Enter Donald Sutherland as the head of a team investigating the phenomenon. They find a curious setup. The three kids are charging people to see the space ship. This is obviously not a real space ship, so what is going on?

As we find out, we have been invaded by small aliens that attach themselves to the human nervous system and then control them. They are spreading quickly.

The aliens are working at spreading their numbers as well as their influence. They try to sabotage Sutherland's team as well as aim at government officials.

The aliens keep busy and the team keeps trying to contain and predict them. Witty lines and fast scenes keep the film moving to its surprising conclusion.

A must for sci-fi and Heinlein fans. Great effects, neat monsters and a good story. Check it out.

The movie is based on Robert A. Heinlein's SF classic of the same name, which was written at around the same time as Jack Finney's similarly-themed _The Body Snatchers_ (one film adaptation of which, incidentally, also featured Sutherland). The book isn't Heinlein's best work but his worst is at least readable.

Likewise, the movie is mostly watchable. It just doesn't maintain its crackle all the way through. And at this late date, we really need something more impressive than the usual run of 'pod people' to justify making this movie, since Finney's book has already been done _three times_. (And yes, I _do_ want a movie -- and a book -- where somebody asks why the aliens 'hate' us. Was _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ filmed in vain?)

I really wanted to like it, and to some extent I do. I'm just disappointed that even an underwhelming Heinlein work got such a tame screen adaptation.

After the opening titles, we are introduced to the main characters, a field of government agents headed by Donald Sutherland (who has mastered the art of subtle earnestness in his career), and populated by Eric Thal (remember him as the young Hasidic scholar who becomes involved with Melanie Griffith in A STRANGER AMONG US?) and Julie Warner (who exudes both passion and intelligence in this role). After some portentious signs, there are two or three truly exciting action sequences, one right after another. The problem is, after all of this, I looked at my watch and found that there was still over an hour of movie to go. That's when the film becomes, as my title says, dull as dishwater.

In the last hour, which seems more like two, this film endlessly repeats itself, in scene after scene. Plans of attack are presented to us, and then played out of us in the same exact way, so that there is no suspense. After three or four such consecutive scenes, there begins to be no interest, either. Then, there are the agonizingly long scenes involving Eric Thal and Julie Warner alone together, played out slowly and without soundtrack as if suddenly turning into Steven Soderburgh's sex, lies and videotape (truly a great film; however, that same style does NOT fit into this "thriller" well at all). What we end up with is a very ungainly, uneven film that alternates between high-charged action/sci-fi scenes and those containing long stretches of dull-as-dishwater dialogue. By the end, I was very happy--that it was over, as I nearly fell asleep ten times in the last half-hour alone!

Now I know why this film received largely negative reviews when it was initially released in theaters in late-1994. It's too bad, as it is from the classic novel by Robert A. Heinlein; unread by me, the basic concept is fascinating and reminds me of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (both 1962 and 1978)--except both of these classic sci-fi/horror films are more exciting than this one. Come to think of it, Donald Sutherland was in the latter BODY SNATCHERS film, and did much better in that much better film. Thank God I spent less than the Amazon price for THE PUPPET MASTERS DVD!

RECOMMENDED FOR DONALD SUTHERLAND FANS AND/OR DIE-HARD SCI-FI FANS ONLY; ALL OTHERS AVOID