The War of the Worlds DVD

The War of the Worlds (1953), was directed by Byron Haskin and produced by George Pál (the second of three H.G. Wells science fiction stories to be filmed by Pál), and starred Gene Barry, Les Tremayne and Ann Robinson. It runs for a taut 85 minutes. DVD cover scan from the movie The War of the Worlds, personal scan, claiming fair use (does not detract from original work, scanned from legal copy, image is of sufficiently low resolution). ... DVD cover scan from the movie The War of the Worlds, personal scan, claiming fair use (does not detract from original work, scanned from legal copy, image is of sufficiently low resolution). ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... George Pál (February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer. ... H. G. Wells at the door of his house at Sandgate Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 - August 13, 1946) was an English writer best known for his science fiction novels such as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. ... Gene Barry (born June 14, 1921) is an American actor. ...

This movie adaptation of The War of the Worlds is considered to be one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s. It won an Oscar for its special effects. Herbert George Wells An early science fiction novel, The War of the Worlds (1898), by H.G. Wells, describes the fictional turn of the twentieth century invasion of Earth by aliens, from Mars, who use laser/maser-like Heat-Rays, chemical weapons (the Black Smoke), and mechanical three-legged fighting... Millennia: 1st millennium - 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. ...

Plot

The story is updated to the 1950s for this film, and the Martians face more impressive weaponry, including an A-bomb (dropped by a "Flying Wing"); but, unlike the book, the human weapons have absolutely no effect on the Martian fighting machines. All is lost, with humanity defeated, until the Martians succumb to the "smallest and humblest of Earth's living creatures"(viruses). The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... A YB-49 being flown during a test flight The Northrop YB-49 was a prototype jet-powered flying wing heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Air Force shortly after World War II. It was a development of the piston-engined B-35, and the two YB-49s... A common alternate meaning of virus is computer virus. ...

Instead of walking tripods, the movie presents the Martian war machines as sleek, sinister-looking bowed crescent-shaped spaceships that float above the ground. Tipped with glowing green and featuring a towering mobile eye, pulsing, peering around and firing beams of red sparks, all accompanied by thrumming and a high-piched clattering shriek when the weapon is fired.

The special effects hold up quite well even when viewed over fifty years after the movie was made, although the briefly glimpsed Martians are rather weak. The movie is a visual feast, and one of the few science fiction films that do not talk down to the audience. There is plenty of scientific debate, while the Martians rampage across the Earth.

It was one of few science films to show a full-fledged invasion by an extraterrestrial army, and World War II stock footage was skillfully used to produce a montage of destruction to show the worldwide invasion, with armies of all nations joining together to fight the invaders. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ... In motion picture terminology, a montage (literally putting together) is a form of movie collage consisting of a series of short shots which are edited into a coherent sequence. ...

Wells used the second half of his novel to make a satirical commentary on civilization and the class struggle. Pál did not write the satire into the movie, though he did add a religious theme to the film, which would probably have annoyed the atheistic Wells. Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ...

The movie stars Barry as Dr. Clayton Forrester (whose name was also used in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV series as a homage to the film), Robinson as Sylvia Van Buren, and Tremayne as Major General Mann. The voiceover commentary was by Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Haskin, the director, was a veteran of television who directed episodes of a number of TV series, including several episodes of The Outer Limits. The name Dr. Clayton Forrester has two connotations in popular culture: the name of the chief protagonist of the 1953 movie The War of the Worlds, and one of the mad scientists from the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. ... From left to right, Crow T. Robot, Joel Robinson, and Tom Servo (the latter dressed as a candystriper). ... Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (February 19, 1893 - August 6, 1964) was a British actor. ... The Outer Limits was an American science fiction anthology television series. ...

Fictional influences

• The 1988 War of the Worlds TV series was essentially a sequel to this film.

• Independence Day (1996), directed by Roland Emmerich. The aliens (not from Mars) apparently never heard of computer security, and used Earth satellites for their communication system. They were defeated by the plucky heroes installing a computer virus onto one of the motherships, a "clever" update of the microbes that wipe out the Martians in The War of the Worlds.

• Mars Attacks! (1996), directed by Tim Burton. A more humorous treatment, and very loosely based upon the original story. The title comes from a series of bubble-gum cards issued in the 1950s; the appearance of the Martians in the cards and in the film appears to be derived from the 'mutant' in the film This Island Earth. In this version, the aliens are repelled not by the natural germs on Earth, but by Slim Whitman's yodelling which causes their heads to explode.

• Steven Spielberg's 2005 updated adaptation features a cameo appearance from Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. In addition, posters incorporate a Martian hand from the film holding the earth (sources hint that the aliens' look are more based on the original novel).

• Ann Robinson reprises her role of sorts in two latter films: first as Dr. Van Buren in 1988's Midnight Movie Massacre and in 2005's The Naked Monster as Dr. Sylvia Van Buren.

1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The War of the Worlds television series ran for two seasons, from October of 1988 to May of 1990. ... Independence Day is an American action movie about an attempted alien takeover of the Earth. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Roland Emmerich (born November 10, 1955) is a filmmaker. ... The War of the Worlds is a novel written by H.G. Wells in 1898 depicting an alien invasion of the earth. ... Mars Attacks! started out as a science fiction trading card series created by Topps in 1962. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Tim Burton Tim Burton (born August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California) is an eccentric film director known for his off-beat and quirky style. ... Millennia: 1st millennium - 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the... This Island Earth DVD cover This Island Earth is a 1955 science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman. ... Slim Whitman (born January 20, 1924 in Tampa, Florida) is an American country music singer and songwriter. ... Yodeling (or Yodelling) is a form of singing that involves rapidly switching from the chest voice to the head voice making a high-low-high-low sound. ... Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio), is a Jewish-American film director whose films range from science fiction to historical drama to horror. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... War of the Worlds is a 2005 modern retelling of H.G. Wells original novel. ... Gene Barry (born June 14, 1921) is an American actor. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

External links

• The War of the Worlds at the Internet Movie Database
• The War of the Worlds Movie Site