherent statement. I'm going to assume there was more to it before they refilmed so much of the movie. But hey, now we get a car chase, so that's something.
One thing that is certainly a challenge for anyone remaking this film because it's been done so many times and many people have seen multiple if not all versions. How to make it new? I think The Invasion met the challenge.
Hmmm… was just now thinking about possibilities. How's this for new -- kind of "not" an ending but a new beginning…
Let's say the familiar story ends with the pods floating back into space like in the novel. The new story follows the pods into space and the Universe and escalates into a bigger picture. Maybe we get caught up in an interplanetary war. Think Big!
Timmie, if you don't bring that rocketship back this instant, you'll get the spanking of your life!
An alien invasion of an alien planet would probably be too odd and ambitious an idea to get funded as a movie, alas. Either they'd figure out a way to jam a human being in there somewhere or they'd just make the planet's population so humanoid there's no real difference. But it'd be neat to see it. Imagine the opening of the 1978 version, but that's the entire movie.
shareHi enfilmigult,
You're right about the human angle. In my vague dream, Earth would be caught up in the war. And Earth would be humans who "defeated" the pods. So the story can be told from Human-only or Human and Alien(s) points of view.
Other possible players:
- the Pod people -- they seem pretty unaggressive but might be a nuisance to more than just us.
- some other planet -- or multi-planet federation -- who have had dealings with the Pods.
- maybe more
You probably know how Lord of the Rings starts out by recapping some past events. The original story could be handled similarly. Though I think I might prefer a condensed -- maybe half hour -- version at the start, followed by, hopefully, a smooth escalation into interplanetary war. The first part might hint at things to come.
Daydreaming. I know I'll never write the screenplay, Ha Ha.
Later
Timmie, if you don't bring that rocketship back this instant, you'll get the spanking of your life!
It's a sad fact but people ARE individualistic, egoist, aggressive and exploiter/exploited. Pretending otherwise is just denying reality.
shareThere is something "sad" about being individualistic??
"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book." ~ Bradbury
Yes Denise, to some it is sad to not be part of the collective and take care of yourself without being dependent on nanny government.
shareThe World's End has the same message too.
jas-wats^
Gee.
I already lived through one set of parents.
I don't think I need a collective set ~
"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book." ~ Bradbury
Mankind are egoistic and individual, yes. That's what makes us human and what makes us different from other humans. Individualism and being egoistical are our two basic human features. Without them we wouldn't be human at all.
shareOf course you're wrong about what you say, but you haven't got a clue. The reality is that humans are not individualistic any more than a pride of lions, a flock of birds, or any other social creature. Somehow, I'm betting you think that you're unique and/or special, which oddly enough is the furthest thing from reality. I won't even condescend to begin to address that you have no clue about ego, egoism, egotism, or a cajillion other things you take for granted.
shareWell the original Invasion of the bodysnatchers made a similar point!
Its that man again!!
gustavousm: If you are socialist (or left-wing politics) must be an alien?
Well, if Chairman ObaMao was revealed as an alien invader, that would explain a great deal.
My people skills are fine. It's my tolerance of morons that needs work.
No, idiot. Only you are the alien.
shareWhat do you mean? Socialists and communists have killed more people than any ideology, that includes Islam, they only rank 2nd, with NAZIs being the 3rd.
share