Ignite Films has announced some special plans for this Sunday’s (April 9) 70th anniversary celebration of William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders from Mars. First up, there’s the release of the new 4K UHD restoration and Blu-ray of the horror classic. New York and Los Angeles audiences are also treated to special theatrical screenings of the restored film on Sunday, April 9.
Directed by William Cameron Menzies and written by Richard Blake, Invaders from Mars stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum and Leif Erickson. It was produced by Edward L. Alperson Jr. and was distributed by Twentieth Century Fox on April 9, 1953.
The cult favorite centers on a young boy who witnesses a flying saucer’s disappearance in the large sand pit behind his home. When his father goes to investigate the accident, he returns a changed man, as do most of the adults in the boy’s life. The film was rushed into production to show in theaters before George Pal’s War of the World, and became the first movie to show aliens and their spaceships in color.
The new restored film release includes:
- Restored 4K original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned trailer 2022
- Interviews with star Jimmy Hunt, William Cameron Menzies’ biographer James Curtis and recollections of Menzies’ eldest granddaughter Pamela Lauesen
- Featurette with acclaimed film directors John Landis, Joe Dante, editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist and two time Oscar Winner Robert Skotak (foremost expert on Invaders from Mars), and enthusiast and film preservationist Scott MacQueen
- John Sayles’ introduction at Turner Classic Movies Festival in Hollywood, April 2022
- Before/after clips of restoration – original negative and archival film elements – with film restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen
- Restored segments in 2K of the Alternate International Version — alternative ending and extended Planetarium scene
- Gallery with original Press Book pages, behind the scenes photos from the restoration process
- 20 page extensive essay on the restoration process: “Invaders From Mars: A Nightmare of Restoration” by Scott MacQueen
Available exclusively on the Ignite Films website, is a beautifully designed enamel pin featuring the film’s most iconic green Martian, The Supreme Intelligence. Also, a limited quantity of the exclusive autographed posters signed by the film’s star, Jimmy Hunt, are available until they are gone! Ignite is also offering a 4K UHD player giveaway an a 20 percent discount on all merchandise on its website, Ignite-films.com. (You can purchase the new UHD release for $55 and the DVD— which doesn’t have any bonus material— for $20 on the website. Ignite Films is also offering 20 percent off everything on its website from April 9 to April 30th.
In Los Angeles, The UCLA Library Film & Television Library Archive will offer a free screening of the restored film on Sunday, April 9, at 7:00pm, with a pre-screening presentation by Scott MacQueen, former Head of Preservation at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and lead preservationist on the Invaders From Mars Restoration.
In New York, Film Forum Will Show the restored version of Invaders from Mars on Sunday, April 9 at 11:00am as part of its Film Forum Jr., Classics for Kids and Their Families Series.
Watch the trailer below:
