The Puppet Masters

Starring:Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner, Keith David, Will Patton, Richard Belzer, Tom Mason, Yaphet Kotto, Gerry Bamman, Sam Anderson, J. Patrick McCormack, Marshall Bell, Nicholas Cascone, Bruce Jarchow, Benjamin Mouton, David Pasquesi, Andrew Robinson, Benj Thall, Bo Sharon, Nick Browne
Director: Stuart Orme
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

Here's the edge-of-your-seat thriller that delivers unrelenting suspense and nonstop action! Donald Sutherland (DISCLOSURE, BACKDRAFT) leads a team of top-level government agents who make a chilling discovery: extraterrestrial beings have landed and are quickly taking control of the residents of a small midwestern town -- manipulating their bodies and minds like puppets! Faced with an escalating crisis as the creatures multiply and spread, the team must somehow eliminate the seemingly unstoppable aliens. With riveting special effects and heart-stopping action, THE PUPPET MASTERS is sure to thrill you!

Customer Reviews:

Not a bad movie........2007-02-23

I'm a huge sci-fi fan, most movies are either too weird, too cerebral or not smart enough for me. I'm kinda picky. But this one's just right. It's not the best sci-fi in the world, but it's done well enough to make my ownership list.

Not Great, But Not That Bad Either: Entertaining! .......2006-10-11

Robert Heinlein's "Puppet Masters" is not that bad a film. On the other hand, it is not that great either. It will appeal to certain people, but not everyone. I happen to think the movie could and should have been better. However, the film is saved by an interesting cast: In particular (Donald Sutherland) which does make the film interesting. And another thing, the film is entertaining. Sutherland heads a group of clandestine government official's on the lookout for aliens that may be a threat to the country. They find one such very formidable alien in the midwestern U.S.

When a parasitic alien organism lands on Earth and begin to inhabit the bodies of human's in a small Iowa town, Sutherland and his agents move into action. The film deviates from what could have been a very good film, however, when a scientist (Julie Warner) and one of the agents (Eric Thal) become exposed to the parasites. Keith David [a commando and agent with this secret agency] does play his part well, however, it is not enough to save the film. Even Donald Sutherland's portrayal as the hard nosed father of Eric Thal does a good acting job. I think you will be entertained with the film. It is not that bad. If however you are looking for perfection, look elsewhere. Recommended with caution. Rent it, I own it. [Stars: 3.5]

"Say goodbye to your son, Andrew.".......2006-05-26

It's probably worthwhile to mention that I have not had an opportunity to read the source material, in this case a novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in the early 1950s, that the film The Puppet Masters (1994) was based on, so I can't speak towards what made it into the movie and what didn't...co-written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio (both of whom worked on films like Small Soldiers, Shrek, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), and David S. Goyer (Dark City, Blade, Batman Begins) and directed by Stuart Orme, the film stars Donald Sutherland (Animal House, Space Cowboys, Cold Mountain), Eric Thal (A Stranger Among Us, Six Degrees of Separation), and Julie Warner (Doc Hollywood, Tommy Boy). Also appearing is Keith David (They Live, The Quick and the Dead), Will Patton (Armageddon, Remember the Titans), Richard Belzer ("Homicide: Life on the Street"), and Yaphet Kotto (Truck Turner, Alien).

