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Decent special effects (for 1951) and an interesting plot make this film a classic. It's not your standard alien invasion. Unfortunately, there are lots of oversights, like the laughable proximity of civilians to the military line, which is also laughable close to the alien spaceship. So, turn off your skepticism and break out the popcorn.

Minor spoilers follow, since I'm quoting the script...

MR. BARLEY (snorting, he tosses his paper down): Why doesn't the Government do something -- that's what I want to know.

MR. KRULL (mildly): What can they do? They're only people -- Just like us.

MR. BARLEY: People my foot! They're Democrats!

LOL. Based? Nah, it's probably actually intended as a jab at Republicans, who were bitter that Democrats had control of the Senate, House, and Presidency under Truman. The director, Robert Wise, was a lifelong liberal and contributor to the ACLU.

The plot is a little liberal or proto-hippie, but not woke. Keep in mind that the USSR had detonated its first atomic bomb two years prior, and the film reflects the widespread fear that humanity was on the brink of self-destruction.

I've heard the 2008 remake is not worth viewing.