In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the pod people represent a society whose individuality has been stripped away. They are bred for conformity and conditioned not to think or to feel emotions. In this regard, the movie is less about the threat of communism and more about the threat that conformity rather than individualism poses. Throughout the movie, the audience is reminded that conformity results in complacency and eventually apathy.

In the movie pace spores are taking over the sleepy hamlet of Santa Mira, California. Only the hero can stop it. In the movie Alien, the bodies of the crew of the space tugboat Nostromo are being taken one by one by an alien that attacks them and converts them into incubation chambers for its young. As in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Invasion), aliens are present in the form of pods. The pods are the first stage of the reproductive cycle, but a human host is required to complete the transformation process. In both movies, when the gestation period is over the original host body is destroyed.

Both movies describe the heroic struggle of one determined individual to survive and to warn mankind of the danger. In Invasion, that hero is the town doctor. In Alien, the hero is Ripley, a pilot who must do what she can to save her crew and her craft from the invaders.

Conclusion: Both movies are considered classics. Both are highly regarded by film critics and fans. Both are suspenseful. Alien had more than one plot twist while Invasion did not. In Alien, the audience is surprised when a woman, Ripley, becomes the hero of the story. The audience is also surprised when the science officer, Ash, is revealed to be an android -- and the inference is drawn that the conglomerate that owns the vessel knew it was going to put the crew in harms way and had added Ash at the last minute to ensure the alien would be returned through quarantine and delivered to the company to investigate and exploit.

between Alien and Invasion, including these:

In both movies, the trans