MovieChat Forums > The Invaders (1967) Discussion > They should do a big budget Invaders mov...

They should do a big budget Invaders movie

posted 10 years ago by bozo_500
22 replies | jump to latest

like other 60s tv show movies over the past years - Fugitive, Mission Impossible, JJ Star Trek etc

i know they did the mini series in 1995 but honestly who knows about that beyond hard core fans?? (and beyond the Roy Thinnes blink and you'll miss it cameo had very little in common with the original show)

and i know various big budget movies of old tv shows haven't worked (Lost in Space, The Avengers, A Team etc) but The Invaders would have a good chance as the concept is so strong (& the central theme of an outside force trying to take over from within is especially apt today) so Paramount or whoever owns it could do a biggish budget movie (but NOT another tv show). In addition although The Invaders was/is a highly respected tv show to SF fans it generally isn't all that well known in the popular culture now so it would've been deemed too sacrilegious if it were remade (unlike a lot of other stuff that gets remade)

as fun as it would be i dont think they could do a sequel to the original series to allow Thinnes to cameo as Vincent (like the mini series) as then the main character would have to be called something other than 'David Vincent' (youd really need to keep that name as its just synonymous with The Invaders) plus it wouldnt really work having the invaders been trying to take earth for 40 years (and of course youd want to recreate the iconic opening of the saucer landing at the deserted diner)...so itd work better if the concept of the original series was just updated for today - a remake like The Fugitive or A-Team or Star Trek...Thinnes could cameo as another character (a fellow believer?) or even an Invader (Vincent had an almost cold detached look about him like he could almost be an Invader himself - maybe that was intentional in a blade runneresque type way?*) ...Or maybe even have it as a period piece set in the 1960s, itd certainly set it apart from countless other alien invasion films and the 60s are in vogue now thanks to Mad Men and stuff like X Men First Class. plus more importantly it would solve any problems of the invaders being exposed by any of todays technology (smartphones, CCTV, Google earth etc) - they could either remake it from scratch set in the 60s or have it as a sequel carrying on from season 2 (minus The Believers though)

Either way have that same eerie/horror feel that the tv show had (and also the Sutherland/Nimoy Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake) - Vincent alone against the Invaders visiting small towns etc, people not believing him, getting evidence but then losing it, people he trusted being revealed to be aliens - plus dont deviate too much from stuff in the series, like the saucers, killer discs, incinerator guns, hypnotic twirling things, regeneration tubes, little fingers, blank stares, green suits, invaders disintegrating bodies when die, the eerie theme tune etc - all the stuff that the 95 miniseries chose to ignore

Could do a big budget version of the pilot episode - obviously not exactly the same - but similar set up to that - Vincent in his car - wrong turn, deserted diner, seeing the saucer land etc...then have a story that incorperates elements of various episodes, expanded for a big budget - e.g. smalltown investigations and death of his comrade (the pilot) maybe Vincent could capture a ship (The Saucer) or gets evidence (Quantity: Unknown) etc etc

throughout the film hed convince the odd person/scientist etc but theyd always die or choose not to accept what was happening - youd really want to keep that one man against the Invaders thing - not diverge into 'the believers' thing season 2 had (at least not until a sequel anyway)

End the film with a minor victory for Vincent -destroys an Invader complex or a saucer taking a few aliens down - but in doing so he loses any evidence he had so itd be bittersweet - and obviously the threat is still there at the end - his victory is just a drop in the ocean

if successful then do sequels which could expand to the believers, Invaders origins etc - but really itd be a standalone film - if theres sequels fine, if not then itd still work on its own. one of the cool things about the tv show is they never wrapped it up (obviously as it was cancelled!)

who for David Vincent? Would need someone who's an above the title star (like Ford in Fugitive/Cruise in MI etc) otherwise it probably wouldn't make money as The Invaders name alone wouldn't be enough to ensure success. Kevin Costner would’ve been a good choice in the 1990s (as he looked a little like Roy Thinnes) but abit too old now. Maybe Russel Crowe would be a good choice (as he has that lone guy against the world thing down..) or maybe Patrick Wilson (around correct age and whos abit 'Thinnes'). And who for lead Invader? (theres was always a lead Invader guy right? Or someone you think isnt but turns out he is) maybe someone like Kevin Spacey or Jeff Bridges as they have that detached serene spaced out persona (both 'StarMen') or even Chris Walken or Kiefer Sutherland (whose pops was in Invasion of the BS)... so maybe a couple of those guys

hopefully this decade we might see a big Invaders movie as they are running out of things to remake now (Twilight Zone and Outer Limits movies should be going ahead soon)...so maybe they'll be looking at the more obscure, less obvious stuff like Invaders

[–] bozo_500 10 years ago

any Invaders fans opinions on this would be welcome!!

