James Caan,
Mandy Patinkin,
Terence Stamp,
Kevin Howard,
Leslie Bevis
... see more 
In this vaguely allegorical science fiction-crime film, a Los Angeles cop tries to solve the murder of his best friend with the help of his new partner -- a member of a star-faring alien race. In the ... read more
DVD Release Date: March 27, 2001
Stats: 394 reviews
I enjoyed the hell out of this. Check out this premise:
In the futuristic world of 1992, Aliens have landed and we've granted them citizenship in our society. When James Cann's partner is killed, he's teamed up with one of these Aliens to help solve the crime. That alien is playe... read more
A great film. A fantastic mixture of science fiction, suspense, comedy and action. A genre-bending classic that you cant help but love. A wonderfully entertaining winner that's just a great buddy-cop movie with lots to offer. A great new twist on a familiar background. A smart, f... read more
A race of alien beings known as newcomers crashland on Earth and become the newest immigrants in Los Angeles. When some of them are found executed a bigoted detective and his rookie newcomer sidekick investigate. Alien Nation is a buddy cop/sci-fi hybrid that contains a lot of th... read more
Not bad considering it's an 80s mash of two usually unbearable film genres, science fiction and buddy cop movies.
I don't regret seeing it, but it's not brilliant and I don't know if I will watch it again of my own volition.
I thought it was pretty good and it might be the way things would happen. The cast worked well together and soon after there was a decent tv show spin off.
A gritty police drug drama with a whole race of interesting aliens thrown in. It's a nice mix. The racial issues come to a new light. An engaging story is told.
Average action of aliens have begun emigrating to the Earth and human cop Caan is forced to work with one of them. What ought to have been a clever way to looking at racism comes across as nothing more than a conventional buddy cop movie, which just happens to use rather more lat... read more
Interesting ideas at the very beginning, but then it becomes silly and formulaic. Also the whole idea of the story being a metaphor about race relations is so obvious, it really holds no emotional weight whatsoever.
Alien Nation thinks it's giving you a fresh buddy cop film by having a badass cop (James Caan) getting stuck with an alien (Mandy Patinkin) as his partner. But it's just a typical cop film with bad guys in leather jackets with big shotguns robbing liquor stores or delis. Also if ... read more
Pretty good movie that spawned a lousy tv show. i liked the storyline here and james caan was good.
Fascinating and somewhat timely themed sci-fi flick, a minor classic.
Smart sci-fi premise should have made a better movie
Caan is good, but this is just a very standard buddy cop movie disguised as a sci-fi thriller. Plays better on TV, though.
Patinkin in one of his best, most memorable performances
Fun gimmick cop movie with aliens
It begins focusing on the cross-cultural and human dimensions of the tale but it turns into just another police flick replete with crashing cars and endless shootouts.
A shallow dissertation on race relations made watchable by the sci-fi/Police thriller theme. Caan and Patankin have good chemistry, and there are some amusing culture clashes.
OK s-f that failed to capitalize on an interesting premise.
It's 70% cop schpiel and 30% science-fiction fun. Switch those percentages and we'd be calling it a classic.
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