Amazon.com: Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel has been the basis of three big-screen adaptations, beginning with the 1956 chiller Invasion of the Body Snatchers and most recently as 1994's underrated Body Snatchers. This acclaimed 1978 version from director Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) is every bit as creepy as the '56 original, and it fits perfectly into the cycle of paranoid thrillers that thrived in American movies of the 1970s. Kaufman stylishly directs from an intelligent screenplay by W.D. Richter, while Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams lead a distinguished cast (including Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and Veronica Cartwright) and must fight for survival as the population of San Francisco is systematically cloned by alien "pods" from a distant, dying planet. The atmosphere of dread and paranoia grows increasingly intense as the complexity of the alien invasion is gradually revealed, until nobody can be trusted to be who they appear. Finely tuned performances enhance the film's eerie atmosphere, highlighted by moments that will lurk in your memory long after the movie's over. MGM's DVD release includes a full-length audio commentary by Kaufman, a "pod culture" retrospective, Body Snatchers trivia, production notes, and the original theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Of all remakes, this one is worth the money.
Let me say that I am usually against all remakes of classic movies, even if it is meant to update the subject and bring it forth to younger audiences.
In my view, younger audiences should make a culture for themselves, by watching the classics as they were and then, eventually, move on, not the other way round.
It is just watching "Romeo + Juliet" (Leonardo DiCaprio's vehicle), and pretending to know Shakespeare.
It is simply an insult to good taste and culture as such.
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) is no Shakespeare and does not pretend to ... Read More
Rating: - Nice To See It With Good Transfer & Plenty Of Extras
It's nice to see a good widescreen transfer of this solid horror/sci-fi story from 20 years ago. It looks great!
Solid production values include outstanding direction by Philip Kaufman, camera-work by Michael Chapman and acting by Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright. Of the group, Sutherland had the most lines and was the most impressive. All of it added up to a pretty classy film, a lot more than you'd expect reading the movie title.
There was some profanity and nudity so maybe it wasn't totally classy, but the profanity ... Read More
Rating: - Insatiable
Excellent! A must see! Certainly a collector's choice. Well acted! I'd definitely recommend it to others!!
Rating: - Kaufman's revisonist remake of "Body Snatchers" will keep you awake
Usually remakes of films that were successful the first time don't succeed but sometimes they do like in this sci-fi/horror film by Philip Kaufman. Aided by a great cast headed by Donald Sutherland in a rare good guy role, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy as ever Spock like as the New Age shrink--we get off beat thriller with overtones of dark humor. The humorous puns at the age of conscicousness fall right in the line with the impending horror of the situation that the main characters fall into. This is what marks this remake or revisonist film of the original a ... Read More
Rating: - "There are people who will fight you, David..."
Philip Kaufmann's 1978 sci-fi/horror masterpiece "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" creates a sense of paranoia as effectively as ingesting a bad dose of LSD while being pursued by the local police, the Army, and Homeland Security.
Donald Sutherland plays Matthew Bennell, a local health inspector with a happy life in San Francisco who first appears admonishing a restaurant owner for trying to disguise rat feces in his customer's spaghetti as chocolate. "It isn't chocolate", Sutherland says as the camera closes on his huge nose: "It's a rat turd!" This otherwise humorous introduction is ... Read More
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