Alien Nation (1988)

October 05, 2009

Netflix Stream, Seattle, WA

*** / ****

By Scott Muoio

An alien slave ship falls off course, lands on earth, and humankind assimilates “the newcomers” into every day life. That is the premise of Alien Nation, a late ‘80s take on the mundane aspects of aliens on earth.

Alien Nation’s plot involves a veteran cop that loses his partner during a violent criminal standoff. Bitter over the loss of his friend, Detective Sykes (James Caan) nevertheless returns to the station and volunteers to take on a new partner, Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), the first newcomer in the police force. The catch: Syke’s partner was killed by an alien and the detective isn’t keen on letting his grudge against the species pass.

By-the-book and uptight, Sam is respectful of Sykes and his racism even as his partner makes his own rules and slights Sam’s people at every turn. But Sam needs Sykes in order to learn how to fit in with his new world. Sykes likewise needs Sam but for a completely different reason: to catch his former partner’s killer.

All this baggage and necessity leads to an initial patch of rough going for the partners, that is until Sykes begins to see past Sam’s odd, alien appearance and embraces both their similarities and differences. The pair’s eventual bonding leads to several funny and touching scenes with the most memorable showing the pair drunk together on booze and sour milk, respectively.

Overall, the film feels exactly like what it is: a lead-in to a very interesting and entertaining television series. Sadly though, it misses a lot of opportunities, doesn’t really say anything in particular, and has a buddy cop storyline we’ve seen a million times before. Still, despite those less than stellar attributes, the film is gritty and real in a way alien movies rarely have the nerve or behind the scenes skill to be. Grand statements take a back seat to daily observations with the result being an entertaining film that creates a universe worthy of further exploration.

Director: Graham Baker

Producer: Gale Anne Hurd, Richard Kobritz

Writer: Rockne S. O’Bannon

Starring: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp, Kevyn Major Howard, Leslie Bevis

Original Music: Curt Sobel

Cinematographer: Adam Greenberg

Editor: Kent Beyda