 Because of pressures from UK censors the original ending of the American  version was altered: it was believed that ending was too depressing and a  more upbeat coda was appropriate. The British distributor recalled the cast  and filmed new sections (with a dramatically older juvenile lead) to serve  this purpose. This is the version referred to in a previous "alternate  version" post. When Wade Williams obtained rights to "Invaders From Mars" he  discovered that the original negative had been cut. For home video release,  he constituted a "third" version of the film that contained some of the  material from the UK version cut into the original American release, but  retained the American ending (the "dream turns into reality" ending).