Paul Magne Haakonsen This movie was actually better than I had anticipated. I mean, a sci-fi western movie, not really the best of settings in my book. But still, "High Plains Invaders" manage to surprise me and keep me thoroughly entertained.The story is pretty much straight out of the "how-to-make-a-sci-fi-movie" book. Robotic aliens have come to Earth in search for some materials to harvest, in this case uranium, and their existence collide with the local residents in the area, here being a town set in the mid-late 1800's. Of course the aliens have far superior technology and are overcome with the humans. Duh! "High Plains Invaders" actually have quite good CGI effects, of course, it is not in the likes of "Sky Line", "Battle: Los Angeles", and such blockbuster budgets, but still, they did manage to pull it off quite well. The aliens were nicely made and nicely animated, though a tad too much a rip-off of the bugs in "Starship Troopers".When I watched this movie, I didn't realize James Marsden was in it, and when I did see him I was trying to figure out just who he was, because his face was familiar, though I couldn't remember his name. And I was trying to sort out if it really was the guy playing Spike on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" show, just in an older, more mature version. And it was. And I must say, he was really good in this movie. I think it is actually the only thing I have seen him in aside from "Buffy". Aside from Marsden, then the movie had some good enough performances from the actors that was in the movie.Consider this a "poor man's" "Cowboys & Aliens" if you will. A great enough movie, though with a very mainstream and predictable storyline. You know how the movie will end as soon as you play it. But still, it is worth a watch and it is entertaining. "High Plains Invaders" would actually be a good warm-up movie before sitting down to watch "Cowboys & Aliens", just to get you in that sci-fi/western combo mood.

Neil Welch James ("Spike" from Buffy) Marsters heads a cast of several in this 2009 entry in the Cowboys vs Aliens genre. Possibly it is the first? It is certainly a couple of years ahead of the big budget 2011 movie which bears the Cowboys vs Aliens name, and bears an amusingly cute name of its own.Being a SyFy channel movie, the production budget is not huge, which makes it gratifying to see how effectively it has been used. The movie is well structured and paced, the CGI aliens (armour plated scorpions with guns instead of stings) are well designed and surprisingly convincing, the action is decent, the acting is respectable, and the look of the thing gives an impression of production values, even if the location is somewhat under-populated.Not bad at all.

crowirishman1979 My theory for this movie is that it is a prelude to War Of The Worlds, the remake with Tom Cruise. The aliens I believe came from another planet a milennia ago. They came upon Mars, probably inhabited, and killed its inhabitants. Then they stripped the planet of its resources. Somehow, they discovered Earth. They are after the Uranium in order for them to start the production of the Tripods, and that those "balloons", as one of the characters called it, is actually a manufacturing ship for those Tripods. After production, they bury them deep in the ground until they are needed to invade Earth. Does anyone else agree with my theory?

Safetylight The Good:-Neat, Original Idea; Aliens v.s. Cowboys. How can you screw that up?-Nice set design, costumes, casting. Looks like what I imagine a real Western town might have been like if I wasn't being overly critical.-Marsters is fun to see playing the hero.-The production values, action and running around and hammy story-telling was all very formula, but nonetheless executed with competence. It was as good as any average hour-long TV drama, and we've all sat through enough of that stuff without complaint.The Bad:-Dreary lighting. This might have been on purpose, but I found it a bit tiresome. Some clear sunlight would have gone a long way.-The sci-fi thinking is about as sophisticated as a mediocre old Star Trek episode (minus the Kirk/Bones/Spock magic). The alien bugs eat, get this, *Uranium*. -Now, if this were the 1950's when, in the minds of the public, uranium was akin to magical pixie dust; the Gee-Whiz Science of the era, then it might not have seemed hopelessly silly. But today, it's simply not that impressive a trope to run a whole story around. Though, apparently the writer slept through high school science because in his world view, uranium, being the fuel of leading-edge human science *seventy* years ago, must clearly also be the core ingredient of any super-advanced alien society as well.And for some reason, when it comes to this particular brand of silly, other levels of child-like thinking crop up. Because the aliens don't just eat uranium; oh no! It's also their primary weapon! But they don't use radioactive space rays. No sir! They shoot big Indian arrow head chunks of the stuff out of their tails. Uranium is probably the life blood of their entire alien empire as well, but I wouldn't know, because I had to give up two thirds of the way through the story. It just got too dumb for me and I started cringing.-The dialogue was hammy; it sounded like what a child thinks the adult world sounds like. The actors did their best with what they had.Conclusion: "High Plains Invaders" looks pretty good if you don't examine it too closely. If you're a (young) kid, this would probably be fun. But if you're a discerning adult, the whole exercise is tiresome and unrewarding. It's not so bad that you'll feel abused, but I say that after having hit the 'eject' button before finishing.Only watch this if you're under the age of 10, stoned or have absolutely nothing else to do.