Starship Invasions

Gave this film a watch considering I do enjoy Christopher Lee and Robert Vaughn and alien invasions! Well, this one was not too good as this thing came out the same year as Star Wars and while Star Wars still looks good to this day, the effects in this one are dated. I do not mean they look dated by today's standards, I mean they look quite dated for the year it was released as I have seen 50's alien films with better looking alien spaceships than the ones presented here which look like those dinner trays that have the lid over them at hotels when you order room service. Still though, I like the idea of a pleasure room...

The story starts out as a farmer is abducted by aliens and instead of getting probed, he gets presented with a beautiful alien woman he apparently makes love to (thankfully they omitted this part, I mean she was an attractive lady, but they guy not so much). Well a family is abducted and all of this is being done because the aliens are about to lose their planet so they want to take over ours. Sounds okay, until the invaders go to this underwater pyramid where there are more aliens from countless planets and they would not allow this attack. This makes the whole 'our planet is dying' thing not work, as the aliens in this pyramid are very helpful and would probably help the one's whose planet is about to explode due to a star going nova so there should be no need for them to annihilate the inhabitants on Earth by making them commit suicide. I mean, these people have a pleasure room, so you know they are cool! Oh, and Robert Vaughn is sort doing stuff too...

I am kind of baffled that Robert Vaughn got top billing in this film instead of Lee as Lee is in this thing a lot more and does more than Vaughn. I am still unsure why the cool aliens felt they needed his and a guy who look like Norm from Cheers help. They have been on Earth observing for a while, and have flown in space...what the hell can Robert Vaughn's character know about planets that they don't?

So, the film is kind of ruined by the whole good aliens because, once again, they are willing to help Earth so I am sure they would help the doomed planet too. Robert Vaughn's character almost seems pointless and tacked on to give this thing more run time rather than add anything interesting to the plot and I think the film could have been a bit more adult oriented and it would have been a more enjoyable watch. I mean, who wouldn't mind seeing more pleasure room!?!

"Starship Invasions" is an incredibly slow and underacted sci-fi film from Canada. While it stars Robert Vaughn and Christopher Lee, the rest of the cast are mostly unknowns. If I didn't know better, I would believe that the film's director gave all the actors downers before they began filming. This is because although the film is supposed to be a life or death tale about the invasion of the Earth, it's all so low energy and the acting is just too subdued....to the point where you start to wonder if it's a sci-fi zombie film!

So is there anything I really liked about this film? Well, there isn't much but I did like the makeup job on the huge-domed aliens-- they looked quite good considering the low budget. As for most of the rest of the aliens, however, they were just folks wearing silly black leotards. The robot that saves the day is even more ridiculous. Overall, the film has its moments but just not enough to recommend you watch it.

I have to agree with the people who say this movie's bad, but disagree with the ones who say it isn't so bad it's good. This movie is completely hilarious! I can only hope warner pulled SI out of distribution because they're working on a 30th anniversary DVD edition with lots of making-of featurettes where the director details how much crack he was on while he was making it. (It's out of circulation now and amazingly it's going for 150 bucks on amazon, this movie. Fortunately my video store happens to have an old copy.) Wait till you see the part with the pocket calculator! In this movie a guy uses a 70s style pocket calculator to compute flightpaths for a flying saucer. I rather would have thought that interplanetary trajectories would be a bit complicated for a pocket calculator, but what do I know? I remember when SI came out pocket calculators were a huge fad, along with digital watches. Everybody was all, now we can finally achieve world peace, because there are pocket calculators.

And the overacting family in the huge car! "look! it's a flying saucer! For god's sake DON'T MAKE THEM ANGRY!!" And the robots who look like trash cans...

And the sadistic kid who squashes the tomato...

Believe it or not I remember seeing this thing 29 years ago when it came out. I was all, wow, that really sucked, mommy. And my mom was like, yeah, I don't know what to tell you. So hilariously stupid and trashy. it's got goofy flying saucers, lots and lots of cheesecake, christopher lee losing every scrap of his dignity, tons of mind-controlled people acting really zombified and stupid, space battles that look like they were lifted straight out of "mars attacks!", possibly the most ridiculous costumes of all time, and the real coup de grace -- one actually extraordinarily talented actress (Helen Shaver, the wife of the UFO researcher guy) caught in the middle of it all, trying valiantly to salvage this whole mess. oh, and the soundtrack kicks. and yet is completely inappropriate for the subject matter.

I know, I know, you probably didn't find this review helpful.

A film with some great special effects shots and a few not so great. A film with neat ideas yet, crisp film cinematography and color. This is one of those popcorn and coke matinee films which i saw a zillion times when it ran on WGN and WKBD in syndication. The film features well known actors. In another version i thought I read CHRISTOPHER LEE says his lines. There may have been another version. STARSHIP INVASIONS came out as a "b" movie yet garnered a cult following on tv. It also was one of those post star wars films that capitalized off ufo myths tied in with ancient astronaughts like HANGAR 18. All of this makes for a fun story and has been fodder for years for writers searching for fiction story material. With some revamping the film could have been better. I sense budgetary constraints. As a boy I liked it and loved the escapism. Fans of older science fiction will enjoy this piece for a fun afternoon or evening. Fans of LARENCE OF ARABIA don't expect DAVID LEAN quality here. Expect escapism.

For years I had hoped to run across this film again as I find that certain images of the flying saucers have stuck in my imagination throughout my adult life. Actual recollections of storyline are nil as it seemed to be crude in its storytelling but my impression is that for whatever reason I believe this to be an important film in terms of its longterm effect on the impressionable minds (like mine at the time) who watched it on its release. Robert Vaughn who so memorably appeared in other low budget films (notably Teenage Caveman, a Corman classic), adds to the overall impression that here was something to be enjoyed throughout ones life. Despite its obvious flaws, you should overlook the films limitations and enjoy the fact that here is a film that at its core is about flying saucers. Apart from Forbidden Planet, no other film has remained with me with such a powerful grip on my imagination.