The film begins as we witness a strange phenomenon in the sky in a small, midwestern town, drawing the attention of a number of slack jawed yokels. Shortly afterwards some gooberment people show up, namely Andrew Nivens (Sutherland), head of a secret agency called the Office of Scientific Intelligence, his son Sam Nivens (Thal), an agent of the aforementioned group, Dr. Mary Sefton, an exobiologist on loan from NASA, and some scrub agent played by Belzer. The cursory investigation turns up some interesting things, the main thing being that people in Iowa seem especially strong and exhibit violent tendencies. Well, it turns out some wee, flat, cartilaginous, fish-like, intelligent, parasitic aliens have come to our little corner of the universe, latching onto the backs of humans, giving them complete control over the actions of their hosts. The trio manages to capture one of the buggers and return with it to Washington for further investigation. The big question now seems to be exactly what do these visitors want? Now I'm no rocket scientist, but I'd guess it would be something along the lines of planetary conquest...and sure enough, various plans come to light, one involving an attempt on `assimilating' the big cheese hisself (I'm speaking of the President of these here United States). As Mary and her team work desperately to better understand the creatures (and uncover exploitable weaknesses), the gooberment deploys the army to contain the sinister invasion, but these efforts are in vain as the aliens seem to be multiplying at an exponential rate, eventually taking over the great metropolis that is Des Moines, Iowa...quoting a line from another film (specifically 1986 feature Aliens), "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit"...ultimately events occur, someone within the group is `taken', and a rescue is attempted as agents try to infiltrate the hive. Is the human race destined to become soulless automaton hosts for mini-stingrays from outer space? Perhaps, but would that really be so bad? I mean think about it...how swell it would be to have something else making all your decisions for you, alleviating you of all responsibility? Freewill is over-rated anyhow...I say acquiesce to your slimy, alien masters and enjoy the ride...

As I've said, I haven't read the original source material for this film, so I can't say what was kept and what was changed, but I did enjoy this movie. It starts quick out of the gate and maintains a brisk pace throughout, keeping its focus well. I thought most all the performers did well and I appreciated the chemistry, especially between Thal and Warner's characters. I will say their burgeoning relationship seemed to come on a bit quick, but given their relative appeal, it wasn't completely unbelievable that they should have the primal desire to shag each other. I was slightly disappointed that Warner's character devolved a little as the film carried on, appearing less of a character and more of a classic, sci-fi stereotype (the female in distress needing rescuing), but she does gain some strength again near the end. I really like Sutherland's character, a suave, no nonsense, intelligent, and pragmatic individual willing to sacrifice much in the line of duty. Thal did well in the role of Sam, a character who seemed to get the beating about once every ten minutes throughout the film (the aliens, in controlling their hosts, also imbued them chemically with strength beyond that of normal). If he wasn't getting slapped around or kicked in the head, he was being thrown down the stairs...he did manage to get in a few good licks, though, along with showing us the splendor of his nekkid hindquarters, which I really didn't need to see (I'm sure many a female viewer appreciated it), but whatever. It would have been nice to see a little skin from Ms. Warner if only to offset the visual of a nekkid Eric Thal, but if you want that, you'll have to catch it in one of her other films, a feature titled Doc Hollywood (1991). My favorite scene occurs near the end, as we see our protagonists racing to catch a helicopter, trying to stay ahead of some alien controlled hosts intent on doing them great, bodily harm...as the helicopter, which landed on a rooftop, begins to move off the roof, one doofus makes a leaping effort to grab onto the landing gear, missing it by a mile...it just seemed funny seeing this valiant effort fail miserably, as if the alien completely underestimated its hosts abilities, and paid the ultimate price. I thought the parasitic creatures looked pretty cool, although I didn't understand why in various scenes people were asked to take their shirts off so that the unaffected humans could see if there was an alien on their backs (other than a chance to get see people without their shirts on). Given the size of the creatures, one could have easily determined this with a simple pat down. The biggest bone to pick for me was the ending, something another reviewer has already brought up...I don't want to give anything away, but essentially we see everyone relaxing under the belief the threat is over, but it really isn't, which results in a climatic aerial sequence. While exciting, it felt tacked on and unnecessary, adding very little to the overall production other than an over-the-top ending. Oh well, that's Hollywood for you...other than a few aspects, overall I thought this feature, albeit by the numbers, relatively well written and just a whole lot of fun.

The picture, presented in widescreen (2.35:1), enhanced for 16X9 TVs, looks very sharp and clean, and the Dolby Digital Surround Sound audio comes through clearly. There are no special features included, but there are English subtitles.

Cookieman108

A Really Great Movie But--.......2006-05-12

A a Heinlein fan, I was so disgusted when Starship Troopers came out since it had almost nothing in common with the book but the name and the most basic of premises. But then along came the Puppet Masters and I was pretty happy with this really great movie despite a few cosmetic changes to make the movie doable without a huge budget; while flying cars might have been kind of cool, not having them didn't make a difference to the spirit of the movie or the book. Nor did I miss seeing a lot of people running around near-naked like in the book.

