Invasion: UFO (1980)

Great Film overall

Fantastic!

A Disappointing Continuation

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

First things first, UFO was a great TV series that showed the undoubted talents of Gerry Anderson at his best. The basic plot - Aliens from a dying planet, many years ahead of mankind in technology, come to earth to use people's organs to repair their own decaying bodies.It ran for 21 (I think) episodes and although some episodes were better than others (Conflict and A Question of Priorities were my favourite) it also dealt with quite a few social issues as well including racism, drug taking and office politics.So who decided to make this film ? This is a cut and paste job using 3 episodes with huge omissions and trying to tie them all together. This can work with some shows but not this one as all the episodes were self contained. Such glaring continuity errors include Colonel Alec Freeman vanishing as he wasn't in the third episode, likewise Paul Foster appearing. Also how can skydiver destroy 15 UFO's ??? Or come to that matter 3 one missiled interceptors got about 15 also.Still that is being a little unkind. Watch the TV series, that was superb ..... but avoid this montrosity like the plague. They even managed to get Alec Freeman's name wrong in the closing credits (they refer to him as Alex!!) I can only imagine somebody thought there was money to be made putting this together ......

This movie, Invasion: UFO was produced at the ITC's New York offices in 1980 and not 1972 like this page suggests. It was made by compiling several episodes of the classic British made sci - fi series UFO which was produced by 'Thunderbirds' creator, Gerry Anderson. The movie was targeted at satellite and cable television services in America, and later found it's way on UK home video in 1983, the first UFO video release until Channel 5 video released the majority of the series including Invasion: UFO in 1986. The movie is comprised mainly from the three episodes 'Identified', 'Computer Affair' and 'Reflections in the Water', although it does feature some small clips from 'ESP', 'The Man Who Came Back' and 'Confetti Check A-OK'. The ITC New York Offices produced several TV movies from Gerry Anderson productions between 1980 and 1982, Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet were notably used, and some of these movies aren't too bad, as they were generally faithful to the original material, although missiles in both Captain Scarlet and Stingray were changed to some hideous video laser effect, and the new opening titles they created for the movies were ghastly. It is much the same for this movie. For the opening they have taken away the original theme music and replaced it with an awful 80's sounding pop theme. They have also added further 80's sounding rubbish to the incidental soundtrack, which does not fit the action and spoils some of the fear in the proceedings. Other than this they have not changed the original material apart from the obvious editing. 3 episodes, 'Identified', 'Computer Affair' and 'Reflections in the Water' are chopped virtually in half to allow for the maximum 100 minutes running time the makers of the movie had to comply with. They were also edited on videotape which you have to adjust to if you have been watching the series on DVD, and the quality is poor compared. On the plus side, many of the linking scenes are put together well, but it is still confusing at times. George Sewell who plays Col. Alec Freeman disappears 30 minutes before the end of the movie, because he was not in the final episode used, and his absence isn't explained. Peter Gordeno who played Capt. Carlin also disappears at the same time, which also isn't explained. Michael Billington doesn't appear till the last half hour of the movie but this is explained by a clip from 'ESP'. The ending of Invasion: UFO is represented by a 5 minute clip from 'The Man Who Came Back' as the alien invasion begins, which leaves the story unresolved. Although this is strange it works quite well with the rest of the material. The last few moments of the movie are played over narration by Ed Bishop as Ed Straker in the first episode 'Identified', his 'when will the universe end' speech. All in all, Invasion:UFO is good, but a bit confusing. I would recommend it as a selectable item for those who wish to collect the series, as it was the first sight UFO fans saw, here in the U.K, of UFO during the big success of videos in the early 80's, but it is not a good representation of the series, and the scattered editing leaves a lot to be desired. If you want to see the series at it's best, buy the DVD set of all 26 episodes.

