Um, Guys...? I'm Not Saying One Way Or The Other, But....

[filkertom]

... "alien visitors from another planet" also is a "natural explanation" for UFOs.

What's your favorite aliens-invade movie? For sheer fun, I love Mars Attacks! And I have to admit that Independence Day is a hell of a ride, even if it's dumb as a box of hammers. I could name several more, but I left 'em for you. :)

ETA: ... No one mentioned Little Shop of Horrors? Either version?

Comments

[ericcoleman]

I love ID4 as well. It's darn silly, but a lot of fun.

Of course the greatest one, The Day The Earth Stood Still.

And I have to give a special mention to the original V mini series.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

When you say, "The Day The Earth Stood Still", I assume you mean the wonderful Robert Wise film and not the recent abomination.

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

Killer Clowns from Outer Space.. honestly one of my favorite ones.. hokey, cheese-covered, and fun.. also, dumber than a box of weights.

[devospice.livejournal.com]

I have to disagree with you on that last point. Killer Klowns was damn clever. The shadow puppet scene, the cotton candy, the balloons, all worked for that film. It was a silly premise, but they made it work. It's one of my favorite films, and the theme song just kicks ass.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Star Trek: First Contact. Yes, it counts, and I won't hear anybody say otherwise.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

The origianal Men in Black movie was good. I am waiting for someone in Hollywood to try and do a non-super-hero version of Secret Invasion (alien shape-shifters replacing people as a way to secretly take over society).

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Seriousness but fluff - ID4.

Classic - the original War of the Worlds.

Total comedy - MIB.

Total cheese...um...there's too many! Though I will second a vote for Killer Clowns from Outer Space.

There's one that I can't recall the title of (and never seem to remember) that had little green men that looked like Brussels sprouts with huge eyes and short arms/legs. Anybody? Anybody? Beuller?

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I'll second the first three, and add that the remake of WotW with the Moody Blues providing soundtrack and voice talent was well done.

Will Smith kicking ass just rocks... and the homage/rip of the St. Crispin's Day from the end of Henry V just before the last battle in ID4 is *classic*; damn few other films can say they made a two-minute long reference to Shakespeare and did it right and recognizably... especially not SF.

Oh, how about for cheese, "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"?

Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait. How could we POSSIBLY forget Buckaroo Banzai? I'm not sure how to classify that one... maybe because it's in a class by itself? :)

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

Men in Black. Love that movie. Need to watch it again, it's been a while.
Independence Day, as you yourself pointed out, is incredibly stupid, but highly entertaining. Mars Attacks is just hilarious.

[batyatoon]

Independence Day is indeed dumb, but it does have a couple of gorgeous moments.

I'm still convinced they ripped off "It's slowing down, sir" from Niven & Pournelle's Footfall, if only because the rest of the movie demonstrates no grasp whatsoever of the physics involved.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

You did catch the homage to Henry V, right?

Oh, as far as no grasp of physics, what are the odds that an alien race that physically different from us would have a computer socket that *just fits* a Mac? No McGyvering required? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Nevermind that Genius there could whip up a program that put'em to sleep and get it right the first time. Complete with the egregious pirate graphic that displays properly on their screens.

But, hey. It's Will Smith kicking ass and taking names. Hang your reality hat at the door, you won't need it. :)

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

[hiddenriver.livejournal.com]

Earth Girls Are Easy. Okay, so it's more of a hotness invasion than a hostile invasion, but still...

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Ahh yes! Source of one of my favorite songs and one of the first anime music videos I ever saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oulHTWO2MN8

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Morons from Outer Space. Mel Smith & Grif Rhys-Jones. Try and find it. If you do, let me know. It's about an invasion by inferior forces.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Run! He's got a board with a nail in it!

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Depends on your definition of "natural explanation". Some define it as "coming from nature", which usually involves a definition of "nature" that doesn't involve technology any more complex than a stick. We can quibble about what exactly a "natural explanation" is, but there is a reasonable definition for which their headline makes sense...

