Invasion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Invasion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 21, 2025

In the perhaps slightly hilarious department, the back cover of this release sums up the plot by announcing that "a rogue nation unexpectedly invades Curaçao and Aruba", but it turns out it isn't the United States, given the glut of recent reportage about certain statements vis a vis Greenland and Panama various governmental official have been making. No, the "rogue nation" in this instance is a fictional one, named Veragua, which has some interesting etymology for armchair investigators, though that said, it's quite probable that Veragua is a, well, stand in for Venezuela. There's quite a bit of political intrigue afoot in Invasion, but the oddity of the location and an emphasis on Dutch fighters may make this a hard sell for some boneheaded rogue Americans.

Some of that aforementioned political intrigue actually may not redound to the Netherlands' benefit, for while the Dutch Marines are shown to be stolid and sturdy (and at least occasionally female, for what that's worth), it turns out the Dutch ambassador to Veragua, Maurits Caane (Gijs Scholten van Aschat), may be something of a Quisling, so to speak. The film may be a bit to ambitious for its own good at times, trying to balance more traditional action scenes as the Dutch attempt to fight back in both large and small scale ways, with a lot of "behind the scenes" finagling involving governments and shifting strategies. The film is almost always colorful and has a rather glossy production value, utilizing its locations extremely well. Performances are a bit iffier, with some of the grizzled types doing a bit better than the greenhorns.

Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Invasion is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb doesn't have much if any technical information as of the writing of this review, and I haven't been able to track down anything authoritative online, but this is a very handsome digital capture that may have even had a 4K DI based on the generally excellent fine detail levels on display, but that said, I'm frankly not sure, so it may indeed have had a 2K DI. One way or the other, both extremely wide framings of some of the lusciously beautiful locations as well as equally extreme close-ups tend to provide really precise detail levels throughout. The palette is very nicely suffused, and some of the teal tropical waters in particular pop incredibly well. Some very slight murkiness can creep into just a few lower light moments. I noticed no compression issues.

Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Invasion features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks in either Dutch or English. The similarities between the two languages being what they are, the English sub actually suffices unusually well in terms of matching sounds to lip movements. Both tracks are virtually indistinguishable (or at least were to my ears) other than the languages being spoken. Several set pieces like an opening barrage of shelling provide some really good immersive effects and some intermittently powerful LFE. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. As with most Well Go USA releases, Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks in both languages are also included. Optional English and French subtitles are available (a few superimposed and forced English supertitles over things like room identifiers and the like are also on tap).

Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:55)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Packaging features a slipcover.

Invasion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While it hasn't yet matriculated over to our database, kind of interestingly the IMDb has a listing for another 2024 film called Invasion, which evidently features that old standby of aliens attacking Earth. One assumes they were rogue aliens. This is a rather interesting film on a number of levels, but its specificity and the fact that it's so obviously fictionalized may keep it from resonating overly well on this side of the pond. Technical merits are first rate for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.