Two warring alien races are settling their conflict in California.  Two teams of three have been sent down to Earth.  Though they may appear to be human, their true form is revealed whenever anyone looks at them while wearing a special pair of glasses.  (Yes, just like in They Live.)  Kyle (Lloyd Bridges) is the last surviving member of his team but, even if his side has lost two battles, Kyle is still determined to win the war.

After killing one of his opponents in Los Angeles, Kyle hops on a bus and heads to a small town.  While he’s on the bus, he’s approached by Sandy (Angie Dickinson).  Though Kyle tries to avoid talking to her, Sandy manages to break down his defenses because she’s Angie Dickinson.  If 70s era Angie Dickinson started talking to you on a bus, would you be able to ignore her?  When Kyle reaches his destination and gets off the bus, Sandy decides to follow him.  Even after Kyle explains that he’s an alien and allows her to see his true form, Sandy says that she’s in love with him.  Kyle starts to fall in love with her too but what will he do when the other aliens show up in the town, looking to kill him?

Even though this made-for-TV movie’s 70 minute runtime makes it feel more like an extended episode of The Outer Limits than an actual movie, The Love War makes good use of both its intriguing premise and its two lead actors.  Lloyd Bridges and Angie Dickinson might not be the first two actors who come to mind you think about who could credibly play an alien and the woman in love with him but they both pull it off.  The Love War works because it takes its premise seriously.  I can only imagine how audiences in 1970 reacted the film’s ending, which is hardly typical of the type of feel-good stuff that we usually associate with 70s television.

The Love War has never officially been released on DVD but it can be viewed on YouTube.