Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 26, 2021

Philip Kaufman's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include archival audio commentary by director Philip Kaufman; archival program with sound designer Ben Burtt; archival program with actress Brooke Adams; composer Denny Zeitlin; archival program with actor Art Hindle; vintage promotional materials for the film; and a lot more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

In the city of San Francisco, a health inspector (Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now, Ordinary People) and his best friend (Brooke Adams, Days of Heaven, Cuba) notice that people around them undergo dramatic character transformations for no apparent reasons. They get in touch with an old psychiatrist friend (Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek), hoping that he might be able to logically explain what is happening, but he proves useless.

Soon after, the entire city is transformed into a giant pool full of expressionless humanoids that begin breeding strange looking pods and dispatching them to other parts of the country. The health inspector and his friend discover why, but are forced to run for their lives after hordes of humanoids begin hunting them down.

Technically, Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a remake of Don Siegel’s 1956 film, but aside from using as a foundation a basic idea introduced in Jack Finney’s novel the two films could not be any more different.

Kaufman’s film has two different identities. The first is that of a stylish horror film shot as a neo-noir picture. The film’s visual style and its original sound design create and sustain a tense atmosphere that has nothing in common with that of Siegel’s film. The result is a film in which the classic horror element is effectively replaced with a sense of suffocating paranoia.

The film also works well as a social commentary. The gradual alienation and consequently the destruction of individuality witnessed after the invasion are indeed parts of a reality that occurred after the end of the hippie movement in America. In other words, the health inspector and his friend are not only witnessing an invasion, but the end of an era.

The narrative’s versatility is further enhanced by a truly spectacular sound design that places the film in a league of its own. Using organic and mixed sound effects, sound designer Ben Burtt singlehandedly transforms large parts of the film and makes them look genuinely spooky. In addition to the sound effects, there are also unique music themes that are linked to the presence of vehicles, objects, and even plants. This very unique relationship between sounds and images makes viewing Invasion of the Body Snatchers a truly unique experience. (After its premiere, Dolby also frequently used the film as a showpiece for their at the time new mixing technology).

Sutherland is outstanding as the methodical health inspector who slowly begins to realize that no one can be trusted. Adams is also excellent as the suspicious housewife. A young Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright also leave memorable impressions. Siegel, who directed the original film, also has a small role as a taxi driver.

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was lensed by Oscar winning cinematographer Michael Chapman (Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull, Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive).

*In 1994, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray offer presentations of the recent 4K restoration of the film.

Two sets of screencaptures are included with this review. Please note that the screencaptures from the 4K Blu-ray are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures: 1-26 are from the 4K Blu-ray.
Screencaptures: 28-36 are from the Blu-ray.

The only other release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers that I have in my library is this Region-B release, which Arrow Video produced in 2013. Therefore, it is the only one that I can reference in our review.

Viewed in native 4K, the recent 4K restoration of the film offers a rather dramatic upgrade in quality. After performing some direct comparisons between the 1080p content from the Region-B release and the 4K content from the 4K Blu-ray release, I actually decided to upscale the former to 4K as well. In both cases, the 4K content excelled in all major areas that we typically address in our review. For example, delineation and clarity are so much better now that the improvements are instantly recognizable during daylight and nighttime footage. Also, during daylight footage there are different, superior ranges of highlights, while during nighttime footage there are superior ranges of shadow nuances. The depth of the visuals is far more convincing as well. If you have a larger screen or project, the other very, very substantial improvement you will see is in the density levels of the visuals, which is directly related to improved fluidity. On the Region-B release the 1080p content reveals looser grain, which in some areas becomes a tad noisy as well. On the 4K Blu-ray release you will see all-around very tight visuals, with terrific and notably healthy grain that is consistently exposed the right way. Finally, the new 4K restoration is superbly graded. Simply put, there are entirely new ranges of very healthy and very lush colors that look quite astonishing with Dolby Vision/HDR enabled and ultimately give the film a new personality. The nighttime footage with the neon lighting, in particular, looks so striking now that while viewing the 4K Blu-ray a couple of times my mind began drawing parallels with some of the equally impressive nighttime visuals from Midnight Cowboy. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks spotless as well. (Note: The 4K Blu-ray release is Region-Free).

On the Blu-ray, the 4K restoration looks really good as well. Once again, delineation, clarity, depth, density levels and fluidity are a lot more convincing if you compare them to what is present on the Region-B release. Color saturation and overall color balance are far more pleasing as well. However, if you perform direct comparisons between the new Blu-ray release and the new 4K Blu-ray release, you should easily determine that in 1080p color reproduction and density are just a tad less striking. Still, as far as I am concerned, the Blu-ray offers an all-around very solid presentation of the film. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I started viewing the film with the 2.0 track, which is the one I prefer, but quickly went to the 5.1 track and then kept switching them for quite some time. I probably overdid it a bit, but I wanted to be absolutely sure about something I wish to mention here. From what I heard, the overall quality of these tracks is excellent -- there are no age-related anomalies, or other similar encoding anomalies that I could detect. However, as you know well, this film has a great soundtrack with some terrific effects, so I wonder what one of these new Dolby Atmos tracks that routinely pop up on various releases now could have done for it. My mind is telling me that the the overall quality of the audio would have remained the same, but the speculator in me is willing to argue otherwise. This is just one of those films where the original soundtrack does a lot of special things for to enhance the desired atmosphere, so I felt that I needed to mention the above in our review.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - in this archival audio commentary, director Philip Kaufman discusses in great detail the visual style of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and frequently highlights the many small details that are actually crucial for the desired atmosphere, the unique qualities of the leads and their performances, the intent to emphasize politically and photographically incorrect details, the management of organic sounds and noises (which are gradually removed as the film progresses), the type of thought-provoking horror that is at the center of the film, etc.