[–] rino7789 10 years ago

I would definitely support a big screen adaptation of this if it could be done intelligently as well as maintain the atmosphere and feel of the television series. I do not have much faith in Hollywood these days when it comes to remaking beloved shows from the past as they never seem to be able to get it right.

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

any Invaders fans opinions on this would be welcome! - bozo_500

You lay out some good points here. My biggest reservation is that so much of The Invaders has been done subsequently, not exactly like the show, but enough of the ideas have found themselves in other shows and films: Aliens that can take human form, or can expropriate human form; the invasion of Earth in subtle, silent form; or the "lone voice in the wilderness" trying to convince others of the great danger awaiting humanity (think Mulder from The X Files, or even Kolchak from Kolchak: The Night Stalker).

A remake could work in a contemporary context. Yes, the technology is far more advanced than it was a half-century ago, but a good writer will work that out. Besides, if they're so advanced as to get to Earth in the first place, won't their technology be able to combat ours regardless of era?

That said, I do like the idea of setting it in the 1960s, and you could still work in Roy Thinnes (provided he is still alive and willing when this gets made): Use a framing device: Start the story today, with old David Vincent recounting how he helped to thwart the Invaders in the 1960s, then have the close-frame having him passing the torch to the next generation. Or, have a contemporary (re-)invasion, with resisters seeking Vincent's help and advice from the last time this happened. Or have him unknowingly tell his story to a disguised contemporary Invader, thus opening the door for a sequel.

Also, I like your idea of doing a feature-length film of the pilot as that could kick off the idea and open the door for potential sequels. Not that I'm a big fan of sequels, but you know that Hollywood will look at this as franchise fodder.

I'm not good at doing casting choices because I don't really care that much, but I think that Neal McDonough could be a good choice as either Vincent or a key Invader. Or maybe both--there's a twist for you: Vincent was an Invader himself who somehow managed to turn against the cause.

Bottom line, though, is that, yes, The Invaders could be remade but Hollywood's spotty track record on remakes could also make it a flop.

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History is hard to know, because of all the hired bull$hit. - Hunter S. Thompson

[–] StuOz 9 years ago

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Batman and Robin (1997), Star Trek 1,2,3,4,5,6 (1979 to 1991), Lost In Space (1998)...yes old 1960s TV shows can sometimes turn into great big budget movies and be every entertaining...like the four mentioned above.

But too often they miss the mark (Thunderbirds, Get Smart, etc).

To me, QM's The Invaders was just as much about the 1960s as it was about the aliens....I love the 1960s Fords all over the place, the wonderfully loud music scores playing over the hours, the narrations, the lack of in-your-face-violence, no swearing, no Facebook, no internet, the wonderful 1960s guest stars, the episodic plots, the cross overs to other 1960s sci-fi shows...you could never put all this into a 2014 cinema block buster I am afraid.

[–] oxblood 9 years ago

As stated before, the show and it's ideas is fairly archaic now and has been done in so many other movies and tv shows. A new movie would have to throw out all of the original show's ideas and start with a blank page. Even so, alien invaders masquerading as humans for a takeover has been overdone to death from several remakes of Invasion of the body Snatchers to They Live! to The Puppet Masters. Other than hardcore fans of the show, I don't see a big box office movie or tv series remake in the future. The Invaders should remain untouched as a time capsule of its era.

Truthfully I only just started watching the show yesterday for the first time. I was old enough to see it as a kid but my dad monopolized the only tv we had at the time and he was not a sci fi fan. (I only got to see Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea because he was a military man). But watching these episodes it's easy to see it hasn't aged well because it's been ripped of so many times by later shows with better special effects and bigger budgets.

