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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

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Quick Facts:
Byron Haskin’s award-winning 1953 adaptation of sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds (Wells, 1898) led to a television show and inspired similarly-themed alien invasion movies, knock-offs, and a widely celebrated musical adaptation from Jeff Wayne. This big-budget, modern-day reinterpretation reunited director Steven Spielberg with star Tom Cruise and drew visual and narrative inspiration from 9/11. Industrial Light & Magic designed the sleek alien walkers to be both intimidating and horrific to fulfil the filmmakers’ wish to emphasis the futility and devastation of war.

The Review:
Like the 1953 film, this big-budget adaptation of The War of the Worlds is set not in Victorian England, but in then-modern day America, beginning in Brooklyn, New York and following deadbeat dad and longshoreman Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) as he desperately tries to get his kids to the presumed safety of Boston, Massachusetts when aliens suddenly attack. Ray starts the film as a bit of an asshole. Though he’s said to be a hard worker as a crane operator down at the docks, Ray’s not in the business of working more hours than he has to, citing union rules about overtime (and, honestly, rightfully so), and is therefore seen to be arrogant and condescending. Ray’s a keen mechanic, filling his house with car parts and booming through the streets in his prized 1966 Shelby Mustang, and neglecting to fill his refrigerator and cupboards since he favours takeaways. Ray’s so self-absorbed that he completely forgets when he’s due to meet his kids at his house, though his pregnant ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), is well past arguing about his tardiness and irresponsibility. Instead, she glares at him and makes snap criticisms, all with the general idea of urging him to do better by moody teenager Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and inquisitive youngster Rachel (Dakota Fanning). Although Rachel is begrudgingly polite to her dad, Robbie has no interest, preferring to ignore him, call him “Ray”, criticise his lack of parenting skills, and generally give him a hard time. Ironically, Robbie emulates his father’s dress sense more than he realises and is just as irresponsible, stealing his car and dragging his feet on his homework and rejecting Ray’s questionable attempts to bond with a sneering angst. Rachel is surprisingly mature for her age, ordering healthy foods and giving Ray pointers, only for him to balk at both since he clearly doesn’t like deviating from his junk food or receiving criticism for his parenting.

Luckily for Ray, he’s given the perfect opportunity to step up when a mysterious storm looms overhead and lightning repeatedly strikes the ground, setting off an electromagnetic pulse and fries all vehicles and electronics and terrifies Rachel. Curious, Ray wanders outside and is amazed when a gigantic alien machine bursts from the street with an ominous honk. The towering Tripod immediately sets to work vaporising the terrifying crowd, reducing them to dust and tattered clothes, and Ray races home covered in an ash-like substance that was once his neighbours, too shellshocked to properly explain what happened and desperately urging his kids to flee before the Tripod reaches their block. Despite Robbie demanding answers and Rachel suffering a panic attack, Ray loads his kids into the one working vehicle (thanks to a solenoid change) and races away as the Tripod decimates the area, barely able to describe what happened to his terrified kids. Ray’s struggling to hold together when they get to Mary Ann’s home in nearby New Jersey, desperately trying to keep his kids calm and wrap his head around the death and destruction he’s witnessed and succeeding only in scaring or alienating them further. Ray’s stress only increases when a Boeing 747 partially crashes into the house, littering the street with burning wreckage and bodies that Ray desperately shields Rachel from and angering Robbie so much that he becomes obsessed with fighting against the invaders. Ray’s very much against this not just because the Tripods are so massive, intimidating, and dangerous, but also because a newswoman (Camillia Sanes) reveals that aliens travelled through the lightning bolts to pilot the walkers, meaning humanity is facing a violent extermination from an extraterrestrial force. Refusing to risk their lives by joining the military effort, Ray frantically focuses on getting his kids to Boston, partially because he’s underequipped for the crisis but also because he knows the kids are better off with Mary Ann. Along the way, the car is literally ripped apart by an angry mob desperate to get to safety, forcing Ray to pull out his pistol to drag Robbie and Rachel out of their path as the mob fights over the vehicle.