While the movie is not 100 per cent true to the book, it's still a very good adaptation and any fan of the book would enjoy it nonetheless. My only gripe is with the DVD itself: I had seen this movie on Showtime, and not in the restrictive widescreen format that the DVD has. While this may be great for very large screen TVs, the letter-box format doesn't work for me at all and we consummers should be given the choice to buy wide screen or full screen versions.

And, then too, there are no other special features which would have been nice. So those few matters force me to give this DVD only four stars instead of the five it deserves but it's still pretty good.

Disappointed.......2006-05-01

Have never read the book, but am a fan of Heinlen, so watched this based on the reviews it received.

As others pointed out, the movie starts well, but ..
.. it goes downhill fast. The end scene had me squirming in my seat, had to fastforward, couldn't watch anymore. Just get this damned movie over with.

So my questions are:
1) Did I miss something - the first human to have the alien removed killed himself from withdrawal symptons, (pity none of the hospital staff saw that coming, since I did). Yet later we see our heroes and several million other people having the aliens detatched with no apparent withdrawal.
2) Did Heinlen really write a scene in the book which has two heroes exchanging machine gun fire with aliens in an enclosed space apparently immune to all the bullets that come their way, yet hitting their target every time?
3) Why would the head of a secret government agency be messing around in an area which is obviously not secure yet - couldn't see that scene coming?

If I had a couple of hours to waste, I'm sure I could find many more questions, but sorry this film just isn't worth it.

Still worth watching for the firat hour or so, but fast forward through the last 1/2 hour, you know what's coming, and you are not going to be surprised.

Les.

Average customer rating:

Trigun, Vol. 7: Puppet Masters
Starring: Trigun
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

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DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Trigun, Vol. 6: Project Seeds
Trigun: High Noon
Trigun: Angel Arms
Trigun - Gung-Ho Guns (Vol. 4) (Geneon Signature Series)
Trigun Vol. 3 - Wolfwood (Geneon Signature Series)

ASIN: B000244F78
Release Date: 2004-08-10

Description

Vash leaps into the heart of the storm and leads Wolfwood to the space ship that failed to crash. Unfortunately, the Gung-ho Guns have also invaded paradise with two purposes - destroy a sanctuary for humans, and to inflict as much pain to Vash as possible. Wolfwood chooses to side with Vash, but questions his ability to win - will Wolfwood walk the path of destruction again?!

Average customer rating:

Armageddon/The Puppet Masters
Starring: Disney 2pak
Manufacturer: Touchstone / Disney
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00008OM3N
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Description

Armageddon - English/French DVD- From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK (Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 -- ARMAGEDDON! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE), Liv Tyler (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (GONE IN 60 SECONDS), ARMAGEDDON is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option -- land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make ARMAGEDDON an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow. The Puppet Masters - DVD- Here's the edge-of-your-seat thriller that delivers unrelenting suspense and nonstop action! Donald Sutherland (DISCLOSURE, BACKDRAFT) leads a team of top-level government agents who make a chilling discovery: extraterrestrial beings have landed and are quickly taking control of the residents of a small midwestern town -- manipulating their bodies and minds like puppets! Faced with an escalating crisis as the creatures multiply and spread, the team must somehow eliminate the seemingly unstoppable aliens. With riveting special effects and heart-stopping action, THE PUPPET MASTERS is sure to thrill you!

Average customer rating:

Not a bad movie.
Not Great, But Not That Bad Either: Entertaining!
"Say goodbye to your son, Andrew."
A Really Great Movie But--
Disappointed

The Puppet Masters [Region 2]
Starring: Donald Sutherland , Eric Thal , Julie Warner , Keith David , and Will Patton
Director: Stuart Orme
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Customer Reviews:

Not a bad movie........2007-02-23

Not Great, But Not That Bad Either: Entertaining! .......2006-10-11

"Say goodbye to your son, Andrew.".......2006-05-26

A Really Great Movie But--.......2006-05-12

Disappointed.......2006-05-01

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