Perhaps the book is better, but I was bored with the dramatization, and it was only two hours long. The idea remains interesting, but you never really find out anything about the aliens, and the characters can't sustain interest. (Mark Twain once remarked that he wished all of James Fenimore Cooper's characters would go get drowned together. It's unfortunate that didn't happen here, when it seemed most likely.)

FWIW, the social dynamics, especially gender dynamics, that can be weirdly interesting in 1950s novels was merely tedious here. There's only so much "what a perky, resourceful wife!" stuff I can take. ( )