A Few Words About A few words about...™ Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I thought this Signature release looked slightly better than the previous Olive BD release. It isn't a night and day difference, but it looks slightly better to me.

I'm going to watch it again tomorrow, anybody have any suggestion as to which audio commentary I should listen to?

 

[English Patient]

I thought this Signature release looked slightly better than the previous Olive BD release. It isn't a night and day difference, but it looks slightly better to me.

I'm going to watch it again tomorrow, anybody have any suggestion as to which audio commentary I should listen to?

I listened to both commentaries, and I really enjoyed the Richard Harlan Smith commentary - it was clear he was very, very prepared and knowledgeable, and he provided lots of interesting analyses and anecdotes. The Kevin McCarthy/Dana Wynter/Joe Dante commentary isn't bad, but it seemed a bit underwhelming. Wynter didn't really contribute very much (she admitted she had only seen the movie in its entirety once) and McCarthy tended to ramble a bit.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I listened to both commentaries, and I really enjoyed the Richard Harlan Smith commentary - it was clear he was very, very prepared and knowledgeable, and he provided lots of interesting analyses and anecdotes. The Kevin McCarthy/Dana Wynter/Joe Dante commentary isn't bad, but it seemed a bit underwhelming. Wynter didn't really contribute very much (she admitted she had only seen the movie in its entirety once) and McCarthy tended to ramble a bit.

I heard that a lot, the actors and the producers of the movies, don’t watch there own work after they’ve finished it.

 

[Dick]

I thought this Signature release looked slightly better than the previous Olive BD release. It isn't a night and day difference, but it looks slightly better to me.

I'm going to watch it again tomorrow, anybody have any suggestion as to which audio commentary I should listen to?

Both.

 

[English Patient]

I heard that a lot, the actors and the producers of the movies, don’t watch there own work after they’ve finished it.

Another "problem" with this commentary (and it's nobody's fault, really) is that Invasion was made 50 years before they recorded the commentary, so probably neither McCarthy nor Wynter had total recall of the movie's production. There were a few moments where both of them were struggling to remember certain things or seemed uncertain about other things. Which is natural.

I don't mean to denigrate their commentary too much, though - they were both very good-humored and both had an obvious affection for the movie, and Joe Dante did well as an enthusiastic moderator. But I think I learned more from the Richard Harlan Smith commentary - I especially liked his detailed comparisons of the movie and the novel.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I listened to both commentaries, and I really enjoyed the Richard Harlan Smith commentary - it was clear he was very, very prepared and knowledgeable, and he provided lots of interesting analyses and anecdotes. The Kevin McCarthy/Dana Wynter/Joe Dante commentary isn't bad, but it seemed a bit underwhelming. Wynter didn't really contribute very much (she admitted she had only seen the movie in its entirety once) and McCarthy tended to ramble a bit.

Thank you. I'm going to listen to both commentaries in due time, but I wanted to listen to one right now so I'll take your suggestion.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Both.

Eventually, I will, but not today.

 

[RolandL]

Screen shot comparison.

 

[PianoPlayer]

The Olive Signature Blu-ray is on sale at Deep Discount today for $13.74.

 

[RolandL]

$19.99 at BestBuy and Amazon. I don't have the previous release so I'll get this for the extras. Too bad they didn't include the 3.0 track.

 

[Douglas_H]

I guess I'm glad I held off on this til now.
I really like this film.
IMO, one of the seminal Sci-Fi films.
War of the Worlds, Forbidden Planet but this one is different.

No big deal effects but light & shadow.
King Donovan is awesome. A truly unheralded so-called character actor that always added to everything he was in.
Kevin McCarthy is another versatile & convincing actor.
All of the cast of great.
A really creepy film.
I get totally sucked in.

 

[Matt Hough]

Unquestionably great and has remained so for more than half a century.

 

[Nelson Au]

I think I have nearly every iteration of home video of this film. Agreed about its status as one of the great films of the genre. I remember long ago during a broadcast on Creature Features, they discussed the original film did not have the bookends.

 

[BobO'Link]

This is the film I loaned a then 26yo coworker who'd proclaimed "I don't like or watch BW movies.", but also claims to be a huge movie fan, that convinced her films in BW can be good too.

