DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam
Release date Out now

After a space shuttle crash, spores start to alter humans – possibly for the better...

The fourth screen version of Jack Finney's classic tale The Body Snatchers updates the novel for the new millennium, tapping into the fear of pandemics that governments are trying to instil in us at present. It's an uneven movie that finally descends into an elongated chase sequence which, although well done, demands a rather large suspension of disbelief.

The first section, as Nicole Kidman's doctor starts to realise that people around her are changing, has the air of paranoia that the story needs. Although John Ottman's score maintains his usual high standards, there are a couple of scenes that aren't accompanied musically and are all the more frightening for that.

It's not hard to tell that the movie was lensed in two blocks: the editing style switches in the newer sections, with throw-forwards designed to be almost subliminal within scenes, while Daniel Craig gains an extra air of confidence about him. This contrasts with Kidman, who simply isn't cut out to be an action heroine but copes adequately with the sequences.

DVD extras include brief on set reports and a mini-doc about how such an invasion could already have happened! Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 7/10
An enjoyable updating that outstrips the 1978 version but doesn't have the grip of the black and white original.