Well Hello!So you're interested in SHADO. Well I don't blame you, where else can you wear fabulous new synthetic materials, kill aliens and spend the night partying like its the 1970s?You said that the swinging youth of the 1960s wouldn't be seen dead in the army. There was no way that you would be so square as to cut your hair, replace the tie-die flares with fatigues and cut back on the medallions.And we listened.Yes we've created a whole new paramilitary organisation just for the swinging generation. Why not sit back as I introduce SHADO - the coolest bunch of cats outside of the Stones. If you'll excuse me while I change into my beige jumpsuit and matching sideburn accessories... ...now let's hit the road in my SHADOmobile - notice its swooping lines, fins and gull-wing doors that make it a complete pain to park when doing the shopping at Sainsburys'. SHADOmobiles come in all sorts of fabulous colours not found in nature, including metallic brown, surgical appliance pink, ozone-eating green and a shade of yellow that just screams 'fashion'.Neat!Welcome to the way-out SHADO headquarters. I have privileged access thanks to my identity chest medallion. A movie studio? So you noticed our cunning disguise! Believe it or not the whole SHADO operation is run out of the basement next to the props cabinet. That room over there? Well that belongs to Commander Straker - a man well accustomed to the peroxide bottle and not too masculine to refuse a little eye shadow.If you join us I'm sure he'll have you over for a chat, a drink or two and perhaps something else entirely. A medical? Of course there's a medical, SHADO operatives have to be at the peak of physical perfection, you just never know when you'll have to dance 'til dawn.Let me just make one point clear. SHADO is an equal opportunities employer. We're always looking for top totty to slip into something suitably clinging.Yes girls, SHADO needs you!As a new recruit you will start off delivering coffee to our male leads, after you have mastered that task in regulation 9 inch heels you'll be ready to move on to moving pieces of paper from one side of the room to the other all the time looking absolutely fabulous.At SHADO the sky is quite literally the limit for liberated women! If you master coffee delivery and paper sorting you could be shortlisted for our Moonbase which keeps a look out for intergalactic UFOs intent on spoiling the party.Don't frown, you won't look nearly as pretty. You're probably thinking that lunar gravity will play havoc with your totally groovy haircut and you'll have to put the miniskirt in the closet. But you're forgetting - this is SHADO, where fashion comes first.Not only will you be safe from solar flares, laser guns and alien abduction in our super-slinky silver jumpsuits, knee-high boots and metallic purple wigs but you'll be irresistible to those walking adverts for Blue Stratos - the SHADO interceptor pilots. When you're ready to cut a rug the whole ensemble converts to a silver miniskirt in moments! And remember, we don't care if you want to burn your bra - in fact it'll be an advantage.Still not convinced about Moonbase? Well here are two words to make up your mind.Inflatable furniture.Seriously. It's shot like a porn movie, the stories are sometimes dreadful, acting is robotic and even the effects aren't always great. But for a slice of nostalgia back to a period when someone cut the brakecables on good taste and when restraint and decency went through the rails, down the cliffside and exploded at the bottom - UFO is completely unmissable. And Gabrielle Drake is quite stunningly beautiful, why she never became a bigger star is beyond me.Go on, its Austin Powers versus the Martians.

In the early 80s, compilation movies of Gerry Anderson TV shows were highly in vogue. Cheap to create and ideal for kidult/holiday programming, numerous shows underwent the process: Stingray, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, Space: 1999...and UFO. Invasion: UFO comprises footage from three episodes (series pilot "Identified", "Computer Affair" and "Reflections In The Water"), along with FX and linking material from a further three ("ESP", "The Man Who Came Back" and "Confetti Check A-OK"). In addition, all-new opening titles are featured and a new music score added.The story: The year is 1980. Humanoid aliens from a dying planet travel to Earth in pyramidal flying saucers...their mission, to harvest human body organs for transplants. Standing between them and an unsuspecting world is SHADO, a super-secret military organisation armed with futuristic vehicles headed by Commander Edward Straker. After a number of harrowing encounters, SHADO faces its' greatest threat...an all-out alien invasion. As it stands, Invasion: UFO is an OK movie. The different episodes are blended fairly well on the whole, and the choice of said episodes was a good one. However, a rather odd decision was made to throw out the ending to the final segment ("Reflections", with added material from "Came Back" to beef up the climatic UFO invasion), in favour of a 'new' and completely ambiguous conclusion that leaves nothing resolved. On top of the unavoidably episodic nature of the narrative, what you have is a film that lacks any real flow or story drive. Attentive viewers will notice that George Sewell, who plays Alec Freeman, vanishes in the last third of the movie. This is because he left the show halfway through it's run and was not in the final segment...likewise, Micheal Billington (who plays Paul Foster) is absent from the first two-thirds because he was not in the episodes used! (His absence is 'explained' by a short clip from "ESP".) All in all, Invasion: UFO is interesting but VERY uneven...the fact that the individual episodes were essentially halved in order to fit the 100 minutes running time means that most of the stories' emotional content and characterisation are gone. Plot points shown in the deleted footage are raised in what was used, making for a confusing ride in places. Nonetheless, there's plenty of action, very impressive model effects that still stand up well today, gorgeous women in skin-tight catsuits and mauve wigs(!)...and an excellent performance from series star Ed Bishop as Commander Straker. An excellent starting point for those new to the series, but if you've seen the show, forget it...you're likely to see it for the rather tepid hack-job that is is. Spooky, darkly textured and full of the way-out hardware and furious action Gerry Anderson is rightly acclaimed for.