[metafrantic.livejournal.com]

Not exactly "invading" so much as "making contact and stealing one of our better actors", but Close Encounters of the Third Kind deserves major props.

And one that I personally found dull in theaters but was blown away by the director's cut: The Abyss.

[kismatt.livejournal.com]

Yeah, The Abyss is my all time fav movie.

You know you've seen a movie too many times when someone can play you about 3 measures of a piece of music and you can tell where it was, who was on the screen, what they were saying and who they were saying it to. Never mind the quotes. A friend told me that she as watching a movie, and said "Everything is." and I knew it was Abyss.

I am a sad, sad case.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension

[eleri.livejournal.com]

absolutely.

Loved ID4, cheeze and all.

Dunno that I've watched many more invasion movies. Old school Invasion of the Body Snatchers when I was younger.

No question...

[trifleresplende.livejournal.com]

John Carpenter's masterpiece "They Live" is one of the funniest, creepiest, and asskickingest movies of the past quarter century, and might have the best fight scene ever filmed.

Re: No question...

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

I'm still amazed that the glasses didn't get broken to smithereens at least twice during that part.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

This Island Earth...technically it's not an invasion as such, but still...

I want an Interrossitor.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I bet I can break it.

[saganth.livejournal.com]

They Live is a modern underrated classic. Also some good choices listed above (ID4, MIB, original Day the Earth Stood Still), I agree about Star Trek: First Contact, but let's also not forget the first and fourth Trek movies!

Also, although not exactly an invasion, 1980's Flash Gordon! Ok it was campy, but it was campy with STYLE! It was colorful, over the top, visually stunning, had Ornella Muti as Aura (ROWR!!) and Max von Sydow as Ming (no one will ever match his performance and presence in that role!!), and a killer soundtrack by Queen! Oh, and the Earth is under attack, albeit by remote-control. Still counts. FLASH! A-HAAAAAAAAA! SVAIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

FLASH! A-HAAAAAAAAA! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!

Great, now I'm gonna have that song in my head for the rest of the day...not that I mind...HE'LL SAVE EVERY ONE OF US! :-)

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Little Shop of Horrors, by a big vegetable head and shoulders. (The original's okay, the musical remake is a blast.)

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

One of my obscure favorites is The Arrival, an alien invasion movie that doesn't insult my intelligence.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

"V".

Loved it.

[elisabeth.livejournal.com]

I'll show my true colors, here.
Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (Godzilla: Final Wars) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399102/)

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Isn't Godzilla Terran, though?

Here are some other of the way ones

[varseth.livejournal.com]

Just two late additions for some unusualy sources:

Anime:
Lensmen
My Youth In Arcadia
Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers to us Yanks)

Films:
The Tiger Shark

Upcoming Films:
MONSTERS VS ALIENS!!!!

[starsongky.livejournal.com]

Futurama: Bender's Big Score

Spam can be a very sneaky weapon against gullible species like Humans...

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

The 1950s War Of The Worlds. Surprisingly not cheesy for such a cheesy movie. And for the line "Everyone out of here! Every-Auuuugggghhhhh!"

[klangley56.livejournal.com]

I'll go with the original film version of "War of the Worlds." I adore the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still," but that's not a "aliens invade" movie.

And ID4? A seriously check-your-brain-at-the-door movie, but I like the cast, the performances, the characters, the relationships, the way the story builds, the special effects, and the action. Any time I come across that movie on tv, I stop to watch it, no matter what point in the film it's at (and this is in spite of the fact that I have the DVD and can watch it any time I want).

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

I recall another movie, but I can't remember it's title. Maybe someone could help me? It qualifies as an invasion movie only by technicality. The premise was such; a space probe/satellite disintegrates in the atmosphere releasing an alien bacteria which invades the ecosystem and quickly leads to a zombie apocalypse, of sorts. I thought it was Night of the Living Dead, for a bit, but the original idea for that movie was radiation from Venus. Anyone?