There have been more than a few films dealing with alien invasions and the latest one to be released from Lionsgate is a film called Occupation. Occupation is set in Australia in a small town where everyone knows everyone and they love to get together to watch the local rugby teams square off in a match. A man and his family come to this town on holiday and as night descends and the game is underway strange lights are seen in the sky. The entire town looks skyward as these are not just lights but alien ships that are descending on the town and starting to shoot at everyone in sight.
The characters are trying to deal with the situation as best as they can as you have a father looking for his wife and one of his kids. While the aliens look like some of the greys that you have seen in other movies/shows this alien race has a purpose for this planet. Also you can see the sheer scope of some of the ships as the mothership seems to blot out the sky. I don’t want to give much of the movie away as there are a few twists and turns that make this movie its own enjoyable experience and that sets it apart from major blockbusters such as Independence Day. However, this movie reminds me of another movie where people were living in a small town and they band together to fight off an opposing force. And that movie was the original 1984 version of Red Dawn and don’t get me wrong that doesn’t make this a bad film. I was just watching this and drawing parallels between that movie and Occupation and you know what? It works and does it quite well!
The alien designs are pretty cool as they look like a cross between a type of battle armor and your typical grey. The CGI/effects were good as well and I loved the fights between the aliens and the people of earth. These battles are not just limited to skirmishes on the ground as you have various military vehicles including helicopters, jets and armored vehicles taking to the fight as well. There were no special features on the blu-ray disc from what I could see however, there were some annoucments of new trailers of films that were coming soon from Lionsgate before the feature started. The audio is in 5.1 DTS surround sound on blu-ray and I am here to tell you that it is quite impressive if you have a system that will take advantage of this setup. I do and believe me I felt like I was actually at the movies as I heard all the action going on all around me. Occupation is going to be released in a blu-ray/dvd combo pack so you will get the best of both worlds. I really would have loved to see some behind the scenes features or even a gag reel however, I am pleased with the version that I received.
If you love alien invasion films you need to check out Occupation as it has a great story, good special effects and interesting character designs. This will be released on 9/25 so make sure you check online to reserve your copy today. For more information on this and other films that are going to be released soon head over to https://www.lionsgate.com/he/ and remember to keep watching the skies!
