(out of 5) "There are some slow moments, but just sit back and enjoy the ride through familiar territory in this cop-buddy movie with a sci-fi slant. James Caan plays a detective in Los Angeles of the future. Mandy Patinkin is the "newcomer," as the aliens are called, who is teamed with Caan to ferret out the perpetrators of a series of mysterious murders among the aliens."--Video Movie Guide Rated R 96m DIR: Graham Baker. CAST: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp. 1988 "However, he readily admits that his linguistic hang-ups were a piece of cake compared to Mr. Patinkin's job. 'Oh, please. Mr. Potato Head,' he laughs. 'Spuds, I called him. That kid, he was in makeup for three, four hours every day. I would've committed eight homicides the second day. You'd have been visiting me at the funny farm.'" --James Caan, commenting on Mandy Patinkin's role in Alien Nation, " Caan Game: Veteran Actor Offers a Few Words - and Then Some", October 8, 1998, Atlanta Journal and Constitution "Patinkin, despite his hulking presence and odd makeup, bring a sweet humanity (of all things) to his role that's quite touching. ...It's great the vibes between Caan and Patinkin are so good, 'cause the central plot, about aliens secretly manufacturing a narcotic drug they were originally fed on the slave ship that brought them to Earth, isn't very interesting. It's the same, heavy handed anti-drug storyline we've been fed many times before in action films, frequently better. Fortunately the Screenplay doesn't get in the way of the Caan/Patinkin antics." --MovieActors.com "James Caan and Mandy Patinkin are superb as the human/alien cop team. An entertaining chat they have at Caan's pad is one of this film's highlights." --ScienceFiction.com "Caan and Patinkin are wonderful as the at-odds partners who slowly form a bond of mutual respect and trust, largely through friendly and not-so-friendly banter (Sykes decides the name "Sam Francisco" is too ludicrous to use and summarily dubs his partner "George." Tit for tat, George then explains that "Sykes" means "shit head" in the Newcomer's native tongue.) ...Together O'Bannon, Graham, Patinkin and Caan created a rich tableau with Alien Nation, and it's easy to see why the film went on to spawn a TV series (albeit short-lived) and five television movies. " --scifi.com "Mandy Patinkin, a good actor, has the thankless role of playing "Sam Francisco," the Newcomer who is Caan's partner, and so he gets to drink the milk and puzzle over the jokes. " --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times IMDB Review ABOUT: The Human Internet Review Click here for photos