The Invasion (2007)

Director:

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writers (WGA):

Dave Kajganich (screenplay)
Jack Finney (novel)

Release Date:

17 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep.

Plot:

As a Washington psychiatrist unearths the origin of an alien epidemic, she also discovers her son might be the only way it can be stopped.

Plot Keywords:

Corpse | Social Commentary | Explosion | Outbreak | Doctor

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Carol Bennell
Daniel Craig	...	Ben Driscoll
Jeremy Northam	...	Tucker Kaufman
Jackson Bond	...	Oliver
Jeffrey Wright	...	Dr. Stephen Galeano
Veronica Cartwright	...	Wendy Lenk
Josef Sommer	...	Dr. Henryk Belicec
Celia Weston	...	Ludmilla Belicec
Roger Rees	...	Yorish
Eric Benjamin	...	Gene
Susan Floyd	...	Pam
Stephanie Berry	...	Carly
Alexis Raben	...	Belicec's Aide
Adam LeFevre	...	Richard Lenk
Joanna Merlin	...	Joan Kaufman

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (USA) (working title)
The Visiting (USA) (working title)
Invasores (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
A Invasão (Portugal) [pt]
Eisvoli (Greece) [el]
Inbêjon (Japan) [ja]
Invasión (Spain) [es]
Invasion (Sweden) [sv]
Invasion (Belgium: French title) [fr]
Invasion (Italy) [it]
Invasion (Germany) [de]
Invasion, L' (Canada: French title) [fr]
Invasioon (Estonia) [et]
Invasores (Brazil) [pt]
Inwazja (Poland) [pl]
Istila (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Tunkeutujat (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and terror.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Germany:12 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:15A | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43529) | Taiwan:PG-12

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Nicole Kidman was involved in an accident while riding with others in a picture car mounted on trailer being towed by a camera truck rig. While filming a stunt in downtown Los Angeles, the truck took a turn too wide, slid on wet pavement, and collided with a light standard. Several stunt artists on the picture car were injured in the accident. Ms. Kidman was brought to the hospital as a precaution, but was able to return to the set the next day.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Carol and Oliver enter the elevator, she hits the button for the 29th floor. This causes the button 29 to light up. Yet a wide shot of the elevator interior a few seconds later reveals that neither 29 nor any other floor buttons are lit.

Quotes:

Carol: To be honest ambassador, when someone starts talking to me about the truth what I hear is what they're telling me about themselves, more than what they're saying about the world.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Body Snatchers (1993)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet No. 26 in D Major

Blame it on the Hollywood suits

I honestly don't think the movie is worth an 8, not in its released form. But since the cuts and additions from the suits are so painfully obvious, I'm willing to give a higher rating to the movie that could have been... and for now, only the original director Oliver something has seen.

So the original movie (which is still discernible somehow) was supposed to be a dark, slow take on isolation, pill overuse and boring modern life. With a twist: a mom so desperate to protect her child, she would silently watch other people being killed as long as she can find her kid. That's actually moving and seldom seen in a macho-dominated Hollywood. I won't say that ice cold Kidman is the right choice to depict a desperate mom, but given that her role is to often look emotionless (so she can pass as another "pod people") she doesn't do too badly.

Now, the suits didn't like that and called those soft-brained Wachowski bros to make it -supposedly- more mainstream. And what they did was to add car chases, crashes, helicopters, fires and senseless violence in general. Inserted into the original movie at close intervals to keep people amused (or so they thought). Now, there are a few good directors who can pull out a combination of slow burn and crazy action. But a patchwork movie made of two different directors' bits, guys with widely opposed instincts and goals, no wonder the result is a flop.

If anything is to be learned from this, it's how little do Hollywood executives know about what makes a good movie. Granted, a non-stop mishmash of violence and fifth-drink bar philosophy like The Matrix can earn the big bucks, but you can't expect Matrix-like bits to improve what was intended to be a slow paced, moody film. Which was probably condemned to be a box office failure, but also could have been pretty good.