{"id":75403,"date":"2016-01-22T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T20:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/?p=75403"},"modified":"2016-01-21T19:42:53","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T03:42:53","slug":"roundtable-alien-invasion-movies-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/roundtable-alien-invasion-movies-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Roundtable: Alien Invasions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aliens are everywhere these days. No, not the immigrant type that certain blowhard political candidates want to build a wall to keep out of our country, I’m talking about extraterrestrial aliens who’ve come to take over our planet. They’re on TV this week in ‘Colony<\/a>‘ and in theaters with ‘The 5th Wave<\/a>‘. While neither of those may be the best example of the genre, let’s look at some of our favorite alien invasion stories from movies and TV.
\n<\/p>\n

By “alien invasion,” we’re talking specifically about stories in which extraterrestrials come to Earth to either rule over humanity or wipe us out. Stories set in galaxies far, far away don’t count for this topic.<\/p>\n

Shannon Nutt<\/span><\/h3>\n

Imagine waking up, going outside, and finding a giant spaceship hovering in the sky \u2013 not only over your city, but over every major city in the world. No, I’m not talking about ‘Independence Day’. I’m talking about the original 1983 NBC miniseries ‘V<\/strong>‘, which was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson (veteran of such TV genre shows as ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and ‘The Bionic Woman’). What made ‘V’ great wasn’t just its alien invasion premise, but the fact that the original miniseries was essentially an allegory for the Nazi terror of World War II.<\/p>\n

The premise set up in the first miniseries was resolved in 1984’s ‘V: The Final Battle’, but Johnson had zero to do with that one and much of what he tried to convey in the original was lost in the sequel. A short-lived weekly TV series followed, which was even worse. The show was noted more for repeating… and repeating… special effects shots from the two miniseries. ABC tried to revive the franchise in 2009. It managed to last two seasons, but again paled in comparison to Johnson’s original concept.<\/p>\n

For years, Johnson tried to bring back ‘V’ on his own, coming very close to making a deal for a big-budget movie. In the end, Johnson refused to sell out and lose creative control (again) of his concept, although he has yet to give up hopes of financing the idea independently. While that may never happen, fans of the original who would like to know what Johnson really wanted to happen after his original miniseries should check out his novelization, ‘V: The Second Generation’, from Tor Books, which is available at Amazon<\/a> and all major book retailers.<\/p>\n

Mike Attebery<\/span><\/h3>\n

I’m not a big alien invasion guy, but if you’re loose with the definition, I suppose you could say that ‘Superman II<\/a>‘, in which banished Kryptonian criminals General Zod and his accomplices Ursa and Non terrorize Earth, is my favorite. I used to wait with bated breath whenever that movie was scheduled to air on TV.<\/p>\n

Brian Hoss<\/span><\/h3>\n

My pick is likely influenced greatly by a recent visit with my nephews, but I think the initial story arc for ‘Dragon Ball Z<\/a>‘ is one of the best alien invasion stories to date. A key to the drama is the early preview given by the arrival of Raditz, which along with the lead character, Goku, who happens to be an alien (of the same race) turned hero, creates a menace for the rest of the heroes (and former villains) to train for and face. Compared to the extremely forgettable aliens of say, the first ‘Avengers’ movie, the Saiyans have personality, culture and abilities that really raise the stakes. It’s no wonder that Vegeta became such an enduring character for the series.<\/p>\n

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk<\/a>)<\/span><\/h3>\n

I agonized over whether or not to write about ‘The Thing’ here, but with just one alien creature in such a hopelessly remote location, “invasion” didn’t seem like quite the word for it.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, I just needed to look a little further forward in John Carpenter’s filmography. While so many other alien invasion flicks revolve around creatures from another world trying to get a chokehold on our little blue ball of mud, ‘They Live<\/a>‘ opens with the invaders already reigning supreme; we just haven’t gotten around to noticing quite yet. These aliens rule not through fear or force but by inescapable subliminal messages. Obey. Consume. Conform. Marry and reproduce. We walk right past these creatures day in and day out, blissfully unaware that they hide among us in plain sight. A premise like that would have my attention no matter what, but add in Carpenter’s biting satire of 1980s consumer culture and economic disparity, an inventive visual eye, one of the decade’s most endlessly quotable screenplays, and endless chest-thumping action courtesy of Rowdy Roddy Piper, and you’re staring down the barrel of an instant classic.<\/p>\n

