Alien Nation is based on a simple premise - 300,000 humanoid aliens land on Earth and are offered sanctuary and their assimilation into society is inevitably coloured by racial prejudice. A prejudiced policeman is teamed up with an alien partner to investigate criminal activity within the alien subgroup.
The joy of this movie is that it makes no big deal out of the aliens - they are treated, for the purposes of the film, like any other racial subgroup might be, and the racial prejudice allegory (and the dramatic thrust of the movie overall) is that much stronger as a result.
This is effectively a relatively straightforward police crime thriller with scifi trappings and an intelligent subtext, and it succeeds well on all levels.
The alien makeup is simple but effective.
James Caan's weary detective is among his best work and Mandy Patinkin, unrecognisable beneath the latex prosthetics, is excellent as Sam Francisco (yes, really).
The joy of this movie is that it makes no big deal out of the aliens - they are treated, for the purposes of the film, like any other racial subgroup might be, and the racial prejudice allegory (and the dramatic thrust of the movie overall) is that much stronger as a result.
This is effectively a relatively straightforward police crime thriller with scifi trappings and an intelligent subtext, and it succeeds well on all levels.
The alien makeup is simple but effective.
James Caan's weary detective is among his best work and Mandy Patinkin, unrecognisable beneath the latex prosthetics, is excellent as Sam Francisco (yes, really).