[–] bozo_500 9 years ago

still no news on a movie 😡

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

I wouldn't mind a new movie so long as they had the common sense to stay with the original's atmosphere and presentation. I would prefer an update rather than a rehash of things that were supposedly happening in the late Sixties. One thing that has changed the world since then is the revolution in computers, media, and communication. Vincent will no longer need to scramble to find a phone booth, and he can email or text urgent messages and receive such as well. New world, new Vincent (or whoever the new protagonist will end up being). Could make an interesting, sinister film. However, unless a limited amount of franchise movies were planned, Vincent would have to win against the Invaders in the first movie, if it's just a one-shot film. This is not the kind of narrative that permits a never-ending series of near-defeats, with the alien threat continuing on virtually untouched by even the best efforts of Vincent. The ending must be either happy or tragic (from a terrestrial POV), but one thing it should not do is be ambiguous. The only ambiguity or unhappy endings that would work would be in a franchise set up for, say, three major films, with Vincent/the Earth either triumphant - or conquered - by the conclusion of the final film...

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

Yes also after the failure of Man from UNCLE there would be little chance of a retro 60s setting. Would have to be updated to today

[–] clacton0 8 years ago

Yes it would be good if they could do a movie like in 2017 , 2018 would be the right time for it as well.
I only watched the show this year and really liked it.

www.youtube.com/eastangliauk

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

2017 is the 50th anniversary. they should do a movie for then like Bond/Star Trek/Dr Who 

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

now The Prisoner is set to get the big budget movie treatment.. from Ridley Scott no less!
http://deadline.com/2016/01/ridley-scott-the-prisoner-the-martian-patrick-mcgoohan-alien-covenant-1201678547/

[–] a_l_i_e_n 8 years ago

Turning "The Invaders" into a big budget film franchise might actually meet with greater success than another tv series when we consider the way "Independence Day" and particularly "Men In Black" were embraced by movie audiences. I'd pay to see a good quality screen version. They should give it a try.

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

with the success of the returning XFiles and ID4:R coming maybe now is the time to do Invaders..

[–] a_l_i_e_n 8 years ago

with the success of the returning XFiles and ID4:R coming maybe now is the time to do Invaders..

I'd go. Get him in shape again and I think Russell Crowe could make a great David Vincent.

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

I think Patrick Wilson would be a good choice also. He's not unlike Roy Thinnes and I could picture him in a car in a deserted diner car park being woken by a saucer landing

[–] creatorof2002 8 years ago

I think Roy Thinnes is still alive, he should appear in this in a cameo as an elderly person just as a nod to the original.

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

absolutely Thinnes should cameo. maybe something like an extended cameo/supporting role where by hed be made out to be a human/good guy but then turns out to be an Invader! abit like Nimoy in the Body Snatchers remake (and like the way Heston cameoed in Burtons Apes but as an ape)

[–] bozo_500 7 years ago

bumping this in light of the last weeks of the board (of any board) 

[–] bozo_500 (12152) 5 years ago

still nothing

[–] bozo_500 (12152) 5 years ago

just thinking that if it were to be a remake set present day with a new David Vincent there could still be some back story of the invaders having recon'd earth back in the 60s as a nod to the tv show even though it would be a remake

[–] mjdavid (6) 5 years ago

I say go for it! We are once again in era of fear and suspicion. Driven by terrorism and exenophobia over immigration,similar to the cold war era of 1960's I didn't think that the 1995 minseries pulled off the the same effect as the original series....with it's "chain smoking, steak and eggs eating" aliens. I'd prefer and really well done plot over "stupendous effects", but of course the effects would be "light years" ahead now. Perhaps you could start with someone finding the records of David Vincet or perhaps an eldery Vincent describes how he managed the keep the Invaders at bay...hands off the torch to someone who has seen or interacted with the Invaders themselves. And of course there are people who that Vincent convinced that the Invaders were real...some of them would be still around. This might be a job for Netflix or similar?

Their mission "to make it their world"

[–] Satan2016 (23261) 5 years ago

So many streaming services today, but not much good SciFi. If they kept the original story it would be good.

Thinnes is now 80, but was in a documentary 5 years ago. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2342700/