M. Enois Duarte<\/span><\/h3>\n

One of my personal favorites since childhood, ‘They Live<\/strong>‘ happens to be an awesome alien invasion feature. What makes this such a fantastically entertaining sci-fi flick is the hilariously offbeat notion that the bourgeois upper class of American society, those with the real power to influence politics and culture, are actually aliens in disguise. They manipulate the middle and lower classes into an apathetic acceptance of the status quo, into believing the hierarchical social order as the natural way of things. And they do this by controlling and exploiting the influential power of mass media, from marketing and advertising to popular trends and entertainment, convincing the public that greed and consumerism are the keys to happiness. The only man capable of bringing this illusion of reality to an end is a nameless drifter played by WWF legend Roddy Piper, with the help of Keith David. Best of all is the way John Carpenter made this sci-fi satire as if it were some big-budget B-movie blockbuster. He gives the plot a comical feel and made one of my favorite alien invasion films. <\/p>\n

Chris Boylan (Big Picture Big Sound<\/a>)<\/span><\/h3>\n

While the special effects in the original ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still<\/a>‘ may seem cheesy today, I’d imagine they were pretty effective to movie viewers in the early 1950s. As the relations between the U.S. and Russia grew colder, and the possibility of mutual annihilation grew more distinct, a movie came along to point out the obvious: Humankind needs to chill. An emissary from an advanced alien race comes to Earth to warn us to cease our aggressive and destructive ways, else face the consequences. When this alien is shot and injured by a soldier, his robot protector goes on a rampage and destroys the attacking army. The story is well told and insightful, relying more on careful dialog and observation to elicit a response from its audience than flashy special effects. As mankind’s fate hangs in the balance, will we rise to the challenge? Or bring about our own destruction? It’s a sci-fi film that makes you think, and that’s the very best kind.<\/p>\n

Honorable mentions to John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing<\/a>‘ for its superb pacing and psychological tension, and to ‘Independence Day<\/a>‘ for its masterful use of effects. For those who want to know what it would look like for an alien race to destroy New York City or blow up the White House, watch ‘ID4’. <\/p>\n

Josh Zyber<\/span><\/h3>\n

I made a point of including TV in this topic specifically so that I could talk about the original ‘V’ miniseries, and then Shannon went and claimed that before I could write my entry.<\/p>\n

To go in another direction, I’ll cheat a little and pick ‘Dark City<\/a>‘. Forgive me for spoiling an 18-year-old movie, but the ending reveals that the aliens haven’t actually invaded Earth, per se. However, the main characters think they’re still on Earth, so as far as I’m concerned, it counts. Alex Proyas’ crazy fusion of the film noir, sci-fi and horror genres is a delirious exercise in style, centered around a race of aliens who mess with people’s minds and their perceptions of reality as part of an experiment to see what makes human beings tick. I’m undecided as to whether I prefer the original theatrical cut of the much later Director’s Cut. The latter fixes a few narrative problems with the original version, but it also does away with the very memorable and effective rapid-fire editing rhythm for a more traditional pace. Both versions have their merits. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Tell us about your favorite alien invasion stories from movies and TV in the Comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aliens are everywhere these days. No, not the immigrant type that certain blowhard political candidates want to build a wall to keep out of our country, I’m talking about extraterrestrial aliens who’ve come to take over our planet. They’re on TV this week in ‘Colony‘ and in theaters with ‘The 5th Wave‘. While neither of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":75433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132,130],"tags":[8702,7254,5704,3267,871,2000,5818,94,551],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75403"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75431,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75403\/revisions\/75431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}