Figured, after recently watching the original Don Siegel masterpiece and then last night the 70s remake, that the pod people should get some love around here.
I consider the original to be a bit of a masterpiece and I know I'm not alone in that. It's incredibly tense and a great example of paranoid fifties American filmmaking. You can read it as an allegory about the 'red menace' or you can enjoy it as a slick slice of sci-fi - it works on both levels. Siegel's direction is great, McCarthy is amazing in the lead and the whole thing is incredibly effective despite (or because of?) it's reliance not on effect but on storytelling, acting and suspense.
Which contrats a lot with the 70s version. This one is loaded with a lot of effects pieces, it's quite a bit more sensational in many ways and whereas in the original the pod people were quiet and showed no emotion, here they scream and run and do show more than a passing interest in self preservation. Pretty strong for a PG film, what with 'hoe to the head' gore effect and the (admittedly non-sexual) nudity in the last half hour. A fantastic ending, a solid performance from all involved even if Leonard Nimoy doesn't get to stretch much as an actor. A nice nod to the original with McCarthy's cameo (which you could see as something that makes this as much a sequel as a remake given how the original ends and that it took place in a different city).
Haven't seen the Fererra version in a while, might have to dig that one out soon...
I consider the original to be a bit of a masterpiece and I know I'm not alone in that. It's incredibly tense and a great example of paranoid fifties American filmmaking. You can read it as an allegory about the 'red menace' or you can enjoy it as a slick slice of sci-fi - it works on both levels. Siegel's direction is great, McCarthy is amazing in the lead and the whole thing is incredibly effective despite (or because of?) it's reliance not on effect but on storytelling, acting and suspense.
Which contrats a lot with the 70s version. This one is loaded with a lot of effects pieces, it's quite a bit more sensational in many ways and whereas in the original the pod people were quiet and showed no emotion, here they scream and run and do show more than a passing interest in self preservation. Pretty strong for a PG film, what with 'hoe to the head' gore effect and the (admittedly non-sexual) nudity in the last half hour. A fantastic ending, a solid performance from all involved even if Leonard Nimoy doesn't get to stretch much as an actor. A nice nod to the original with McCarthy's cameo (which you could see as something that makes this as much a sequel as a remake given how the original ends and that it took place in a different city).
Haven't seen the Fererra version in a while, might have to dig that one out soon...
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