War of the Worlds

1952

Collector’s Edition Reissue 2005

Paramount Pictures

R4

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

Science fiction fans owe a lot to this film. It was one of the first attempts to film a science fiction story. Although the producers took liberties with H G Wells’ tale and “Americanised” it, they tried to preserve the feel of the book and succeeded fairly well. Wells himself did not believe the book could be filmed – he had written it as a period piece set before the first World War when aliens, spaceships and the death of civilisation were just writers’ tools. Then WW1 came and showed just how horrible high-tech war could be and how helpless people were when faced by it. Wells felt that an audience may now be too sophisticated to accept his story. Then in 1938 Orson Welles produced his mammoth radio broadcast version of the story, and suddenly it all seemed possible again.

Although World War 2 got in the way, by 1952 the film was in production. Paramount’s Cecil B de Mille gave the task to George Pal, a competent producer who believed in science fiction although many other Paramount executives did not. For the film to succeed, he had to make extensive use of miniatures and models. In spite of the brief appearances of the Martians themselves, their machines had to be prominent in the film. They also had to be believably powerful and futuristic, because the U.S. (with a bit of help from other countries) had just won World War 2. It would be difficult to convince an American audience that their military forces, the strongest the world had seen, could be beaten by invaders from space.

That Pal succeeded in producing a SF classic is a tribute to all involved.

One big advantage was that the film was produced in Technicolor, a three-film-strip process that gave deeply saturated colours. This looked particularly effective in the green-glowing parts of the Martian airships and the bright stream of sparks of the heat rays. Even now, half a century later, the quality of the film transfer to DVD is noticeable.

The reissue contains a number of valuable extras, including “The Sky Is Falling – The Making Of War Of The Worlds”. This covers the production problems, the model making, and the filming difficulties. There is also a biography on H G Wells, commentary by the leading actors Gene Barry and Anne Robinson, and the recording of Orson Welles’ radio dramatization that caused panic in the U.S. because people thought it was a real live broadcast – in spite of repeated announcements that it wasn’t.

This reissue is excellent value, and is worth tracking down. Not only do you get the film itself, but a good background to what became one of the greatest science fiction films. It received three Oscar nominations and is consistently rated in the world’s top 100 films. Buy it and see why.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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