Alien Nation (1988)

“You humans are very curious to us. You invite us to live among you in an atmosphere of equality that we’ve never known before. You give us ownership of our own lives for the first time and you ask no more of us than you do of yourselves. I hope you understand how special your world is, how unique a people you humans are. Which is why it is all the more painful and confusing to us that so few of you seem capable of living up to the ideals you set for yourselves.” – Det. Samuel ‘George’ Francisco

Number of Times Seen – At least 2 times (Cable in the 80’s and 19 May 2020)

Brief Synopsis – Two years after an Alien species has come to Earth as refugees, a n L.A. detective and his new partner who is an alien himself must try and solve a slew of recent murders.

My Take on it – This is a film that I recall seeing years ago on cable yet didn’t quite recall much about things.

This is an interesting twist to usually buddy buddy cop film where they have a gritty detective take on a new partner who is very different.

In this case, the partner is the very first alien to be made a detective.

The partnership works quite well due to the great chemistry between James Caan and Mandy Patinkin and they help establish that despite their differences, they work well as a team.

The story itself is a bit too formulaic and predictable yet it still is enjoyable to watch.

I’ve always been impressed by the way that this movie is able to weave in the alien landing on Earth and the population’s assimilation into society as seemingly real information and this is done via the use of real news footage.

The film’s twists and turns are enjoyable to watch because they show that despite things being new and different, we can usually rely on the fact that even though they may look different, things are almost always quite the same.

Bottom Line – Really well done buddy-buddy detective film. The twist of the story by having a gritty detective partner with an outcast works really well here and that has a lot to do with the great chemistry between stars Caan and Patinkin. The story is a bit too predictable and that hurts it a bit. I really loved the way that they found a way to integrate the alien landing and assimilation into real history via real news footage. The twists and turns of this story work well in helping establish the changed world and shows how eventhough things may look different, they are still one in the same. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite 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. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)