Alien Nation

Day 138 - 5/18/09 - Movie #137

BEFORE: I remember there was a TV series based on this film, but I've never seen the original movie. And who doesn't love a good pun in a movie title? The concept is pure gold - America's immigration policy is tested by aliens - not Mexicans, but the outer-space type.

THE PLOT: Earth has its first contact with aliens, known as Newcomers, who slowly begin to be integrated into human society after years of quarantine, but are victims of a new type of discrimination.

AFTER: It's an interesting twist on a "buddy cop" film - but instead of using good cop/bad cop techniques, it's good cop/alien cop. And when James Caan is the "good" cop, look out... Just like in "Enemy Mine", the human and alien have to put their differences aside and work together - in this case, to shut down the distribution of an alien drug.

It takes acting skills to work under a lot of alien make-up, and Mandy Patinkin and Terence Stamp seemed to be up to the task - and it's always good to see my buddy, character actor Peter Jason, in a supporting role. I can see why they made a TV series out of this - this seems like a relatively short story for a feature film, but it established a framework in which more storylines could be set.

It reminds me of this fake commercial that appeared on the radio stations in the "Grand Theft Auto" video-game, for a fake TV show with a human and alien cop teaming up - the sergeant yelled, "You may vaporize criminals on Alpha Centauri, but in my precinct we do things by the book!" Funny stuff...I guess this is the movie they were parodying.

RATING: 7 out of 10 milk cartons