She's a horror movie fan and likes SF. I gave her a challenge: "I'm bringing you a small group of classic BW horror and SF movies I insist you watch. If you still don't like BW after watching them I'll leave you alone." That Friday I handed her Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Day the Earth Stood Still, King Kong, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man. I recommended she start with Invasion... She did as requested, bringing them back the following Monday with a "Do you have more? Those were great! I *really* liked Invasion of the Body Snatchers!" She no longer rejects BW films as an option and has seen many more BW classics in many genres, often seeking them out.

 

[Johnny Angell]

This is the film I loaned a then 26yo coworker who'd proclaimed "I don't like or watch BW movies.", but also claims to be a huge movie fan, that convinced her films in BW can be good too.

She's a horror movie fan and likes SF. I gave her a challenge: "I'm bringing you a small group of classic BW horror and SF movies I insist you watch. If you still don't like BW after watching them I'll leave you alone." That Friday I handed her Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Day the Earth Stood Still, King Kong, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man. I recommended she start with Invasion... She did as requested, bringing them back the following Monday with a "Do you have more? Those were great! I *really* liked Invasion of the Body Snatchers!" She no longer rejects BW films as an option and has seen many more BW classics in many genres, often seeking them out.

I’ll bet that felt good. You have saved a soul from b&w ignorance. Try The Manchurian Candidate or 7 Days in May on her.

 

[Nelson Au]

I think I’m still me.

I watched this Olive Signature release last night finally. I was saying in the other thread it’s been in my To-Watch stack. It’s good to give some time between viewings because even though I’ve seen this film many, many times on each format, it still gives me the chills! The idea that your essence, your spark for life will be gone and replaced by soulless pod people is scary.

I thought the image looked pretty sharp in most cases, but I was for some reason expecting it to be sharper. But over all it looked great, especially the night scenes too. But the film is so good, you just get sucked into the story and I was fully engaged.

I liked the extras, I’ve only seen two. The feature the about the filming locations was great. I didn’t know about the Mulholland overpass over 101. Someday, I might have to see that. And I was curious about the stairs they climb, that is cool it still exists. The chase scene being filmed over several locations miles apart reminded me of the chase in Bullitt. Being born and raised in the SF Bay Area, I know the chase Route having seen it so many times as well, but in reality, they also filmed it in many different parts of San Francisco. Its edited well and is exciting in both cases.

Next up, trying to pick-up the 1978 4K release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

 

[ScottRE]

I love this film, ever since I was a kid. All I have is an old non-anamorphic flipper DVD from forever ago, but it still packs a punch (I watched it back to back with Halloween III: Season of the Witch). I always try to imagine the film without the bookends, but honestly I think they work! Other than McCarthy's in-film narration is calm and collected while he's out of his mind with hysteria when we meet him, it does work. And the final "keep the studio happy" ending is what always got to me as a kid. It would be too danged hopeless without it. As soon as the EMS worker says the pods came from Santa Mira, Carmen Dragon's score comes up and Whit Bissell puts his reassuring "I believe you!" hand on McCarthy's shoulder, a chill goes through me (one did just now as I was writing this). It's powerful! It's still open ended, but like adding Spock's photon tube at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, it's hopeful. And that MAYBE everything Bennell went through wasn't for nothing...

I'd love to see the original for history's sake, but for me, the bookends are part of why I love this movie as much as I do.

Speaking of Carmen Dragon, his score when we first see "Jack's" body on the pool table is incredible. He does a LOT of shock stings, but his screaming orchestra explodes and adds so much terror. Really one of my favorite films...

 

[Johnny Angell]

And the final "keep the studio happy" ending is what always got to me as a kid. It would be too danged hopeless without it.

I think the original story was released with different endings. The one I read had a very happy ending.

 

[octobercountry]

Apparently the original negative has finally been located and Kino is releasing a version at 1.85, taken from a new scan? If that is truly the case, this will be the first time anyone has EVER gotten to see this film in higher quality, since it was originally shot.

 

[Konstantinos]

Apparently the original negative has finally been located and Kino is releasing a version at 1.85, taken from a new scan?

They are releasing it in 2 aspect ratios!

This special edition features the film in two aspect ratios, 2.00:1 and 1.85:1.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (4KUHD) | Kino Lorber - Experience Cinema

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

kinolorber.com