Director William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders From Mars has been included as one of the 25 films selected this month by America’s National Film Preservation Board to be added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2024 due to their cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.
Other popular Hollywood releases selected this year include the first Star Trek film added to the registry with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan from 1982, as well as Eddie Murphy’s first feature film on the registry, Beverly Hills Cop.
Invaders From Mars was restored by Ignite Films in collaboration with the George Eastman Museum, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
“It is with great joy and appreciation that we welcome the selection by the National Film Preservation Board of Invaders From Mars to be added to the National Film Registry. All honours go to the great work of its director William Cameron Menzies and his associates. Ignite Films are privileged to have restored the film to its original glory in 4K and the American public can now enjoy the picture again, for generations to come,” said Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, Founder of Ignite Films.
“We are especially gratified as not that long ago this film was on the precipice of being lost. It is so good to know that our attention to Invaders From Mars has received such an honor from the National Film Preservation Board,” said Scott MacQueen, who supervised the Ignite Films restoration.
Ignite Films, the Dutch company formed in 2005 by Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, lives up to its motto, “Classics for the Future,” with the award-winning sensational 4K restoration of William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders From Mars, the first title released under the Ignite Films label.
The must-have restoration for all Invaders From Mars fans, both Earthlings and Martians alike, features spectacular special bonus features on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray versions, including a restored 4K version of the original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned 2022 remix of the trailer, an interview with the film’s star, Jimmy Hunt, an in-depth look at the restoration process led by Scott MacQueen, Restoration Supervisor, plus a new featurette about the film featuring interviews with directors Joe Dante (Gremlins), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Multiple Visual Effects Academy-Award winner Robert Skotak (Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day), and other luminaries. The DVD version does not include bonus materials.
The response to the love and attention to detail given to the restoration has been overwhelmingly positive. The restoration process was spearheaded by renowned film preservationist Scott MacQueen, former Head of Preservation at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. MacQueen and Jansen, of Ignite Films, literally scoured the planet to locate any and all materials to help ensure the restoration was as complete and true to the original as humanly possible.
The Ignite Films’ 7oth Anniversary 4K UHD restoration and release of Invaders From Mars was met with universal acclaim from fans and critics worldwide, and was honored with many awards, including the 2024 SATURN Award® for Best Classic Film Home Media Release. The release also won the Best Rediscovery of a Forgotten Film from the Il Cinema Ritrovato DVD Awards ®2023 and the Hollywood Professional Association’s Inaugural Jury Award® for Outstanding Achievement in Restoration.
Fearful memories of this timeless 1953 bone-chiller still haunt the dreams of fans who have never forgotten the story of David MacLean, a young boy (Jimmy Hunt) who witnesses an alien invasion. Invaders from Mars was filmed from a child’s point of view, using exaggerated sets and upward angles. It became a modern classic and was also one of two early 50s classic alien-invasion science fiction films (the other is Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still) reflecting Cold War tensions, the Red Scare and paranoid anxiety typical of many films in the 1950s.
Ignite Films, the Dutch company formed by Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, has lived up to its motto, “Classics for the Future,” by acquiring classics film packages and copyrights, and distributing the titles through creative and far-reaching deals. Since 2016, Lionsgate has handled worldwide distribution of Ignite Films’ film catalogue. The 4K Ultra HD restoration of Invaders From Mars was the first title to be manufactured and distributed by Ignite Films itself, along with Eagle Rock Pictures. This year, Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures also released their enhanced restoration of the acclaimed 1945 war movie The Story of G.I. Joe starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum, which earned four Academy Award® nominations, including Mitchum’s only acting nomination as Best Supporting Actor. In 2009 The Story of G.I. Joe was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
The 4K restoration of Invaders From Mars was initially released exclusively by Ignite Films via direct sales on their website in January 2023, with a special slip-cover collectors edition of the 4K UHD still available there for collectors, along with other exclusive merchandise, including a limited-run autographed poster by the film’s star, Jimmy Hunt. Eagle Rock Pictures is supporting the release in the US and overseeing international sales.
• Ignite films edition of Invaders From Mars is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
Incoming from Ignite: Re-Animator
Coming next from Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures is the 40th Anniversary 4K UHD restoration of the 1985 instant classic, Re-Animator. And, for the first time ever, it is in a stunning 4K UHD restoration, approved by producer Brian Yuzna. The restoration brings new life to this horror classic, based on H.P. Lovecraft’s twisted tale.
The new 40th Anniversary 4K UHD Re-Animator poster and trailer just dropped Monday. Pre-orders were also launched with the trailer on the Ignite Films website, where it will be exclusively available for the entire 40th Anniversary Year, until 2026. Fans can choose from four editions, all of which include newly produced and legacy release extras! Both Box Sets include a 150-page hardcover book featuring interviews with Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, writer Dennis Paoli, and composer Richard Band.
• Library of Congress: 25 Films Named to National Film Registry for Preservation
• Ignite films edition of Invaders From Mars is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
Invaders From Mars stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke
Films Selected for the 2024 National Film Registry
(In Chronological order)
- Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)
- KoKo’s Earth Control (1928)
- Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
- Pride of the Yankees (1942)
- Invaders from Mars (1953)
- The Miracle Worker (1962)
- The Chelsea Girls (1966)
- Ganja and Hess (1973)
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
- Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
- Zora Lathan Student Films (1975-76)
- Up in Smoke (1978)
- Will (1981)
- Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
- Dirty Dancing (1987)
- Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)
- Powwow Highway (1989)
- My Own Private Idaho (1991)
- American Me (1992)
- Mi Familia (1995)
- Compensation (1999)
- Spy Kids (2001)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- The Social Network (2010)
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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