Stars: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp, Leslie Bevis, Roger Aaron Brown, Peter Jason, Kevyn Major Howard, George Jenesky

Director: Graham Baker

Summary: In the Los Angeles of the very near future aliens have come to live among us. They've learned the new language and tried to fit in, but there is something about them we don't know. Two detectives, one human, the other alien, put aside their mutual distrust and uncover a murder and something much more terrifying.

In Los Angeles of the near future, aliens have come to live among humans. They've learned the language and tried to fit in. But there's something about them that people don't know. Two detectives--one human (James Caan), one alien (Mandy Patinkin)--put aside their mutual distrust and uncover a sinister conspiracy that threatens to destroy the fragile alien/human alliance.

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Alien Nationis a routine cop thriller with a comedic sci-fi twist. They get drunk on sour milk. They have two hearts and bald, spotted heads. They're highly intelligent, but if you drop them in seawater they'll melt into a puddle of goop. They're "Newcomers", and they arrived as refugees in a massive alien slave-ship, quarantined for three years and then reluctantly accepted as citizens of Earth. To some humans--including seasoned Los Angeles cop Matt Sykes (James Caan)--the Newcomers are unwelcomed "slags". Sykes' own virulent "speciesism" intensifies when Newcomer thugs kill his partner, but he sees logic in teaming up with Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), the first Newcomer detective in the LAPD. Francisco's Newcomer knowledge is vital to their investigation of an alien drug ring, and a friendship grows from life-or-death circumstances.

Alien Nationhas two things working in its favour: Caan and Patinkin form a memorable duo, and the basic premise--as conceived by Rockne S O'Bannon (who later developed the film as a TV series)--intelligently accounts for the sociological impact of an alien population. The subtle point is made that humans are extraordinary beings who squander their potential, and the evil of drugs--as dealt by a social-climbing Newcomer played by Terence Stamp--leads to a crisis that threatens to generate global intolerance. These points are well presented in a context of overly familiar plotting and standard-issue sarcasm. It's entertaining for a brisk 90 minutes, but in its attempt to be widely appealing, Alien Nationglosses over issues that might have made it more uniquely provocative. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Featurette, Behind The Scenes, Theatrical Trailer, Three TV Spots, Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Subtitles:	Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish
Year:	1988
Release Date:	June 3, 2002
Runtime:	86 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	01585 D V D
Keywords:	Alien, Nation, General, Wide, Screen, Fiction, Science, Horror, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Science Fiction