Subject: Retrospective: The War of the Worlds (1953)

From: "Dragan Antulov" <[email-masked]>
Date: 28 Sep 1999 04:47:49 GMT

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 1999

Whenever a superior civilisation, state or life form
encounter its inferior counterpart, the latter is almost
always subdued or eradicated by brutal force. At least, that
was the case with the state of international politics in
late 19th Century when H.G. Wells tried to speculate about
such practices on inter-planetary level. The result was THE
WAR OF THE WORLDS, one of the first classical sci-fi novels
that, like THE TIME MACHINE by the same authors, established
the sub-genre of First Contact stories. Images created by
that novel later proved almost prophetic, in the
unimaginable and utter destruction of two world wars. The
technology of the destruction was man- made, but for the
victims, faced with certain destruction by unstoppable and
technically superior machines, it didn't make any
difference. The proof for that came in the form of famous
radio-adaptation by Orson Welles, when the ensuing panic
pre-ceded later horrors of London Blitz, Dresden and
Hiroshima. The same feeling of fear and helplessness in
front of the superior technology also resonated well with
the anxieties of people in the atomic era, who used to live
in the shadow of Cold War. Such atmosphere brought third
incarnation of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, this time in the form
of a 1953 science fiction movie, directed by Byron Haskin
and produced by George Pal, one of the legends of that
particular genre.

The film begins with the narration by Cedric Hardwicke that
describes Mars as the planet of superior, yet dying
civilisation, desperate for rich resources of Earth.
Martians are studying Earth and preparing for the invasion.
First Martian probe lands in small Californian town of Linda
Rosa. Group of scientists from a nearby observatory, led by
Clayton Forrester (played by Gene Barry), comes to
investigate, but the object is too hot and, before it cools
off, Forrester takes much more interest in Sylvia Van Buren
(played by Ann Robinson), daughter of the local priest. In
the mean time, the crew of Martian probe awakens and the
three local policemen guarding the site are the first to be
pulverised with deadly Martian beams. Seeing Martians as
hostile, authorities bring the military, but the best
equipment of this world is powerless against the invaders
from another world. Soon, the world is full of similar
Martian crafts that start their unstoppable reign of
destruction. While the governments of the world are working
desperately to stop the invasion and apparent annihilation
of the humanity, Forrester and Sylvia are trying to escape
Martians that are now roaming the ground, outside their
vessels. After they reach relative safety of Los Angeles,
Forrester and his colleagues are trying to devise a weapon
that would prove to be effective against Martians. But when
even the atom bomb proves useless against Martians, all hope
seems to be gone.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS was one of the most successful science
fiction films of its time. Its popularity came partly
because the script seemed very much in line with the anxiety
of the times, as well as with the traumatic memories of WW2.
But the main reason was probably in the special effects,
that were state-of-the-art for its times, and that could
even be impressive today. The popularity of this film later
transformed into cult status among the genre aficionados,
and many successful and important science fiction films of
the later age were heavily influenced with it. The example
most often referenced is Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE
THIRD KIND, although mostly in a visual sense, because those
two films are extremely different in their depictions of
First Contact and human reaction to the unknown.

When THE WAR OF THE WORLDS gets compared with another film
that was heavily influenced by it, Devlin and Emmerich's
INDEPENDENCE DAY, it becomes clearly obvious why the former
is regarded as important classic and latter as nothing more
than forgettable "thrillride of the summer". Its director
Haskin was hardly a top Hollywood director, but the group of
talented artists provided a whole series of memorable,
spectacular and even today very effective scenes, especially
those involving destruction of the cities and panic in the
streets. The script itself, written by Barre Lyndon, wasn't
so successful. Many times story meanders along unecessary
subplots, especially those involving obligatory romance
between the macho scientist and damsel in distress. The
ending, although based on the original novel, seems somewhat
too melodramatic and deus ex machina. And I don't think that
H.G. Wells, known for his atheistic beliefs, would be too
enthusiastic about its heavy religious overtones. But,
despite those flaws, and despite the fact that it was firmly
in the B movies category, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is a classic
that should be seen by anyone who really likes genre of
science fiction in the cinema.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

Review written on September 27th 1999

Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
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