• Commentary Two - in this audio commentary, author and film Historian Steve Haberman discusses Philip Kaufman's background and career, Jack Finney's popular novel and the films it inspired, Don Siegel's classic film and its different interpretations in America and around the world, the careers and work of the principal actors that made Kaufman's remake, the innovative use of sound throughout the film, etc. It is a very informative commentary that fans of the film should listen to in its entirety.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - in this archival audio commentary, director Philip Kaufman discusses in great detail the visual style of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and frequently highlights the many small details that are actually crucial for the desired atmosphere, the unique qualities of the leads and their performances, the intent to emphasize politically and photographically incorrect details, the management of organic sounds and noises (which are gradually removed as the film progresses), the type of thought-provoking horror that is at the center of the film, etc.

• Commentary Two - in this audio commentary, author and film Historian Steve Haberman discusses Philip Kaufman's background and career, Jack Finney's popular novel and the films it inspired, Don Siegel's classic film and its different interpretations in America and around the world, the careers and work of the principal actors that made Kaufman's remake, the innovative use of sound throughout the film, etc. It is a very informative commentary that fans of the film should listen to in its entirety.

• Star-Crossed in the Invasion: Interview with Actress Brooke Adams - in this archival program, actress Brooke Adams recalls how she was cast to play the character of Elizabeth Driscoll, her professional relationship with Philip Kaufman and the director's working methods, her first nude scene and how she did it, Michael Chapman's cinematography and the rich texture of the visuals, etc. The program was produced by Aine Leicht and executive produced by Cliff MacMillan for Scream Factory in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Re-Creating the Invasion: Interview with Screenwriter W.D. Richter - in this archival program, screenwriter W.D. Richter discusses his collaboration with Philip Kaufman on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, some of the particular scouting work the two did together, the decision to move the original story from the small town to a big city as well as the elimination of the politics, his previous history with Donald Sutherland, etc. The program was produced by Aine Leicht and executive produced by Cliff MacMillan for Scream Factory in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Scoring the Invasion: Interview with Composer Denny Zeitlin - in this archival program, composer Denny Zeitlin discusses his approach to scoring Invasion of the Body Snatchers and specifically the significance of his decision to avoid viewing Don Siegel's classic film, the type of electronic music and organic sounds Philip Kaufman wanted for the film, how particular music themes connect with the emotions of the leads, etc. The program was produced by Aine Leicht and executive produced by Cliff MacMillan for Scream Factory in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Leading the Invasion: Interview with Actor Art Hindle - in this archival program, actor Art Hindle recalls his first viewing of Don Siegel's original film as well as how he was approached and asked to play the character of Dr. Geoffrey Howell, and discusses Philip Kaufman's vision for the remake and directing methods, Donald Sutherland's apparently difficult relationship with Brooke Adams, Michael Chapman's cinematography, the special effects in the film, the three 'big' horror films he appeared in (Black Christmas, The Brood, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and how they permanently redirected his career, etc. The program was produced by Aine Leicht and executive produced by Cliff MacMillan for Scream Factory in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (26 min).

• Writing the Pod: Interview with Jack Finney Expert Jack Seabrook - in this archival program, Jack Seabrook, author of Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney, discusses the life and legacy of Jack Finney, as well as his legendary science fiction novel (initially published as a three-part story in Collier's magazine), which inspired Don Siegel to shoot the first Invasion of the Body Snatchers film in 1956. The program was produced for Arrow Video. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Re-visitors From Outer Space, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod - this archival program focuses on the production history of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, its socio-political overtones, and the key themes in Jack Finney's classic novel. Included in it are clips from interviews with Philip Kaufman, screenwriter W.D. Richter, Donald Sutherland, and Veronica Cartwright (Nancy Bellicec), among others. The program was produced for MGM in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Practical Magic: The Special Effect Pod - this archival program focuses on the special effects used in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Included in it are comments from Philip Kaufman and special effects creator Howard Preston. The program was produced for MGM in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• The Man Behind the Scream: The Sound Effects Pod - in this archival program, Ben Burtt, who created the special sound effects for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, discusses the film's unique sound design. The program was produced for MGM in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod - in this archival program, cinematographer Michael Chapman discusses the visual style of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and specifically the film's noirish qualities. Also included are comments from Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer's Journey, Philip Kaufman, and screenwriter W.D. Richter. The program was produced for MGM in 2007. In English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Promotional Materials - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Radio Spots (5 min).
  2. TV Spots (2 min).
  3. Vintage Trailer (3 min).

• Cover Art - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kino Lorber's new 4K Blu-ray release of Philip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an all-around winner. I was simply floored by the quality of the new 4K restoration director Kaufman supervised and how beautiful it looked on 4K Blu-ray. (The 4K restoration looks mighty impressive on Blu-ray as well). If you like the film, you just have to upgrade because this is the type of presentation that has the potential to make you discover a lot that previously you unintentionally ignored or simply did not know existed in it. The release has an excellent selection of archival bonus features as well. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.