{"id":30038,"date":"2024-11-12T15:33:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T23:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=30038"},"modified":"2024-11-12T15:33:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T23:33:21","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-the-invasion-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=30038","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review: THE INVASION (2007)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video is currently available.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jack Finney\u2019s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers<\/em> has certainly made an impression on popular culture. The science-fiction story is about aliens slowly taking over the world by creating perfect but emotionless copies of human beings. Its effectiveness has resulted in the story being told many times over the years in many different ways. Not unlike zombie pictures, filmmakers have used current fears of the era to add subtext to the tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers<\/em> played with themes of conformity and individualism. In 1978, an amazing remake actually bettered its predecessor, showing progressive San Francisco being turned into a lifeless, bland and consumerist nightmare city. The 1993 Body Snatchers<\/em> effectively showed a US military base being easily overtaken by cold, conformist aliens. The latter feature is imperfect (the ending is rushed) but the movie is effective overall, featuring several memorably chilling moments that stay with the viewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alas, the 2007 production The Invasion<\/em> did not make as big of an impression with audiences or critics as previous entries, but some have begun to see value in this adaptation. Arrow Video is now releasing a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD disc that contains remarkably sharp and impressive picture quality with some great analysis and extra material that\u2019ll please enthusiasts. As someone who really enjoys the first three films but isn\u2019t as fond of this one, it still feels like a necessary purchase. The disc itself is phenomenal and it nicely completes the series collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This time out, a Space Shuttle crashes to Earth, releasing a fungus-like alien presence that begins infecting Americans. Unlike previous versions that feature pods, the menace is presented more like a virus that controls its host. Washington D.C. psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) begins to see strange behavior in her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) and notes that many patients are reporting the same about their spouses. Carol soon learns that once an individual is infected and falls asleep, their brain is quickly taken over by the microscopic, alien invader. She finds herself on the run and discovers that her son is immune to the condition. With some help from friend Dr. Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) and biologist Dr. Stephen Galeano (Jeffrey Wright), they try to find safety and facilitate the creation of a vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is quickly paced and certainly includes a great deal of action. The concept of a microscopic alien taking control as you sleep and having to keep yourself awake in order to avoid the inevitable is a good one. There are some entertainingly chilling moments as Bennell breaks into a pharmacy for amphetamines to try and stay conscious. Early on, the use of her ex-husband and other males as a threatening force hunting Bennell down does add allusions to spousal abuse and a domineering patriarchy. The chases are well-staged and the photography is slick and impressive. And, of course, the cast are all very strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the fast pace and abundance of characters means the film is also choppy. There are references and set-ups to potential threads that go nowhere. It feels like the movie really needed to settle on a specific idea or two and follow through, but that doesn\u2019t really happen in the final cut. If anything, it contradicts itself on a number of occasions and begins to resort to genre cliches. The film ends up being a big chase, and the themes aren\u2019t dealt with properly. But at least those pursuits through the streets are entertaining and exciting to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The image quality on this disc is great (the stills in this review don’t do the film justice). It\u2019s a beautifully shot movie and the interior subway sequences, as well as outdoor neighborhoods look incredibly crisp. The 4K transfer in Dolby Vision was supplied by Warner Bros.. This is a wonderful-looking picture that is a definite, clear upgrade over the previous Blu-ray from many years back. And for those who don\u2019t have 4K Ultra HD capabilities, a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray of the film with this superior transfer can also be purchased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The extras are also engaging. There are two video essays about the picture featuring film scholars. The first goes into the picture\u2019s feminist elements, having a female lead and the prevalence of males as the opposing force. To be fair, the previous Body Snatchers<\/em> had a similar conceit with a rebellious teenage female protagonist on a masculine military base, but there are plenty of good observations in the segment. The second touches on viruses and some of the ways in which this title predicted events and attitudes that rose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, there are some coincidental connections, although other films like Contagion<\/em> have a more accurate view of these horrific events. It\u2019s still a very interesting watch though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film historian commentary track is a big highlight on the disc. Film critics Andrea Subisati and Alexandra West, co-hosts of The Faculty of Horror<\/em> podcast, give an excellent analysis of the film and some of its themes. They are honest though, noting the good elements, as well as the inconsistencies in the picture, stating that not all of the ideas presented are dealt with effectively. The pair point out some of the great original bits in the movie, while also noting story points that appear to have been abandoned. One also makes a comment about the scientific jargon used in the movie, and as someone with a biologist in the family, I can confirm that the science-talk in the film is very silly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They also go into the troubled history of the production. As it turned out, original director Oliver Hirschbiegel was let go after turning in his cut of the movie. The studio disliked it and hired The Wachowskis to rewrite the movie and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta<\/em>) to reshoot significant portions of. This certainly explains why the final result is choppy, contradictory, and ends up focusing exclusively on action and delivering a safe and upbeat finale. This is an excellent and informative commentary that offers a wealth of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to those new extras, archival featurettes from 2007 go into the movie, the new approaches taken to the story and more. You\u2019ll also get a trailer, image gallery and illustrated collector\u2019s booklet with new writing on the film.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Invasion<\/em> is certainly the weakest entry in the Body Snatchers<\/em> series, but it still has a few interesting ideas, and some effective action scenes. It\u2019s a handsomely mounted production and one that looks wonderful thanks to Arrow Video, with the 4K image quality showing off some truly impressive photography. Overall, this disc is recommended to genre fans. It will be enjoyed by anyone who likes the series, and they will certainly want to add this \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K title to their collection.
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This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video is currently available. Jack Finney\u2019s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers has certainly made an impression on popular culture. The science-fiction story is about aliens slowly taking over the world by creating perfect but emotionless copies of human beings. Its effectiveness has resulted in the story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":30047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[156,300,2926,3254,5133,9902,10541,10608,14834,21126,21127,21128,21129,21130,23989],"class_list":["post-30038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-156","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-2","tag-body-snatchers","tag-daniel-craig","tag-invasion-of-the-body-snatchers","tag-jeffrey-wright","tag-jeremy-northam","tag-nicole-kidman","tag-the-invasion","tag-the-invasion-4k-disc-review","tag-the-invasion-4k-ultra-hd","tag-the-invasion-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-the-invasion-review","tag-warner-bros"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}