Alien Nation

1988
R
1h 31m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

17K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Play trailer0:32

1 Video

63 Photos

Dark Comedy Action Sci-Fi

In 1988, Earth makes the first contact with an alien civilization. In 1991, these aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after three years of quarantine... Read allIn 1988, Earth makes the first contact with an alien civilization. In 1991, these aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after three years of quarantine.In 1988, Earth makes the first contact with an alien civilization. In 1991, these aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after three years of quarantine.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

17K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations total

Trivia
Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin) was originally going to be named George Jetson, but Hanna-Barbera wouldn't give the rights to the name. The decision to call his character "George" in the movie was kept as an in-joke to the George Jetson character name.

Goofs
When George is hanging outside the helicopter, above the water surface, he should be screaming in pain since the rotor-blades would whip up a pretty dense cloud of seawater, thus he would be injured since his race is extremely sensitive against seawater, as pointed out by Joshua Strader, and William Harcourt in the end scene, their bodies react to it as we would to sulfuric acid, as referenced in the movie.

Quotes
[after hearing some derisive comments about Sykes partner avoiding the beach]
Det. Sgt. Matthew Sykes: Why don't you try standing next to an ocean of hydrochloric acid and see how well you surf.

Alternate versions
In UK cinemas, 2 versions were shown in different cinemas. In some cinemas, certain Newcomer native dialogue was subtitled into English and in others it was not. This happens most notably in the scene where George and the morgue attendant discuss the Newcomer corpse and recognise aspects of the body as representing the drug addiction. Also a short dialogue between Harcourt and Kipling after Harcourt first meets George and Matt where Kipling tells Harcourt that Sykes was the policeman in the shootout at the film's opening.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Alien Nation/Elvira: Mistress of the Dark/Imagine: John Lennon/Salaam Bombay/Track 29 (1988)

Soundtracks
You've Really Got a Hold on Me
Written by Smokey Robinson (as William Robinson)
Performed by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (as Smokey Robinson and The Miracles)
Courtesy of Motown Record Company, L.P.

User reviews73

Review

Featured review

7/10

Underrated film from the 80s'

While the eighties was rife with weird sci-fi films and epic films, a simple and biting film about alien visitation made a nice little landing in 1988. Alien Nation was one of those films that expertly grasped the the sci-fi/mystery sub genre with a decent story and good visuals.

The casting in the film was rather perfect, with the subdued Mandy Patinkin playing Francisco while the normally hotheaded James Caan got his licks as a racist cop named Sykes. Either way, their polar opposites worked perfectly in the film, showing a growing bond between the two as they shook off their differences and made a rather capable team. What I especially liked was how each player sincerely became their character, which is something that is pretty rare in many sci-fi films. While I do wish the movie was a little longer and put some more scenes of George integrating into his new position at the beginning, the film was good as it was.

Alien Nation proved to be one of the last good non-CGI sci-fi films. While Gattica is one of the few films that followed this ideal, at least we can look back at the genre before it became nothing more than an excuse to show off pretty effects.