Sadly Over-hyped

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This second outing for Peter Cushing's Doctor Who benefits from a bigger budget, which at least translates into a far larger cast than the preceding movie and bigger, if not better sets and special effects.Oddly still travelling with his young grandchild, Susan, he gets a new grown-up couple who act in the act same way as their predecessors. Thus comedic actor Bernard Cribbins gets a fairly cringe-worthy silent comedy scene, just like Roy Castle's Ian did the time before.As a movie it's again shot in bright colour, with multicoloured Daleks by the score, with another easy-to-follow plot of the Daleks trying to conquer earth, this time by using assimilated earthmen as robotic slaves to construct a giant mine to blow out the earth's magnetic core, making it possible for them to rule the planet. Naturally, the Doctor turns up and has something to say about that, eventually having the last word, in a fairly laughable explosive finish which wouldn't have been out of place in Gerry Anderson's string-bound animation of the time.Never mind, there's a bit more characterisation this time with the treacherous side of humans shown in the duplicitous characters played by Philip Madoc's black-marketeer and Sheila Steafel and her mother trading in Susan and Andrew Keir's gruff rebel to the Daleks for extra food.Peter Cushing is again charming in the title role and young Ray Brooks shines in a slightly under-written part in what is a reasonably entertaining British sci-fi feature, the better for being set in Earth's future, thus helping the viewer to identify more with their oppressed fellow-humans' plight.

I sat through, and was utterly bored by, the first of the Peter Cushing/Dr Who movies, DR WHO AND THE DALEKS. It was a chore to sit through in places, a resolutely twee attempt to transfer the TV series to the big screen for children to enjoy. The good news is that this sequel is a different beast entirely, even though it brings back much of the same cast and crew (including the director).Put simply, DALEKS INVASION EARTH: 2150 AD is an action-packed romp. If you think that scenes of Dalek war-bands patrolling the streets of a post-apocalyptic London sounds like a good time, then you'd be right. This is a film that sacrifices character set-up in favour of all out action, and it works a treat.Cushing plays the crusty old buffoon once more, and the only reason he's not as irritating is because he's given far less screen time here. For most of the time his character is a mere observer, watching a guerrilla war between Ray Brooks (THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHOW) and his rebels and the Daleks and their goons. Bernard Cribbins contributes some comedy schtick, but he's nowhere near as irritating as Roy Castle was in the last one.The technical effects are surprisingly decent, from the Dalek spaceships to the explosions, firefights, and large-scale destruction. Scenes of buildings collapsing are vivid and exciting and the Daleks are more of a menace here (and thankfully their voices aren't irritating anymore). There are lots of great visual moments, like the solitary Dalek rising out of the Thames or the humans vs. Dalek fight scenes. A rousing score and decent supporting cast serve as the icing on the cake here.

I am a fan of the Doctor Who TV show, both in its original incarnation and in modern dress. I've also seen the two earlier movies and thought them odd and sad. I was therefore shocked and pleased to find this movie version of "The Dalek Invasion of the Earth" serial to be excellent. The pacing is better, the color photography by John Wilcox has its moments of beauty -- even the Technicolor Daleks have a peculiar beauty.Working with only minor variations from the television serial, this demonstrates something I have long maintained: the writing on the TV DOCTOR WHO was often first rate. It was the cripplingly tiny budgets that often made it seem ridiculous, with its impossible shooting schedules, cardboard sets and monsters that frequently seemed to be a man lurking under a cast-off shag rug.The memories of children often play them false in later years. People report on seeing a particular favorite DOCTOR WHO serial from childhood and being shocked at how much better it is in memory than looking at it as adults. Children assume the lovely details that the adult mind demands. How very pleasant for this adult to see them filled in here!

This was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Doctor Who television show by making it into a big screen movie. Instead of using William Hartnell, who had played the role on TV, they used venerable Hammer actor Peter Cushing.The notion is that the TARDIS visits 2150 London (which looks amazing like 1965 London after it's been bombed to rubble) and finds that the Daleks have taken over the planet despite having been apparently destroyed in the first film. Daleks are like cockroaches, you can never seem to permanently kill them off. Anyway, lot of meandering scenes, largely because they modified the meandering six part serial this was based on without bothering to tighten up the script.Cushing seems disinterested in the first half of the movie, only really coming through in the second half.A curious film, maybe of interest to hard-core Doctor Who fans.