The Puppet Masters (film)

This article is about the film based on the Robert Heinlein novel. For other uses, see Puppet Master.

The Puppet Masters
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Stuart Orme
Screenplay by	Ted Elliott Terry Rossio David S. Goyer
Produced by	Ralph Winter
Starring	Donald Sutherland Eric Thal Julie Warner Keith David Andrew Robinson
Narrated by	Christopher Britton
Edited by	William Goldenberg
Music by	Colin Towns
Production company	Hollywood Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date	October 21, 1994 (1994-10-21)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$8,647,042

The Puppet Masters is a 1994 science fiction film, adapted by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, and David S. Goyer from Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 novel of the same title, in which a trio of American government agents attempts to thwart a covert invasion of Earth by mind-controlling alien parasites. The film was directed by Stuart Orme and stars Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Keith David, Julie Warner, and Andrew Robinson.

Plot

When a flying saucer reportedly lands in rural Iowa, The Old Man (who runs a secret branch of the CIA), decides to investigate. He goes in person, accompanied by agents Sam and Jarvis, as well as Dr Mary Sefton, a NASA specialist in alien biology. They find that aliens have indeed landed and are planning to use their mind-control powers to take over our planet.

Cast

• Donald Sutherland as Andrew Nivens (The Old Man)
• Eric Thal as Sam Nivens
• Julie Warner as Mary Sefton
• Keith David as Alex Holland
• Will Patton as Dr. Graves
• Richard Belzer as Jarvis
• Tom Mason as President Douglas
• Yaphet Kotto as Ressler
• Sam Anderson as Culbertson
• J. Patrick McCormack as Gidding
• Marshall Bell as General Morgan
• Nicholas Cascone as Greenberg
• Bruce Jarchow as Barnes
• Benjamin Mouton as Higgins
• David Pasquesi as Vargas
• Andrew Robinson as Hawthorne
• Benj Thall as Jeff
• William Wellman Jr. as Doctor
• Dale Dye as Brande
• John C. Cooke as Lt. Abbey
• Michael Shamus Wiles as Capt. Earley

Novel and screenplay

The screenplay went through a number of rewrites due to differences between the writers, Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who wanted to remain faithful to the Heinlein classic and executives at Disney who wanted an adaptation that they could sell. As a result, the final script leaves out some elements of the novel, while portions of the movie follow the basic plot.

Reception

Reviews were negative, as The Puppet Masters holds a rating of 26% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 reviews.

External links

• The Puppet Masters at IMDb
• The Puppet Masters at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Puppet Masters at Box Office Mojo
• Building The Bomb, Screenwriter Terry Rossio's essay about the film's mangled creation process