The Invasion

[Finch]

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by film critics Andrea Subisati and Alexandra West, co-hosts of The Faculty of Horror podcast
• Body Snatchers and Beyond, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller Nicholas
• That Bug That’s Going Around, a new visual essay exploring The Invasion as pandemic prophecy by film scholar Josh Nelson
• We’ve Been Snatched Before, an archival featurette from 2007
• The Invasion: A New Story, an archival featurette from 2007
• The Invasion: On the Set, an archival featurette from 2007
• The Invasion: Snatched, an archival featurette from 2007
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critics William Bibbiani and Sally Christie
• Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
• Double-sided fold out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket

[domino harvey]

This is somewhere in the middle for versions of this story and a little better than its reputation might suggest, even if about all I remember of it now is that I had fun placing the Baltimore area shooting locations while watching. But I’m still having a good laugh at this getting an expensive edition when I’m certain WB was selling remainder Blus of this direct for years for like $5

[The Narrator Returns]

I have to believe Ferrara's Body Snatchers (which I love and I assume domino doesn't) is locked up in the Warner Archive Collection and they didn't just decide to do this one first. It's not awful (put that on the box!) but it's cut to ribbons, gross in the wrong ways, and boring, the third act that's mostly Nicole Kidman (who's good in it, as is Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Exposition) struggling to stay awake is taunting the audience to follow suit. The pandemic angle is the one scholarly analysis that could be charitable towards it, but my one interest with it is the Wachowskis' studio-mandated rewrites, and that Lana very clearly reused one of her ideas from it for the climax of Matrix Resurrections.

[domino harvey]

Correct assumption, with the exception of the highly effective “Who you gonna tell?” scene with Meg Tilly

[Finch]

That was my first thought too, should have gone for Ferrera's film too which I saw a long time ago but remember liking if not as much as Kaufman's or Siegel's. I don't know how much of the theatrical version of this one is Hirschbiegel's (not much, I suspect) and whether WB kept any of the footage they ended up replacing but if available, it would have been interesting to compare the two versions.

[Aunt Peg]

I do hope Jack Fisk was well paid having his name associated with this mess.

[MichaelB]

That was my first thought too, should have gone for Ferrera's film too

That's based on the assumption that it was available, which may well not have been the case.

This notion that if a label has a deal with a major they therefore automatically have access to the bulk of the catalogue and "should have gone" for alternative titles really needs firmly knocking on the head, as this simply doesn't chime with how these things work in reality. And it's pretty clear from Arrow's Warner releases thus far that it's Warner calling the shots.

[dwk]

Only one WAC Blu-ray has been re-released by one of the labels, Shaft's Big Score and that was as an extra in Criterion's Shaft. I woudn''t expect any of WAC's Blu-rays to get licensed out, but stuff that WAC has released on DVD-Rs are possible.