Invaders from Mars Blu-ray

'Invaders from Mars' Director: William Cameron Menzies (1953) BFI Blu-ray | 4K restoration

After a young boy witnesses a flying saucer crash near his home, the local townsfolk start acting strangely. He convinces a government official and an astronomer that something is awry - but can these unlikely heroes thwart a full-blown invasion from space?

Things to Come director William Cameron Menzie's film terrified Cold War-era audiences with its chilling vision of an insidious alien attack on small-town America. A sci-fi cinema landmark, Invaders from Mars has inspired filmmakers as varied as Don Coscarelli (Phantasm), Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) and John Carpenter (The Thing).

Special features include:
- **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Dr Deborah Allison and Barry Forshaw 
- Audio commentary by Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw
- Filmmaker Nic Wassell explores how legendary production designer and director William Cameron Menzies infuses the paranoia of Atomic-Age science fiction with hope for the future
- William Cameron Menzies’ biographer, James Curtis, interviews the director’s granddaughter Pamela Lauesen
- Jimmy Hunt actor looks back upon his starring role in Invaders From Mars
- Featurette with filmmakers John Landis and Joe Dante, editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist Robert Skotak and film preservationist Scott MacQueen
- Before-and-after restoration clips introduced by restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen
- John Sayles’ introduction to the film, recorded at the TCM Classic Film Festival
- Cinematographer and director Ernest Dickerson introduces a new trailer
- European observatory sequence (9 mins): shot well after the rest of film was in the can, this sequence, inserted to extend the running time, was included in European release prints of Invaders From Mars
- European ending (3 mins): the alternative ending to the film, seen in European release prints
- Image gallery: featuring original press book pages and behind-the-scenes photos from the restoration process