Customer Reviews

Dr. Who: Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The second and last of the Aaru Doctor Who films, Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD, is basically the film version of the second Dalek story, The Dalek Invasion Of Earth, and outdoes the previous Aaru film. Instead of Ian and Barbara, we have Louise, the Doctor's niece, and Tom Campbell, a constable who after being coshed on the head by some robbers, stumbles into the TARDIS just as its course has been set.

The point in making a film rendition of a TV series is to improve on the original, right? Well, this film does do that in many areas, which is what bigger budgets are for. The scene of London in ruins is realized more effectively. Considering how the original serial for this was 150 minutes long, condensing it to 80 minutes and still getting the cream of the plot is quite a feat.

The brass march of the Robomen is snazzy and snappy. The Robomen themselves are dressed in glossy black fetish suits with whips and have goggles over their eyes. I know this wasn't a BBC production, but I'm surprised why they didn't consider that kinky and they backtracked on having a villainess in jackboots too risque in Colony In Space.

The most notable improvement are the Dalek flying saucers, whose two windowed section rotate in opposite directions. They are the most effective in aerial shots, but are done right to scale in ground shots, as when the prisoners are escorted to the landing strip where it is parked.

There is a funny scene involving Tom, disguised as a Roboman. He has trouble marching in sync with the other Robomen, and this includes eating, as they all eat in unison.

The claw-arm Daleks outnumber the standard sink-plunger arm Daleks, and these Daleks have a sharp paint job, enhanced by the fact that they are in colour.

Peter Cushing makes a good Doctor, the gentle archetypal absent-minded professor. Roberta Tovey reappears as Susan. Other notables include Bernard Cribbins as Tom Campbell, Ray Brook as David, who made his mark in Pete Walker films (House Of Whipcord, The Flesh And Blood Show, The Tale Of Tiffany Jones), and Phil Madoc as Brockley the black marketeer. Madoc appeared in a number of stories: The Krotons, The Brain Of Morbius, and The Power Of Kroll. And Jill Curzon shines the screen as the lovely Louise.

In the end, nothing compares to the original series, but this spin-off does have a charm of its own.

I was always fascinated with the original Dr. Who TV show, which had a lot of surprisingly interesting, thought-provoking ideas underlying its low-budget sets and costumes. But this movie doesn't match the TV series' depth. It's clear that this movie was made "just for kids." The exaggerated acting, slapstick humor, and tweedle-dee soundtrack make this a big disappointment if you watch it in the wrong mindset. As a movie for kids, it's colorful and fun. But if you go into it expecting the same quality as the show, you'll find it very disappointing and more than a little cheesy. Save your money.

Great stuff to watch with the kids! This is not really "hard core" science fiction or even up to par with later Doctor Who TV episodes but its got enough action and a little sillyness to keep even todays kids interested and give the adults a satisfying smile.
The disc has good chapter navigation and the extras are acceptable - the product placement/ad campaign info provided in the extras show were interesting.

This movie is good, simple to follow and adventurous. It has in it time travel, aliens, robots, spaceships, humor and action. It does look cheesy but that is another good thing in this movie, don't ask me why. Overall: VERY GOOD.

Better yet, were it not for the Daleks' cry of "Exterminate!", just mute the sound altogether. The dialogue's not that great anyway; but it's the music that's absolutely ear piercingly horrendous. Maybe they were trying to mimic the "Doctor Who" electronic sound; but whatever they were trying, it came across as blackboard scratching with a vengeance. That's a shame, because the film itself was quite good. The setting and story both followed the original "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" almost scene by scene - with the exception that the ending was actually almost believable. Whereas the original ending was a hodge-podge of incredibly far-fetched events, this ending at least pretended to be "scientific." And, as others have noted, there was way too much gratuitous slapstick (for the kids, no doubt). All in all, I'd give the visuals and the story-line 4-Stars; but the music drug it down to a 3-Star movie at best.

unlike the serial, peter cushing fits well as the doctor. when the doctor and his capanions time travel to 2150 where a war wages on between the humans and the daleks. this might be campy, but all dr who fans shoud add this to their video collections. i highly recommend it.

I watched this with a Dr. Who fan who put it into perspective for me. What's great is that this film, an early cinematic remake of the second Daleks serial series, is finally on DVD. I've gotten used to the very low budget sets in the old Dr. Who shows, which are soon forgotten as one gets engrossed in the great stories. I just watched The Robots of Death on DVD, which has to have the all-time worst robot costumes but is nevertheless bone-chillingly suspenseful as the plot thickens.

One can't get too much of the Daleks, and this film is chock full of them-- lifesize and in full color. The spaceships are also well done. The thing I felt was that Peter Cushing could do more than stand around as a kind, grandfatherly Time Lord. Of course when he uses the gray matter he comes up with the day-saving plan. He simply doesn't seem very alien, whereas Tom Baker exuded weirdness in everything he did. Regardless, Dr. Who fans will welcome this release on DVD, and the chance to (re)visit the continuing saga of the Daleks.

Interesting to have a full motion picture of the classic Who serial. Good special effects and pace. Don't know where to fit this story in with the rest of Doctor Who continuity but it is pleasant nevertheless. Peter Cushing does a great job as the Doctor and the Daleks are superb! END

DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D. (1966, A/K/A DR. WHO - DALEKS - INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D., A/K/A DALEKS' INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D., 84 mins.) is one of the coolest, most ridiculous sci-fi films of any era. The sequel of Dr. Who and The Daleks, with its hipster '60s jazz and foolish costumes, well, it's fun and humorous. It is also NOT Dr. Who as we know/love him. Yet I see this film ranks tops in best sci-fi of the era.

"Go figure", as they say.

Persnickety, rickety old Dr. Who (Peter Cushing) is back: a grumpy old shuffling duffer, an ordinary mortal with a knack for invention and time travel. This time he blunders his way to the year 2150 (as all the eloquent titles express). He finds daleks and can't understand why they returned, because he's destroyed them already, you see. They're tearing around England, making robo-soldiers out of the devastated populace.

No, there are no cybermen. Not yet. This is definitely a 'non-canonical' storyline, and the Dr. Who character as played by Cushing is a mere goofy mortal. Why oh why do they do things like this?

Because they can, and it's fun. The series at that time was sort of floundering, just getting its 'sea legs' much like STAR TREK which premiered on TV the year this film was released. The effects are good when they really need to be; at times they are downright laughable. The daleks' ship was awesome and advanced. The costumes were laugh-out-loud 1960s weirdness.

The film itself is grossly lacking in any kind of intelligence or action; anyway, one can't expect much action from Cushing at this stage. Though he made a roaring comeback late in life starring in the original STAR WARS film, his career was plainly over when he did this.

One of the few things I loved was the appearance of a very young feller who would later return to the TV series to play Donna Noble's grandfather (featured in Doctor Who: The End of Time, Parts 1 and 2, see my review)... but I do not know his name. Sorry!

All I can tell you is this may or may not be worth your time/money. If you're hardcore about the whole history of crummy sci-fi, or a Cushing fan, get it. Anyone who really loves Dr. Who would not waste a second on this tripe. On the other hand, the film is something of an early sci-fi pioneer. And yet, it is a perfect example of the fate nervously awaited for STAR TEK at the time: that it would immediately devolve into a stupid children's crapfest.

At least I can say this film never devolved at any point.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Doctor and his comanions arive on Earth of the near future only to find the human race turned into slaves. What is the purpose behind the enormus miming project the Daleks are undertaking? Can the Doctor and his companions help the human resistant movement to foil the Daleks plans? END