I love this film! The ´70s must have been the greatest decade in american cinema! (I happen to live door-to-door with a cinema that frequently shows classic films like this, and I end up going there a couple of times a week. And mostly end up renting, for a quarter of the price, the bad Hollywood films that plague the European cinemas.)
Just think about what great films the ´70s gave us, everything from ´The French Connection´ to Star Wars´. Body Snatchers feels like a typical ´70s thriller, down- to- earth storytelling with a natural feeling of reality. What´s so special about this Science fiction classic is that it manages to give an believable portrait of how easy it is for us to turn a blind eye. Even when people change over night, (which they do here thanks to the body snatchers) we hardly bother to wonder why.
It doesn´t take a genius to draw parallels to the totalitarian ideologies that plagued the ´70s, everything from the Soviet Union to Pinochets Chile. But what´s so typically ´70s, and in turn makes this a great social portrait, is that they didn´t seem to be obsessed with making films that avoided being scary and uncomfortable. Here you can truly feel the paranoia, Donald Sutherland gives an great performance, and the terror of the characters.
What gives this film a slot in my top ten science fiction/thriller is the fantastic ending. Even if your not used to the slow pace and the greyish tones, give it a chance. When you see the last scene you will know what I´m talking about!
Just think about what great films the ´70s gave us, everything from ´The French Connection´ to Star Wars´. Body Snatchers feels like a typical ´70s thriller, down- to- earth storytelling with a natural feeling of reality. What´s so special about this Science fiction classic is that it manages to give an believable portrait of how easy it is for us to turn a blind eye. Even when people change over night, (which they do here thanks to the body snatchers) we hardly bother to wonder why.
It doesn´t take a genius to draw parallels to the totalitarian ideologies that plagued the ´70s, everything from the Soviet Union to Pinochets Chile. But what´s so typically ´70s, and in turn makes this a great social portrait, is that they didn´t seem to be obsessed with making films that avoided being scary and uncomfortable. Here you can truly feel the paranoia, Donald Sutherland gives an great performance, and the terror of the characters.
What gives this film a slot in my top ten science fiction/thriller is the fantastic ending. Even if your not used to the slow pace and the greyish tones, give it a chance. When you see the last scene you will know what I´m talking about!