Director William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders From Mars has been included as one of the twenty-five films selected this month by the National Film Preservation Board to be added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2024 due to their cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.
Invaders From Mars was restored by Ignite Films in collaboration with the George Eastman Museum, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Invaders From Mars stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke.
Fearful memories of this timeless 1953 bone-chiller still haunt the dreams of fans who have never forgotten the story of David MacLean, a young boy (Jimmy Hunt) who witnesses an alien invasion. Invaders from Mars was filmed from a child’s point of view, using exaggerated sets and upward angles. It became a modern classic and was also one of two early 50s classic alien-invasion science fiction films (the other is Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still) reflecting Cold War tensions, the Red Scare, and paranoid anxiety typical of many films in the 50s.
The must-have restoration for all Invaders From Mars fans, both Earthlings and Martians alike, features spectacular special bonus features on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray versions, including a restored 4K version of the original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned 2022 remix of the trailer, an interview with the film’s star, Jimmy Hunt, an in-depth look at the restoration process led by Scott MacQueen, Restoration Supervisor, plus a new featurette about the film featuring interviews with directors Joe Dante (Gremlins), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Multiple Visual Effects Academy-Award winner Robert Skotak (Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day), and other luminaries.