A momentary respite at the Hudson River quickly turns into another fight for survival when the Tripods arrive, capsizing the ferry and abducting many survivors. Ray and his kids are caught up in the military’s desperate counterattack  and witness how unstoppable the Tripods really are as they shrug off damage with energy shields and vaporise tanks and troops alike. Ray sees this as a futile effort, seeing only death when the Tripods appear, and frantically argues with Robbie when he insists on witnessing and aiding the fight. In an emotionally charged moment, Ray’s resolve falters and his reluctantly lets Robbie go to forge his own path, hoping that they’ll be reunited in Boston when it’s all over. Still rattled from this, Ray gratefully accepts shelter in Harlan Ogilvy’s (Tim Robbins) basement, struggling to reassure and calm Rachel following her brother’s absence and quickly realising that Harlen is a danger to them. When the aliens carve up the grounds outside, spreading their disturbing red weed by harvesting their human captives, Harlen grows more unstable, ready to fight back when a probe and pilots investigate his house. Ultimately, Ray’s forced to have Rachel distract herself with a lullaby as he kills Harlan offscreen in a way we never see but which understandably unsettles him, both of them being severely traumatised by everything they’ve witnessed but doing whatever they can to survive. While I’m no fan of Tom Cruise, this is one of the few movies he’s in that I can tolerate and admit that he does a decent job. He makes for a great and very believable jackass father and has the stature to pull off an “Everyman” figure, one whose first instinct is to run rather than oppose such an overwhelming force. Like the book’s narrator, Ray bumps into many characters, learning more about the aliens as he goes and witnessing how devastating their attack is each time, which only compels him to keep moving. Like the book, the focus is squarely on our main characters and their attempts to survive rather than the fight the invaders, which only makes the aliens more ominous and dangerous.

Thanks to advancements in technology, H.G. Wells’ iconic Tripods were finally brought to life in all their terrifying glory, booming a trumpet call of war that echoes the long-running musical and appearing more horrifying than ever as Spielberg uses them as an allegory for the 9/11 attacks. Spielberg fully commits to the iconography of the Tripods, forgoing the other alien tech to focus on the massive, highly advanced war machines that vaporise everything in their path, crush buildings with their advance, and scoop up victims with their tentacles. Despite its different setting, War of the Worlds is far closer to the book than the previous adaptation, with the Tripods upturning a ferry and seeding the land with red weed from their victims to terraform the Earth. However, Spielberg alters the origin of the aliens, which apparently prepared for their invasion by burying their machine thousands of years ago and are never said to be from Mars. The aliens also look very different to the book and the first film, being strange, gangly creatures with three legs and little evidence of advanced intelligence beyond their unstoppable war machines. While the narrator (Morgan Freeman) repeats that the aliens were motivated to attack by envy, desiring Earth’s rich natural resources, they’re seen to be largely ignorant of our society, culture, and technology despite having observed us for generations. Their strategy is simply to overwhelm with superior numbers and force, littering cities with destruction and ash, leaving bodies floating in rivers and toppling entire cities within hours. I was impressed by the special effects used to bring the Tripods to life and they’re framed as especially intimidating against the rainy night sky, though I would’ve preferred to see the machines be simply armoured rather than having energy shields and for the aliens to look a bit more unique rather than appearing as cousins to the invaders from Independence Day (Emmerich, 1996).

Having lost Robbie and living somewhere between denial and desperation, Ray wishes only to take shelter until the aliens leave but is driven to extreme measures when the paranoid Harlen endangers him and Rachel with his crazed obsessions. Despite this, the alien probe spots him and Rachel in the dilapidated house, forcing a terrifying Rachel to flee into the night and be abducted by one of the towering machines. Determined to keep Rachel safe, Ray grabs a grenade belt from a nearby military vehicle and voluntarily gets himself abducted to save her, revealing the grotesque bio-organic nature of the walkers as he’s sucked inside to make more red weed and instead feeds it the explosives. Exhausted and barely coherent, Ray and Rachel shuffle alongside a gaggle of other survivors into Boston, which has conveniently been largely spared much damage. Ushered on by the military, Ray’s amazed to find the Tripods have collapsed in the street. When another comes stumbling by, Ray and the others take shelter in an underpass but his keen eye spots that a flock of birds are nesting on the walker’s cockpit. Though struggled against the cacophony of the Tripod’s trumpet, Ray alerts the nearby soldiers, who quickly take up offensive positions and blast the Tripod with a barrage of rocket launchers. Damaged, the machine finally goes down and ejects one of its pilots, which quickly withers and chokes to death much like the decaying red weed. As ever, the narrator explains that the aliens were undone by the microbes we’ve become immune to over countless generations, Incredibly, Ray then carries Rachel to Mary Ann’s childhood home, which is unbelievably untouched by the devastation. Amazingly, not only are Mary Ann and her family alive, but Robbie’s somehow there too, allowing Ray to embrace his rebellious son and complete his character arc into a caring and determined father. While this makes for a sombre and emotional ending, I still think it would’ve been better to leave Robbie’s fate ambiguous (perhaps have Ray immediately leave to go looking for him?) if only to really sell how devastating this alien attack was for our main characters.

