ADDITION: Ignite Films 4K UHD (February 2023): Ignite Films' have released William Cameron Menzies' 1953 classic "Invaders from Mars" to 4K UHD. It has been restored to 4K from "the Original Camera Negative to its original theatrical version by IGNITE B.V." It has a healthy does of HDR which results in some deep, rich colors. Grain has some inconsistency - but can be very textured and pleasing when it surfaces. Darker scenes are quite dark and overall you can appreciate Menzies' dominant greens. I was very happy with the results. Ignite Films offers this in both 4K UHD or Blu-ray packages. 

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 68 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: Death Wish (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (no HDR), High Plains Drifter (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mystery Men (software uniformly simulated HDR), Silent Running (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dressed to Kill (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Power of the Dog  (software uniformly simulated HDR), Escape From Alcatraz (software uniformly simulated HDR), I, the Jury (no HDR), Casablanca (software uniformly simulated HDR), In the Mood For Love (NO HDR applied to disc), The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman  (software uniformly simulated HDR), Blow Out (software uniformly simulated HDR), Night of the Living Dead (NO HDR applied to disc), Lost Highway (software uniformly simulated HDR), Videodrome (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Last Picture Show (software uniformly simulated HDR), It Happened One Night (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Mummy (1932)(software uniformly simulated HDR), Creature From the Black Lagoon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Bride of Frankenstein (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Amityville Horror  (software uniformly simulated HDR), The War of the Worlds (1953) (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Incredible Melting Man  (software uniformly simulated HDR), Event Horizon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Get Carter (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Killing (software uniformly simulated HDR), Killer's Kiss (software uniformly simulated HDR) 

On their 4K UHD, Ignite Films use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language with a handful of optional foreign-language DUBs. "Invaders from Mars" is filled with various types of sci-fi audio effects. The score was credited to versatile journeyman Raoul Kraushaar (often credited as Ralph Stanley) who is has done film compositions for She Should Have Said No, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, Dirty O'Neil, September Storm - 3D, and Fritz Lang's The Blue Gardenia. There is also uncredited music contributions by Mort Glickman (the 1941 Captain Marvel serial.) Interesting vocals are employed in the score and you may recognize some variations on the original US Army song "The Caissons Go Rolling Along". It sounds quite buoyant. Ignite Films include optional English (SDH) or Spanish subtitles - and this 4K UHD is region FREE, playable worldwide.

There are plentiful extras on the 4K UHD disc including. There are interviews with star Jimmy Hunt (the 10-minute piece 'Jimmy Hunt Saves the Planet'), William Cameron Menzies’ biographer James Curtis (William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come) and recollections of Menzies’ eldest granddaughter Pamela Lauesen. Terror From Above is a 22-mionute featurette with acclaimed film directors John Landis, Joe Dante, editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist and two time Oscar Winner Robert Skotak (foremost expert on Invaders from Mars), and enthusiast and film preservationist Scott MacQueen. John Sayles’ offers a 7-minute introduction to Invaders from Mars at Turner Classic Movies Festival in Hollywood in April of 2022. There are before/after clips of restoration – original negative and archival film elements - with film restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen running shy of 7-minutes. There are restored segments in 2K of the Alternate International Version plus alternative European ending and extended Planetarium scene, It is noted that "For Europe the original "Dream" ending was replaced. As the cast flees down the hill new moving shots of Dr. Kelston and Dr. Blake are inserted. The background plate of David running on a treadmill, cuts to the doctors taking shelter behind a tank. The saucer, reverse printed as if ascending, is superimposed with an aerial explosion. Editorial syntax never used in the original film, a fade-out/fade-in, reveals an improvised bedroom doorway. Dr. Blake shushes Dr. Kelston, trilling in a silly whisper that "the little man has had a busy day". Where the Twentieth-Century Fox credit appears on the producer card on domestic prints, no distributor is credited on the foreign card." and regarding the European Planetarium scene; "Six months after its opening and nearly a year after production closed, "Invaders from Mars" went back before the camera at KTTV Studios in Hollywood on September 2,1953. Foreign distributors requested changes for a longer film and a new, reality-based ending. Under director Wesley Barry, Arthur Franz, Helena Carter and Jimmy Hunt appear in eight minutes of new scenes on a makeshift observatory set. Filmed like a television show of the era, there is no sense of camera placement or appropriate lighting to match the original version. Editing tries to hide that there are only fifteen long camera takes. Arthur Franz is filmed from the "wrong" angle, displaying a combat injury on his right cheek. Helena Carter's hair and make-up look quickly applied. Jimmy Hunt is conspicuously a year older sporting a freshly buzzed haircut and an incongruous sweater vest. With no music for 8:00 minutes the forward motion of the heavily scored movie languishes." Included are a restored 4K original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned trailer 2022 plus a gallery with the original Press Book pages, behind the scenes photos from the restoration process. The package has a 20 page extensive essay on the restoration process: “Invaders From Mars: A Nightmare of Restoration” by Scott MacQueen with photos.

Ignite Films's 4K UHD release of William Cameron Menzies' sci-fi classic "Invaders from Mars" is so welcome. It is steeped in boyhood memories as the quintessential soft-take on the alien invasion story - mainly as it is largely seen from the child's viewpoint. It is the first feature film to show aliens in color! Invaders from Mars does evoke the more sophisticated production of George Pal's War of the Worlds and - with the 'taking over human bodies with clandestine doubles' expression - Siegel's 56' Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Even DVDs of "Invaders from Mars" were fetching inflated prices, so, it's great to have this offered in such stellar and stacked, Blu-ray and 4K UHD editions. If somebody can just do similar to 1963's Day of the Triffids, I can die a happy man. Bravo for the restoration!  

Gary Tooze