Invasion of the Body Snatchers Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Philip Kaufman
US 1978

When filmy spores fall from space and take root in San Francisco, the city is beautifully transformed by spectacular and exotic flowers. But these lovely extraterrestrial blossoms have gruesome plans for their earthly admirers: to slowly clone their bodies and then dispose of the originals! "A first-rate suspense thriller" (Newsday), this sci-fi adventure is a "chilling" (Leonard Maltin), "dazzling" (The New York Times) and "stunning" (Cosmopolitan) thrill ride that will send your pulse rate soaring! From a brilliant screenplay by Oscar nominee* W.D. Richter, filmmaker Philip Kaufman directs an all-star cast that includes Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimoy. With its mesmerizing style and awe-inspiring special effects, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is "a classic of the genre" (New York Post) a terrifying tale that "literally chills the blood" (The Hollywood Reporter)!.

****

Though it lacks the awesome allegorical ambiguousness of the 1956 classic of sci-fi/political paranoia (here paid homage in cameo appearances by Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel), Kaufman and screenwriter WD Richter's update and San Francisco transposition of Jack Finney's novel is a far from redundant remake. The extraterrestrial pod people now erupt into a world where seemingly everyone is already 'into' changing their lives or lifestyles, and into a cinematic landscape already criss-crossed by an endless series of conspiracies, while the movie has as much fun toying with modern thought systems (psychology, ecology) as with elaborate variations on its predecessor. Kaufman here turns in his most Movie Brattish film, but soft-pedals on both his special effects and knowing in-jokiness in a way that puts De Palma to shame; even extra bit appearances by Robert Duvall (Kaufman's Jesse James in The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid) and Hollywood archivist Tom Luddy are given a nicely take-it-or-leave-it dimension.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

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Theatrical Release: December 20th, 1978

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Comparison:

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM (Collector's Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) MGM - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT
2) MGM (Collector's Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE

3) MGM - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

DVD Box Cover

Distribution	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	MGM (Collector's Edition) Region 1 - NTSC	MGM Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:55:52	1:55:24	1:55:37.180
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.63 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.75 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	Disc Size: 40,995,040,719 bytes Feature Size: 37,982,269,440 bytes Average Bitrate: 37.94 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080P
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: MGM )Collector's Edition)
Bitrate: MGM Blu-ray (US)
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 1.0 Stereo)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 1.0 Stereo)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 3350 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3350 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / DN -4dB / Dolby Surround
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, None	English, French, Spanish, None	English, French, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Philip Kaufman • Theatrical trailer Flipper with 4:3 version on opposite side of the disc DVD Release Date: March 31st, 1998 Keep Case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: MGM (CE) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Philip Kaufman Second DVD disc: • Visitors From Outer Space or How I stop Worrying and Learned to Love the Pod (16:14) • Practical Magic - The Special Effects Pod (4:38) • The Man Behind the Scream - The Sound Effects Pod (12:47) • The Invasion Will Be Televised - the Cinematography Pod (5:24) • Original Theatrical trailer (2:11) DVD Release Date: August 7th, 2007 Standard Keep Case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: MGM (Fox) Disc Size: 40,995,040,719 bytes Feature Size: 37,982,269,440 bytes Average Bitrate: 37.94 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080P Edition Details: • Visitors From Outer Space or How I stop Worrying and Learned to Love the Pod (16:14 in HD!) • Practical Magic - The Special Effects Pod (4:38 in HD!) • The Man Behind the Scream - The Sound Effects Pod (12:47 in HD!) • The Invasion Will Be Televised - the Cinematography Pod (5:24 in HD!) • Original Theatrical trailer (2:11 in HD!) • Double-sided 1998 DVD with widescreen letterboxed on one side - pan and scan on opposite and Philip Kaufman Commentary with theatrical trailer Blu-ray Release Date: September 14th, 2010 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 32

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: MGM (US) -Region 'A' - Blu-ray September 2010: Okay - this is a wonderfully enjoyable film - a superb remake of Siegel's 56' classic (compared HERE).

Although it initially appears as MGM have scrimped with the 'thrown in' inclusion of a DVD - which we were able to determine was the 1998 non-anamorphic, flipper disc (pan and scan version on opposite side). This was the reason we actually included it in the comparison. Technically though - the MGM Blu-ray appears to be adept with a dual-layered transfer - the feature taking up almost 38 Gig for the, less than 2-hour, film. There is quite a high bitrate. The 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD was excellent for that SD medium and the Blu-ray doesn't advance predominately in colors but it showcases the grain in a more even, consistent fashion - this same grain often appeared as blotchier noise on the 2007 DVD. Now, noise still exists on the Blu-ray image cinematographer Michael Chapman (notable for such Scorsese films as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) describes in the extra featurette The Invasion Will Be Televised - the Cinematography Pod that the image was intentionally very dark - making the viewer pay strict attention to distinguish detail. This grain gives a potent textured appearance that improves the presentation in my opinion. I don't see digital manipulation and suggest that this is probably as close to theatrical as we are likely to get.

Audio may actually be an even stronger component to this transfer. There are plenty of deliberately spaced audio effects in the film and the powerful DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3350 kbps exports some decent depth as well as a bit of surprisingly spooky range. This area there is a notable difference from the DVDs and there are optional English, French and Spanish subtitles choices offered on all three editions. My Momitsu has identified the US Blu-ray as being a region 'A'-locked.

Supplements contain the same featurettes as the CE DVD with the 16-minute piece - Visitors From Outer Space, or How I Stop Worrying and Learned to Love the Pod - a shorter piece on the special effects entitled Practical Magic, The Man Behind the Scream - The Sound Effects Pod details more about the audio - lasting almost 13-minutes and lastly the aforementioned 'Cinematography Pod' for less than 6-minutes. While all of these are offered in HD - the video quality is limited on these extras such that it looks as if they were simply blown up from the resolution of the CE DVD. We also get an original theatrical trailer (2:11 in HD!) and on the included 'pan and scan' flipper disc has the, more-then-decade-old, Kaufman commentary. This is frustrating not to have the commentary moved over to the Blu-ray - how hard could it have been? - unless there is a legality around it. I'm sure it is just laziness. Still these are good extras despite nothing being new.

A fabulous sci-fi concept film and a rare example of an extremely well done re-make in this genre. It has actually 'spawned' yet another remake - from 2007 with Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig - called simply Invasion - that I enjoyed more than the critics.

Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers has a great many horror elements and can be quite a scary film. Performances are top notch - Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, the stoic Nimoy and I always thought Veronica Cartwright was great in her limited appearances. Great to see the respect shown the original with brief cameos with Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel. I am happy to have this film looking, and especially sounding, the best it has since theatrical.

-Gary Tooze

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MGM - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

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