Final Thoughts:
While I’m a big fan of the original book, I have to say I’ve never been much of a fan of this big-budget adaptation. A lot of that is due to my personal dislike for Tom Cruise, who I just find annoying and underwhelming, and how disappointed I was that it wasn’t set in Victorian England to really hammer home how insignificant we are against the invaders. I also disliked changing their origin so they arrive on lightning bolts and pilot machines buried thousands of years ago. Simply having the Tripods and their pilots arrive on a meteor storm would’ve been far better for me, as would implying they came from Mars at least in a throwaway line. However, I must begrudgingly admit that War of the Worlds is far closer to the source material than the 1953 film, including mor side characters and events from the book since we’re following a regular guy rather than the military. I liked this aspect and how ill-equipped Ray is at dealing with this crisis since he can’t parent properly, so he’s completely out of his depth and survives only through sheer luck. I really liked Ray’s relationship with Rachel and Dakota Fanning’s work as a mature yet terrified little girl forced to rely on an unreliable father. Robbie was a pain in the ass who stupidly thought he could make a difference in an unwinnable fight. A commendable belief, for sure, but I would’ve preferred to see him die, be injured, or have his fate left ambiguous for his efforts. The Tripods are fantastically realised here, constantly lurking in the background and devastating everything in their path and depicted as a nigh-unstoppable force that only Mother Nature can topple. The snake-like probe and the weird alien designs weren’t as impressive, unfortunately, though it was chilling seeing the tattered clothes, wreckage, and bodies they leave behind, especially considering how the visuals echoed 9/11. Overall, I find this to be quite mediocre but it’s probably the best War of the Worlds adaptation I’ve ever seen…I just wish it’d starred someone else in the lead role.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy this big-budget version of The War of the Worlds? Do you agree that Tom Cruise drags the film down or did you enjoy his performance? Were you a fan of how the film changed the aliens’ origins and their physical depiction? What did you think to the Tripods and the film as an allegory for 9/11? Would you have wanted to fight the invaders or would you flee? Which adaptation of The War of the Worlds is your favourite and how are you celebrating sci-fi this month? Leave a comment below with your input, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other War of the Worlds media for the site

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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

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Quick Facts:
As one of the forefathers of science-fiction genre, it’s perhaps no surprise that Herbert George Wells’s seminal 1898 alien invasion story The War of the Worlds is so widely lauded in mainstream and academic circles alike. After the book gained widespread notoriety from a radio adaptation, George Pal spearheaded the film version, which noticeably differed from the source material and reimagined H. G. Wells’s Tripods as flying machines courtesy of Albert Nozaki and his award-winning visual effects. Heralded as a sci-fi classic, inspired a follow-up television show, similarly-themed alien invasion movies, a slew of remakes and knock-offs, and a widely celebrated musical adaptation from Jeff Wayne.

The Review:
After humanity decimated each other in two World Wars, the Earth was on the precipice of dangerous and terrifying times. Advancements in nuclear and atomic science saw devastating weapons created and stockpiled, which threatened to destroy all life on Earth. Yet, as the omniscient narrator (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) relates, there are beings in the universe far above humanity’s petty squabbles. Far away on the long-dead red planet, unseen and malicious Martians observed our world with curious and envious eyes. Determining that the Earth was their best shot at migration considering how cold, dead, and hazardous the other planets are, the Martians begin a methodical invasion of our world with the simple crash-landing of a red-hot meteor outside Linda Rosa, California. Naturally, this draws immediate attention from the locals, film crews, and the United States military, who struggle to contain the resultant flash fires and rope in visiting scientists like atomic expert Doctor Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) to offer their insight. Dr. Forrester quickly discovers the meteorite is radioactive and guesses that it’s hollow, explaining why the impact didn’t destroy the town (or the whole planet). He is so intrigued by the arrival – and clearly captivated by local Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson) – that he decides to stick around and investigate the object further once it cools down, graciously accepting the hospitality of Sylvia’s uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins (Lewis Martin. While Dr. Forrester enjoys the square dance, part of the meteorite suddenly unscrews and a strange, mechanical, snake-like periscope emerges, flash-frying the nearby guards when they try to make contact and knocking out all the electricity and phone lines in the town with a burst of magnetic radiation (what we would now call an electro-magnetic pulse/EMP).

