This Might Be Obvious


Why didn't the humans just go bareback until these aliens are wiped out? If they have no shirts, they can't hide.

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And in fact they did in the original novel.

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Next time at the library I'm getting that. Used to read tons of sci fi when I was younger. Heinlein was good transition stuff, from old pulp to more intelligent stuff. Remember some of his other stuff.


What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.

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Somehow I just don't think that an Army/Army Guard guy shirtless has quite the same impact as one in full uniform with all his equipment hanging off him.

I thought this was a passable movie, not having read the book. It certainly seemed different from sci-fi's usual movie, so I was surprised to find it made in 1994. I've never heard of Eric Thal before.

*Amarillo* --Euripides? Eumenides!

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Just cut out the back of the shirts and jackets to expose the neck and spine.

What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.

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"Just cut out the back of the shirts and jackets to expose the neck and spine."

"Schedule Bare Back" in the book. Didn't work. Next step was "Schedule Sun Tan (I was really looking forward to Hollywood figuring out a way to handle that one--they handled it by ignoring it). However the militia tended to wear an arm band and and an assault rifle and nothing else and you didn't mess with 'em even if you were one of the Old Man's Agents.

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That's definitely one of the appealing parts of the book. On the one hand it's outrageous, on the other hand you do what has to be done in order to survive.

This movie, unfortunately, only had a small piece of "doing whatever is necessary to survive". Not quite enough to be a great movie, but I still enjoyed it. 6.5/10.

Sig, you want a sig, here's a SIG-sauer!

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It must be about 40 years ago when I read the book, but I seem to remember that in the end everyone walked around naked, which they said resulted in a more physically fit world because of everyone seeing each other naked.


'....and stay out of my bathroom.'

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It should have been in the movie too.

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Yeah, I had the same thought: all government employees should've all been issued tank-tops to wear. To me this was lazy screenwriting mistake #59 in the movie.



"Obviously, you always want to keep vehicular intercourse down to a minimum at all times."

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Had the executive producer of this film had his way, the movie would have paralled the book - including the marvelous scene in which the president takes his clothes off in front of Congress. But the executive producer didn't have his way, so the audience was deprived of that great scene (and so many others) and instead, Hollywood had ITS way with the book. A shame.

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I had the same thought. The President would make a statement saying that shirts and any other garments designed to cover the upper body were prohibited, other than bras as long as they exposed the majority of the back. I had this whole Presidential address in my head, where he warned people that wearing a torso garment would get them shot on sight, stuff like that. The unfortunate people that don't watch the news would be innocent casualties, but when you're dealing with an alien invasion, sometimes it's better to sacrifice a few than to lose the population as a whole.

I also thought about supplying people (military, police, etc.) with some kind of protection that would perhaps be strapped around the chest and lower abdomen; it would be a strong metal plate, fitted to the contours of the back and neck. There are just too many problems with that idea, though... everyone has different body shapes, people are different heights, and they never (in the movie, anyway) determined just how strong the alien barb was and what exactly it could and could not pierce.

I know some people have said in this thread that they did try the shirtless option in the book, but I have not read it, so I'm not sure why that particular tactic failed. I guess I'll have to renew my library subscription and go check it out.

I have no enemies, but am intensely disliked by my friends.

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I also thought about supplying people (military, police, etc.) with some kind of protection that would perhaps be strapped around the chest and lower abdomen; it would be a strong metal plate, fitted to the contours of the back and neck. There are just too many problems with that idea, though... everyone has different body shapes, people are different heights, and they never (in the movie, anyway) determined just how strong the alien barb was and what exactly it could and could not pierce.


Tried in the novel, didn't work. They don't have to be on the back.

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To anybody who has not read the book this may contain spoilers. Not only did the aliens did the aliens not have to be on the back I think they could be practically anywhere on the body and still be able to control people. So the plan to detect aliens was for people to walk around completely naked most or all the time (people may have been allowed to wear clothing that did not cover much). I think this may have continued even after most possibly all of the aliens on Earth were killed. I also think people adapted to this change pretty well. When the aliens were killed a group of people were sent to find the aliens home planet and destroy the rest of them. I have no idea if a more true to the book movie or miniseries could be made but I think it would be interesting to see.

I hope none of this wordy or oddly but I have always had a hard time with that. Also if I am wrong about anything in the book just let me know and tell me what.

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Book Spoilers. The masters didn't even need to be on the body. The vigilantes noticed a naked woman carrying a large purse that she never shifted from one hand to the other. They burned the purse and found a master controlling her from the purse via tendrils attached to her hand.

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