The Puppet Masters ** (1994, Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Keith David, Julie Warner, Andrew Robinson) – Classic Movie Review 13,909

Robert A Heinlein’s 1951 novel The Puppet Masters about the invasion of Earth by mind-controlling alien parasites was finally filmed by Disney in 1994, starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Keith David, Julie Warner.

Gordon Urquhart’s screenplay for director Bruno VeSota’s silly 1958 black-and-white tame tingler film The Brain Eaters was based, distantly and without permission, on Robert A Heinlein’s 1951 novel The Puppet Masters, in which three US government agents try to stop a covert invasion of Earth by mind-controlling alien parasites.

Heinlein sued for plagiarism, asking for $150,000. Executive producer Roger Corman vowed that he was unfamiliar with Heinlein’s work but saw the similarities once he read the story, so he settled out of court for $5,000. Heinlein demanded no screen credit, as he found the film ‘wanting’.

That halted actor John Payne’s plan to produce a movie based on the novel.

But The Puppet Masters was finally filmed in 1994, directed by British television director Stuart Orme and starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Keith David, Julie Warner and Andrew Robinson. A pet project of executive producer Michael Engelberg, it is made by Disney’s Hollywood Pictures and released by their Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Oddly, and unexpectedly, The Puppet Masters was a critical and commercial failure, grossing only $8.6 million against a $15 million budget.

There is nothing wrong with the cast or the acting, or the original story. The problem is the script, lost somewhere in differences between the screen-writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who wanted to remain faithful to Heinlein’s story, and executives at Disney who didn’t seem to understand science fiction film and wanted an adaptation that they could sell. In the end, they couldn’t sell it anyway and should have stayed true to Heinlein.

The cast are Donald Sutherland as Andrew Nivens, 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, Gerry Bamman as Viscott, Yaphet Kotto as Ressler, Sam Anderson as Culbertson, Marshall Bell as General Morgan, Bruce Jarchow as Barnes and Andrew Robinson.

Release date: October 21, 1994.

Running time: 109 minutes.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,909

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