fakusergey OK, admittedly, I have not read the book. I am sure it is a beloved sci-fi classic. This movie is none of the above. I accidentally selected this on my streaming service, thinking it was one of the Toulon Full Moon puppet-master series. I saw some of the cast and decided maybe it was worth a look. It was not. Hard to follow, the actors all seemed to be in a daze. Walking around muttering pointless dialogue. Even the revered Donald Sutherland came off as a stiff. The production values were very low budget, I almost laughed at the first appearance of the "alien". No tension, drama, excitement involved. Julie Warner spent the first part of the movie frustrated that men would not ogle her boobs. I am not making this up. I would hope that this film is a very bad adaptation of the book. I had to turn it off about 30 minutes in. AVOID IF POSSIBLE.

Leofwine_draca Don't be surprised if you get a feeling of déjà vu while watching this alien invasion thriller, as it's a film which takes bits and pieces from lots of other films along the way to form one loud, unoriginal whole. Saying that, it's still a fairly exciting movie with an above average cast, but the feeling of "been there, done that" which hangs over it stops the film from ever rising above the norm for the '90s. THE PUPPET MASTERS is a lightweight, popcorn film at best, offering up a few thrills along the way but nothing of substance...INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, a blindingly obvious influence here, this isn't. Instead it plays more like Abel Ferrara's BODY SNATCHERS remake - shallow, lightweight and pretty much pointless.It's actually pretty good to begin with, but soon the air of paranoia and oppressive atmosphere is dropped in favour of all-out action and clichéd situations. Funnily enough, the film is best when imitating INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, but when it turns into a low budget ALIENS wannabe towards the end, it loses all credibility. My hopes for a subtle, chilling flick were dashed twenty minutes in when we get our first exposure to the aliens, after its host is shot dead and the flying creature leaps on to a window. These aliens resemble giant, slimy slugs, and the influence of the facehugger creatures from ALIEN is also clear. Granted, the special effects are decent, but I would have preferred the creature as something a little more than slime and tentacles.From this point on, our heroes are pursued by unstoppable alien-influenced killers, and the scene is set for a great many entertaining fights and plenty of violent action. Things move sluggishly from one set piece to another, until the uninspired showdown which sees two of our armed heroes storming the alien base, making their way through lots and lots of slime and gooey stuff and saving the day. This is where the film resembles ALIENS the most, and the design of the two nests is almost identical. The saving grace of this part is the nifty entrance to the "nest", done with the aid of a simple yet effective computer graphic.Donald Sutherland takes the lead, and having previously starred in an alien invasion movie in the '70s he knows exactly what to do. Sutherland is fine in this kind of authorative role, although he isn't exactly stretched, instead content to fall back on the smirking persona he so often employs in his '90s films. Eric Thal is the muscular leading man, displaying little acting skill or ability, instead yet another wooden leading man. Julie Warner is the glamorous, predictable love interest, who finds a simple reason to gratuitously walk around in her underwear. Criminally, poor Keith David, who starts off as a solid action man at first, becomes a rampaging alien takeover, yet another case of the black guy getting it in a film of this kind. On the other hand, Yaphet Kotto is wasted, given only a few scenes and minimal dialogue. I will be fair and say that the supporting actors and actresses are all fine, though.The atmosphere of this film is close to that of THE X-FILES, and the television series and this film do share a lot in common, from the male/female partnership right down to the tagline. Although it could have been potentially interesting, THE PUPPET MASTERS is spoilt by pedestrian, workmanlike direction from Stuart Orme, which gives it a kind of television movie ambiance. It's a shame, as I usually really enjoy films of this sort...sadly, it's just a case of a cheap '90s cash-in on some classic movies.

sbrazie It really makes no sense how this film could not have worked. Working off a script based on a Robert A. Heinlein novel, with the venerable Donald Sutherland in one of the lead roles, and with alien invasion the subject matter, this should have been at least a seven star Science Fiction film. As Sci-Fi goes, the superior ones focus more on futuristic and/or scientific concepts, with action and/or special effects adding to the spectacle. That is why films like the Star Wars saga really aren't Sci-Fi, but action/adventure first (and in the case of Star Wars, fantasy) and science fiction second at best. This film does delve into the biology and culture of the aliens, but just barely. Mostly it focuses on hokey special effects and a few watered-down action scenes to fill up screen time. The aliens themselves are quite realistic and original, a plus for the film. The chemistry between Donald Sutherland as the leader of a secret government agency and his son, played by Eric Thal (an unknown at the time) is actually quite good. In addition, Julie Warner actually does well as the scientist working for Sutherland and of course plays the romantic interest for Sutherland's son. While not a superior actress, she performs adequately, although her talents are more suited to television, as it appears this movie was. While most will think, as I did, while reading the plot synopsis of the film that it is a rip-off of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Sutherland starred in the remake of this film in 1978), the actual book was published in 1951, prior to the original film as well as the novel written by Jack Finney. Bottom line: not a bad movie to watch when you know you will be distracted as it requires very little of your attention and there are enough action scenes to move the pace along, but science fiction and Heinlein fans will be disappointed.

a_digiacomo I read and still re-read, the book and must agree with other commentators; the film is NOT the book or even reasonably "based on" the book. Hollywood can never get the idea that a book is famous because people read it, because the author got "it" right the first time--in published form. They buy rights to film a book, but then change the guts out of the book! I loved only three things in this flick: Julie Warner's comment "bet your dad isn't happy he hired me, can't even do my job" Sutherland's cool emotionlessness until Sam almost dies--it's like without Sam he won't have anyone to abuse who won't tell him to go to heck! The family feeling of the Team. Everyone loves each other enough to be willing to die for their comrades! Too cool! That said, the story is told as one we've seen Way too many times before. And better before too! I suggest to all our readers and commentators on here--Do what I do--make your own movies and show them on public access cable channels in your area! My crew and I have over the years, made 12 films shown all over New York State and Connecticut(though now I live in Florida--near Disney World where the real aliens live and work, LOL)