The Invaders: The Complete Series

The Invaders was released the year I was born (1967) and ran for two seasons. The concept is really neat, blending classics like “The Fugitive” with 50’s paranoia like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. It follows a man, David Vincent, who’s discovered the Earth is secretly under invasion by aliens who can assume human form, as he makes it his mission to expose them. Each story begins with Vincent arriving in a new locale having gotten wind of strange goings on that he suspects might be the titular villains. Of course, it always is. :) He befriends the guest stars of the week and foils the dastardly plot, but all evidence is destroyed leaving him to continue his lonely quest next week. Rinse, repeat. While the concept is great, the execution left a little to be desired. The stories were plot-hole ridden and often didn’t make sense within the mythology. In most episodes the guest stars see the Invaders for themselves, but they never seem to join Vincent’s quest, instead leaving him to carry on by himself at the end of the ep. Some of these folks are military officers and police officials making it all the harder to swallow. This is the old-style episodic TV format taking its toll. Hard resets at the end of each episode were nearly mandatory back then. The show begged for strong season and series arcs that weren’t there. They did tweak the format in season 2 with the introduction of a larger group of believers that Vincent sometimes works with, but the overarching plot still barely moves throughout the two-year run. If you can turn your brain off for a while and treat each episode in a vacuum though it’s a really fun show to watch. A real treat is the cavalcade of guest stars. Somehow this show managed to secure an impressive string...including some then-lesser/unknowns who would go on to bigger things. People like Gene Hackman, Suzanne Pleshette, Roddy McDowell, James Whitmore and Michael Rennie. Even Jonathan Goldsmith (who would achieve fame in the 2000’s as the Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man in the World”). If you’re a classic TV buff like me the guest lineup alone might make this worth your effort. There are a handful of extras including a couple of episode commentaries, one by series creator Larry Cohen who sadly passed away recently. And you can play introductions to each ep by Roy Thinnes (David Vincent) himself. These are fun but not as nice as hoped for. Most of the time he just reads a brief summary and announces the title. If he remembers anything substantial, he doesn’t say (a notable exception being "Panic" which guest starred his then-wife. But even then he simply says that much). He also barely resembles his young self and looks like a semi-feeble old man reading from a teleprompter. I still appreciate the effort. Maybe the best extra though is an extended version of the pilot episode with an unaired alternate ending. I always love unseen stuff like that. Sadly missing are previews of the next episode, although they do give us 3 promo spots that look they might have aired around the series premier. Video quality is excellent. It varies slightly from ep to ep and isn't blueray quality, but it's surprisingly good overall. Occasionally it's shockingly good. Last night I noticed a couple of moles on the face of the guest star. I'd seen her in plenty of other vintage shows but never realized she had moles before. I'm sure this didn't come through on even the best TV's back in the day. I’ve seen some asking about the disks and packaging so I’m uploading some pics of those. The are 12 single sided disks. They don’t seem as thick as normal DVD’s though. I’m extra careful taking them out of the holder because they feel like they can snap if you apply too much pressure. This show never achieved the status of 1960’s greats like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, and most of those involved with its production are now dead. It’s questionable whether it will ever get a better presentation. If you like old sci-fi and classic TV this set is a no-brainer.

arrived in good time and condition. watched as a teen when you only had to deal with 3 commercials every 14 mins. Those were the days when you could actually enjoy your shows. this is really a good TV series. you know the basics of the show. Ended for me on a big QUESTION MARK ? Well worth watching often. I do recommend this for any SiFi fan or newbee. I waited for some time for this to be at a reasonable price and when it did. Wham ! I bought it like a Flash . Glad I did

Ever since I first saw this show in reruns in the early 2000's, I've been hooked. I grew up on Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Wild, Wild West, the Prisoner and Avengers, etc... but this one really hit me when I first saw it. Interestingly a Quinn Martin Production who usually did cop and detective shows, the quality of the writing, direction, and all aspects of the production are really well done. The special effects for the Saucers are quite dated and look pretty hokey, but once you get beyond that, you start to focus on the main character (David Vincent) and the main plot line which is to foil the invaders master plan to take over the Earth. The guest stars are top notch in every episode and Roy Thinnes is wonderful as the unlikely hero who is an Architect by trade. Rather than just hit you with outlandish schemes and a plan for mass eradication of the human race, the story lines focus on the Invaders being a relatively small group on Earth determined to keep themselves from being exposed and having the entire world population fighting against them. Vincent's mission is to do just that, to expose to a very disbelieving world that they are here and what their plan is. This show, although it has the main recurring character, plays out almost more as an anthology each episode as the alien plot changes week to week after Vincent foils them. I believe it definitely was supposed to go beyond the 2 seasons, but it ends on somewhat of an upbeat note just the same. Fans of the X-Files should love this show and check it out. It currently is on TV reruns on ME TV network, but not until 5 am EST on Sundays as part of their Saturday night lineup. Definitely worth the watch, much of it shot on location in California during the late 60's it's really a beautiful production. I highly recommend it!

In great shape, plays well and the show (despite the 1960s slightly campy vibe) is really very good. Very pleased with this purchase.

Un clásico de culto. No tienen subtitulos pero tiene close caption en inglés

I recall in the mid 1970s watching repeats of this series just before midnight in a small room surrounded by eight other people, with the lights off, and the pop corn at the ready. Spooky, spooky. The series is my second favourite Sci-Fi series after Star Trek. It was cleverly done, believable, not falling for the Whizz Bang style of today but letting the quite varied story telling and wide open spaces draw you in, with the sinister humourless men in black style and only the occasional alien implement and weapon, that in fact added to their impact, to give you that monster in the closet feel. I've seen no other alien film or TV series other than Alien, to give that constant sense of foreboding and chill. It was a masterpiece of paranoia, and well suited to the Cold War mentality of the time. And yep, the aliens were obviously meant to represent some nefarious activities of a totalitarian regime undermining the clean living American citizens (?), maybe Nazi, maybe Russian, maybe Chinese. The imagery was very average country homeland USA, ordinary people, few suspecting what was happening next door, government officials slow to pick up the hints, that an underground of terror was on the move. Roy Thinnes was ideal for the role, a Mr Average, vulnerable but determined to do his best to stop those nasty aliens and their corrupting influences. This is a classic that sadly only lasted two seasons. A poor quality movie was made years later which I would suggest avoiding. But get the series because I feel it was one of the best Sci-Fi series ever made.

Sou um colecionador de cinema e televisão. Não podia deixar de ter uma coleção que marcou uma época.

Fantastic service well worth the wait. Dvd is outstanding