Alien Nation

Name: Alien Nation
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Crime
Released: October 7, 1988
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 45
Cast: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin

1988

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ALIEN NATION

Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: October 7, 1988

Starring: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin

Summary: In 1991, Earth will have the first contact with an alien civilization. These aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after years of quarantine.

Director: Graham Baker

Genre(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 91 min

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Critic Reviews

Portland Oregonian - Ted Mahar

While the whole film is well-made, it has surprisingly few surprises. There are some small ones, but the plot and many details are predictable down to small details. [7 Oct 1988, p.F13]

Variety - Staff [Not Credited]

Solid performances by leads James Caan and his humanoid buddy-cop partner Mandy Patinkin move this production beyond special effects, clever alien makeup and car chases. Read full review

The New York Times - Janet Maslin

Eventually, though it happens later rather than sooner, the conventional aspects of Alien Nation overwhelm the novelty. Read full review

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

The movie is simply a failure of imagination. Nobody looked at the screenplay and observed that it didn’t try hard enough, that it had no surprises, that it didn’t attempt to delight its audiences with twists and turns on the phoned-in plotline. Read full review

Miami Herald - Bill Cosford

Though there's some wit on the fringes (including splendid use of a Reagan stump-speech line), the whole thing plays a lot like a Miami Vice via Star Trek. [7 Oct 1988, p.E10]

Washington Post - Rita Kempley

Alien Nation wants to be "In the Heat of the Night" as science fiction, but it's neither morally instructive nor prophetic. It proves a lumbering marriage of action and sci-fi that alienates both audiences. It's too dull for one and too dumb for the other. Read full review

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) - Rick Groen

Alien Nation lives out precisely the fate of the alien nation it depicts - both full of potential, both hoping to please, and both immediately co-opted, enslaved by the same commercial forces that granted their release. [12 Oct 1988]

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