Tobe Hooper's elaborate, bigger budgeted 80s remake of the 1953 science fiction classic does have scale going for it, as well as a see-it-to-believe-it cast and talented crew. Scripted by Dan O'Bannon & Don Jakoby, it tells the story of David Gardner (Hunter Carson), ordinary kid who witnesses first hand the invasion of evil Martian creatures which proceed to enslave lots of local humans, Davids' own parents (Timothy Bottoms and Laraine Newman) among them.

The problem, at least for this viewer, is that this doesn't have the stark nightmarish quality of the original, and is also often too silly for its own good, going for a camp quality, in terms of both acting and dialogue. Depending on ones' sensibilities, they can either appreciate or groan at lines such as "You'd better hurry, or you just might blow it." and "You don't carry loose change into combat, sir.". We also have the parents acting all goofy and eating either meat that's been overcooked or not cooked at all.

Yet, moments like this contrast with some pretty good sequences such as seeing how the humans get their minds manipulated or when the tunnelling devices emerge from underneath the ground. The sets are quality stuff, what with people like Leslie Dilley ("Star Wars") as production designer and Craig Stearns ("Halloween" '78) as art director. The special effects are amusing, to say the least, with Stan Winston and crew crafting some memorable "Mr. Potato Head" aliens as well as a Martian intelligence that is actually kind of a cute lil' thing.

The actors are mostly all pros (with the exception of Carson, the real-life son of co-star Karen Black) and some of them do a pretty fine job of maintaining poker faces. In addition to those actors mentioned, we've got Ms. Black doing an appealing job as the school nurse, Louise Fletcher playing her umpteenth Nurse Ratched like role as the miserly frog eating teacher, Bud Cort as a nerdy young S.E.T.I. scientist, the great James Karen of "The Return of the Living Dead" as an ass kicking, cigar chomping Marine general, Jimmy Hunt (who played the kid in the 1953 film) as the police chief, and veteran military technical adviser Dale Dye in a bit.

One good thing about "Invaders from Mars" '86 is that it's never boring, and it does have nice touches here and there (the bit with the copper, the cameo by the original Martian Intelligence), and it's at least pretty true to the first film when it comes to the resolution. It's best recommended to undemanding fans of 80s genre fare.

Six out of 10.