UNDER ATTACK FROM THE "FALLING SKIES"!

An extra-terrestrial invasion brings shattered dreams for Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) and his son Matt (Maxim Knight) in the new sci-fi epic FALLING SKIES. Images: TNT 

Despite his seminal and iconic work with his UFO's are here on Earth sagas, what with the big budget epic, but also humanistically personal (perhaps even at times part autobiographical) dramas of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and the slightly smaller, but no less spirited fairy tale of a friendly alien, three million light-years from home, stranded on Earth meeting an equally lonely young child, E.T. : THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL, I still deep down think that mega entertainment guru Steven Spielberg has never really gotten over the fact-perhaps still kicking himself right now-that he never made before his friendly rivals, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, an antithesis flip-side project to his two tales of alien contact: a pure unadulterated world invasion movie soon successfully generated with the epic action and adventure saga INDEPENDENCE DAY- truly one of the world biggest grossing films of 1996, and the film that cemented Will Smith's name in Hollywood ever more firmly on the radar!

TV's newest alien invaders: the Skitters!

True, Spielberg would later get to do an alien invasion movie with his acclaimed WAR OF THE WORLDS modern-day 2005 adaptation with Tom Cruise, based on the original, ultimate grand daddy of invasion epics from the distinguished pen of H.G. Wells- a creative decision which would go some way to soothing his troubled brow- but the kinds of long-term storytelling and its repercussions and conflicts linked to such drama and the way it would shape Humanity, beyond the confines of a mere two hour movie, were obviously an area that the film-maker wanted to see developed and found too good to pass up, with only television being able to effectively bring such ambitions to reality. Enter: FALLING SKIES, his new Executive Produced epic, one giant big budgeted ten-part series, following in the footsteps of other creative success showing man fighting against the odds, like THE WALKING DEAD, and airing exclusively in the UK on the FX HD channel from next Tuesday evening, which may finally, finally put pay to Spielberg's competitive yearnings.

In his first full time series role since leaving E.R., Noah Wyle plays Tom Mason, a normal History teacher soon thrust into the limelight for his vast military knowledge during a vicious and fast moving alien invasion of Earth, where the majority of the Human Race has been quickly exterminated by its arachnid aggressors, named Skitters, and the survivors, many of which are in their own conflicting and aggressive core groups, have to gather together to survive and fight back as best they can!

The main cast of FALLING SKIES: L-R: Captain Weaver (Will Patton), Hal Mason (Drew Roy), Ben Mason (Connor Jessop), Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), Matt Mason (Maxim Knight) and Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood).

TNT Trailer:YouTube - ‪Falling Skies - First Trailer‬‏
TNT Sneak Peek:YouTube - ‪Falling Skies - Sneak Peek‬‏

Beware the Beast Man! Colin Cunningham as the clever but psychotic John Pope.

With a cast that includes a stand out performance from Colin Cunningham as a creepy and adaptive ex-convict Human baddie, John Pope, who proves just as nasty as the alien invaders, as well as two other veterans of the apocalypse related genre- the lovely Moon Bloodgood, an action heroine last seen opposite Christian "Get out of my eye line, Man!" Bale and Sam Worthington in the McG directed TERMINATOR 4 sequel, and the very dependable character actor Will Patton as ex-Gulf war commander Captain Weaver- alongside a core group of newcomers playing Mason's sons (including Connor Jessup as Ben, captured by aliens and held in a savage slave labour camp, Drew Roy as Hal and Maxim Knight as Tom's youngest, Matt), fighting for space alongside what will surely be state of the art special effects and CGI, just how popular FALLING SKIES will ultimately be, and just how many seasons it will last, will depend on, as usual, how fickle, attentive and caring US audiences will be to the project, which, despite Steven Spielberg's and Wyle's names attached, must catch their enthusiasm pretty much from the offset with strong characters and enthralling drama in equal measure if it is to survive.

Another intriguing piece of key poster art for the series.

Personally, if I had to choose between watching another boring cookery/reality show, one of those seen it all before cop shows that has a slightly different spin, or watching a brand new, dark and hard edged sci-fi action epic with an intriguing premise, cool looking aliens and a dependable lead, I know which option I would go for!

Look out for more on FALLING SKIES on KOOL TV in the not too distant future...