Product Details

• Actors: Vincent Regan, Eric Jorrin, Maggie O'Neill, Vivienne Soan, Paul J. Medford
• Writers: Jed Mercurio
• Producers: Alison Barnett, Andrea Calderwood, Chrissy Skinns, Jed Mercurio
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Fox Home Entertainme
• VHS Release Date: January 19, 1999
• Run Time: 268 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305196311
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,389 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This ambitious miniseries, a coproduction between the BBC and the American cable entity the Sci-Fi Channel, is an unusually intelligent and demanding example of the genre. The story begins when a cocky pilot shoots down a UFO inside British air space, but the following revelations only hint at the scope of the predicament. A few soldiers and civilians, led by an American general with the NATO forces (Fred Ward), find themselves in the middle of an intergalactic war and discover they are the next target of a mysterious civilization that has already conquered most of the galaxy. Working with a limited budget, the filmmakers concentrate on creating a palpable sense of fear of the unknown while punctuating the story with sparse but startling effects: dimensional portals that open out of nowhere, a hellish otherworldly land where prisoners appear to be digested in a monstrous stomach, our first and only glimpse of the demonic-looking enemy as it lays waste to an Earth laboratory. These eerie moments only intensify the moody dread that permeates the series. Though an unconvincing romantic subplot occasionally slows the pace, the consistently smart writing and dense, delirious plotting makes this unusual epic compelling viewing right through to its jaw-dropping conclusion. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars could have been better....still good for a viewing, December 12, 2005

By 

Andre Villemaire (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invasion Earth - The World War Has Begun (DVD)

I love invasion films...saw most and this one rates pretty good.
The story is solid and the acting pretty good, but like any TV science fiction...there seem to be missing a few millions dollars on
their production. Instead of a large scale movie we end up with a small scale movie that has not enough people in it...too much of
some actors/actresses and that sleepy moog synthesizer music for all
the mushy scenes(too many...we dont care).
I still bought the movie as there is not enough good alien invasion
movies out there and this is is worth a visit.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Story Telling - Part 2 (of three) is the most powerful, April 23, 2006

By 

J. Cavacini "cuddler of underdogs" (Coplay, PA Corporate States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invasion Earth - The World War Has Begun (DVD)

This was a creative and well produced miniseries. The use of location, props, makeup, etc. were well handled. The second part of the three parts is by far the most powerful and best story telling in the series. It could have been better as part three leaves you a little down with weak character resolutions, but the truth is that these situations are more real-life than fantastical and over dramatic. Very intelligent, realistic and well acted. Any fan of serious science fiction and story telling should give this a try because its great qualities by far make up for its detractors.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Solid Drama, February 13, 2007

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Invasion Earth - The World War Has Begun (DVD)

An RAF pilot shoots down a UFO and the pilot is recovered. This sets in motion an escalation of a war that had been going on for fifty years without humans being aware. There are two alien races. The Echo are peaceful and want to warn the Earth about the dimension-hopping NDs. A NATO General gets put in charge of the escape craft and its occupant. While he is quickly convinced of the existence of aliens, there is no real hard proof that his superiors accept. But if the General is right, the NDs have been tainting the Earth's water supplies for the past fifty years but with the downing of the Echo craft, they are stepping up the campaign.

The NDs civilization is based upon the manipulation of living matter. They take over worlds where life is present. Earth may have an intelligence but that means nothing to the NDs. They will go about harvesting humans as they need them. Finally the extent of their plans is revealed and NATO command accepts the existence of the alien threat. But it is still up to a small handful of people to develop the strategies against the aliens and carry them out.

Although the plot is similar and the title is identical to Harry Harrison's novel INVASION: EARTH, there is no credit given and the story soon deviates drastically from Harrison's. While the special effects are good, it is the solid acting and drama that drives this mini-series. I really enjoyed the acting and the way the plot unfolded. The way some people bought into the alien story and some did not seemed very plausible to me. I was just a little disappointed in the ending although it made a lot more sense than many movie endings. If you like your science fiction filled with solid drama then this one is for you.