Posts tagged ‘War of the Worlds’
WAR OF THE WORLDS
A REVIEW OF THE NOVEL AND RELATED MOVIES
This is an introduction to my next series of posts.
During my teenage years I was fascinated by Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). I accumulated a small paperback library on the subject. Was a subscriber to Saucer News (that topic will be covered in a future post).
With my interest in UFOs, I was drawn to the novel by H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds, published in 1898. And have been entertained, many times by the 1953 movie starring Gene Barry and the 2005 movie starring Tom Cruise.
In subsequent posts I will explore invasion ‘fact’ of the Martian invasion outlined in the book and how closely the two movies follow those ‘facts’.
I hope you find these posts interesting.
At the conclusion of my War of the Worlds discussions I will explore the current quest to discover alien life. And how it may exist closer than expected.
July 5, 2024 at 2:39 pm
The mistake the Martians made was that they did not wear spacesuits, and this led to their demise. Of course, if they had worn spacesuits you would not have seen how hideous they were in the movies.
A picture of the Martians was not a concern in Wells’ book. Although he does provide a detailed description of the Martians and, to me, they would have appeared more frightening than they did in the movie.
The reason the Martians did not wear spacesuits was because bacteria did not exist on Mars. They had no concept of disease caused by bacteria.
There you have it. The reason the Martians lost the war.
June 9, 2024 at 1:12 pm
THE MARTIAN MISTAKE
One of my favorite movies is the 1953 edition of The War of the Worlds.
In both this movie, and the Tom Cruise version, the Martians make a major mistake resulting in their demise.
I will be discussing these movies in a future post.
What was their mistake and why did they make it?
Hint: The source of the Martian’s mistake is explained at the end of H. G. Wells’ book. The basis for both movies.
In seven days, I will share the answer.
June 2, 2024 at 7:29 pm
POST WAR OF THE WORLDS
The other day I watched the movie War of the Worlds made in 1953 based on the famous novel by H. G. Wells written in 1898. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched this movie and consider it one of my favorite if not my favorite science fiction movie. I also enjoy watching the 2005 version of the movie by the same name.
In the latest version the machines are more in tune with those in the novel, supported by tripods. But I think there is a basic flaw. It is hinted in the movie that the machines were buried on the earth maybe a million years ago. Wouldn’t their technology change over that length of time? Would they know the machines were still functional? Why would they think they would one day invade earth? These are just thoughts on the movies and not the purpose of this piece.
I think it is interesting to speculate what happens after the movie ends. Do the Martians launch another attack on earth, this time wearing spacesuits so they won’t die? And the earth has been decimated. How would the rebuild go?
Think Tokyo after World War II. What about the machines? Would man gain great knowledge from these devices improving life. And then there is the possibility of manufacturing new weapons and means of cloaking making the weapons indestructible. Would man use these new weapons for possibly more threats from space. Or more likely, would they wind up using them on each other.
July 20, 2019 at 10:19 pm
WAR OF THE WORLDS
For my blog, I don’t write long pieces. I want to make my point and hold my readers’ attention. (Notice I use the plural, perhaps wishful thinking.) Not boring those reading my words.
This may gain your attention. The entry following this discusses a story of haunting romance, a story captivating me most of my life, along with classic science fiction.
I seldom watch movies more than once, but there are exceptions. Every chance I get I watch War of the Worlds – the original starring Gene Barry. For those who may have missed it, he also appeared for a moment at the end of the remake starring Tom Cruise. In some respects the remake has details reflecting H. G. Wells’ classic novel closer to the original movie. Let me discuss these comments in more detail.
The original, made in the 1950’s, scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. The way the suspense builds is magnificent. Unfortunately, after multiple viewings, I have found some incidents which make little sense. For one, when to original ship lands it is too hot to approach, yet when Gene Barry, and his almost girlfriend use the wooden farm and another ship lands destroying part of the house, the structure does not catch fire. Also, for the act which finally results in the death of the Martians is that they venture into a new world without any protective gear. Would a civilization traveling through space take that chance? Maybe, if you enjoy something, you should not revisit it multiple time, and keeping the love alive.
Now for the remake starring Tom Cruise. The weaknesses are strong, yet also keep true to the book.
If you watch the movie you may remember when Cruise and his daughter are trapped in a cellar with a character played by Tim Robbins. I could wrong about it being Robbins. I’ve been wrong before. I believe the character Robbins represents is a minister who is killed by the protagonist in the book. This act of murder is hinted strongly in the movie. But before this event, Robbins tells Cruise the belief is that the Martian machines were buried on the Earth a million years ago. I should mention that the Martians come to Earth by way of lightning strikes to power up their machines. Here comes the ‘give me a break’. It’s like burying a Model T, and in the meantime, your society develops spacecraft able to travel twice the speed of light. Yet, to save your civilization, you use the Model T. Don’t you think that the Martians would have used technology which currently existed?
To the remakes credit, they do depict the Martian’s machines closer in the book than what the original movie. But overall, I feel the original movie is the best.
Now onto the romance.
February 7, 2016 at 10:12 pm
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