The Film Library

War of the War of the Worlds

I recently read War of the Worlds for the first time(follow this link for my full review of that book), and have decided to revisit a few of the various adaptations that novel has inspired.(Spoilers: I'll be discussing the ending of the book/movies, which I normally assumed everyone knew of, but recent discussion with some friends has changed that perception)

The original 1953 filmed version of War of the Worlds is probably the most widely accepted favorite, and at this point I have to agree. It ditches so much of the book, however, that it basically only shares a title and a basic premise; Martians come to earth, cause major destruction, and are eventually undone at the last moment by the common cold. The movie is, upon clear-eyed review, fairly slow and lacking in forward motion, and doesn't really engage audiences the way other 50's sci-fi films manage. In this way, at least, the movie stays true to the book, which could be a little distancing at times. But that's not really what people remember, or want from this movie. They recall those setpieces, with the still-frightening Martian ships that glide along like metallic Manta Rays bringing death to everything in their path. And I'll be honest, whenever the Martian ship rises from the crater making that rhythmic pinging noise, I get chills. The sound the heat ray makes is something that instantly transports me to childhood, when I would fill the margins of my elementary school papers with attacking Martian ships.

In 2005, when Spielberg's War came out, I was excited, if only because I knew his movie would be a great piece of eye-candy, and it was. A terrifically paced, nicely suspenseful special effects eztravaganza that only really overdoes it with all of the family drama(which was not a part of the original book). This is the most accurate version done in America(there are a couple of Brittish productions that reportedly hew closer to the source material, and I'll comment on those as soon as I can get ahold of them), with most of the changes essentially adding up to necessary alterations for the time period. Like the book, this film follows only one protaganist, and shows primarily only what he sees, meaning much of the information we have is incomplete. Perhaps a bit too incomplete at times, with certain aspects(like the 'red weed') going completely unexplained, while the book at least touches on them.

One other adaptation of note is the late 80's television version, produced in Canada, it aired in syndication in America(Fox up here in Alaska). I remember being terrified of the effects at the time, which are a little hoky today, but were gorier than anything else on broadcast television at the time. It's a direct sequel to the 1953 movie, taking place in modern day, where that original invasion had actually happened but most people consider it a fantasy due to the Hollywood movie(footage from the movie is actually used in several flashbacks). The show has a few changes to the movie mythology, with the Martians now able to hijack human hosts and travel around in them until the radiation begins to rot the body. There were a few times where the Martians tried to reclaim old warships(a couple in government storage, one sunken in a Canadian lake), and they had the exact design from the original movie. Also, this show stands out in memory(although I have the DVDs) because at the end of the first season, the Martians basically win, sending out heroes underground(literally) to hide and find ways to fight the aliens. This is the first time I remember a television show actually changing the status quo, and it blew my 11 year old mind.