As more of the objects arrive, the military rolls in to secure the crash site. Major General Mann (Les Tremayne) takes charge, ordering a cordon and authorising lethal retaliation against the invader. Pastor Collins, reasoning that the Martians must be a higher lifeform and thus closer to God, attempts to make contact and is immolated by their “heat-ray”, alongside most of General Mann’s troops, when the Martians emerge from their meteorite (actually a cylindrical travel pod) in sleek, manta-ray-like craft that appear to levitate on magnetic beams. The flying machines obliterate everything in their path, easily resisting gunfire, mortars, and even aerial bombardment thanks to their impenetrable force fields. Dr. Forrester and Sylvia flee in a small plane but crash-land in a field, taking shelter in a nearby farmhouse and using the brief reprieve to bond. While Dr. Forrester has no family, Sylvia comes from a large, close-knit family unit and is thus terrified of the destruction caused by the Martians, who slowly sweep across the world as more of their cylinders crash to Earth. When one lands right by the farmhouse, partially destroying it and briefly injuring Dr. Forrester, the strange, squat aliens investigate and Dr. Forrester learns that they are as fragile as humans and, after reconvening with the remains of the military and scientific community, that they’re entirely dependant on their awesome technology. Research on the Martian’s blood also shows they’re highly anaemic while the severed electronic “eye” Dr. Forrester recovers gives some insight into how they perceive the world and humanity, but little advantage is revealed from this. As the world’s nations crumble under the Martian attack, the survivors are driven far from their homes, with the world’s military and surviving governments forced to co-ordinate from makeshift camps with the strangely untouched Washington, D.C., where efforts to mount an effective counterattack are explored.

With the Earth on the brink of complete destruction, it’s decided to unleash a far deadlier and more powerful version of the atom bomb. Interestingly, no one (not even Dr. Forrester) objects despite the incredible risk and soldiers, civilians, and reporters observe the blast from dangerously close proximity, seemingly unafraid of any lethal fallout. The devastating force is barely an inconvenience to the Martians, however, thanks to their forcefields, and civilians are ordered to evacuate to the perceived safety of the mountains. Dr. Forrester and his colleagues are thus given the unenviable task of coming up a solution to the problem, an arduous request considering it’s predicted the Martians will conquer the world in just six days, and one almost immediately scuppered when those left behind descend into madness. Rioting, looting, and violence flood the streets, with Dr. Forrester forcibly removed from his car and separated from his vital equipment, seemingly dooming humanity thanks to greed and fear. Concerned only with reuniting with Sylvia, who was similarly forced from a bus heading to the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Forrester recalls a story she shared with him from her childhood where she took shelter in a church and finds her amidst a gaggle of terrified survivors praying for a miracle. Their prayers are seemingly answered when the flying machines suddenly lose control and crash midway through blasting the remains of Los Angeles. The survivors cautiously flood the streets and watch, amazed, as the Martians succumb to the bacteria and diseases humanity has long developed immunity against. Thus, at the very last second, the world is saved not by force or weapons, but by the simplest organisms of all as the planet itself repels its vicious invaders.

I’ve read The War of the Worlds a couple of times, but I haven’t committed it to memory. This film, while largely similar to the book, its noticeably different in that it’s set in America, follows a named (and somewhat educated) central protagonist, and depicts the Martians hovering around rather than stomping through cities in their Tripods. While the Martians utilised flying machines in the book, they were rarely seen, yet the visual of these sleek, deadly craft spewing red death has become iconic in the sci-fi genre. The film also places also more emphasis on the atomic bomb, as I recall, with the weapon depicted as humanity’s last, best hope against the invaders, and many supporting characters are omitted. Dr. Forrester and Sylvia take shelter in a farmhouse, but the curate is missing. The Martians don’t spread their red weed to terraform the planet, don’t capture or consume people, and are never seen engaging with the Navy. The Martians are also depicted very differently than in the book. Rather than being bizarre, octopus-like creatures with a mass of tentacles and bulbous main bodies (essentially being all brain and little else), the Martians are stumpy, gangly creatures with long, spindly arms and weird, biomechanic eyes. This was a strange choice that makes the creatures look more ridiculous than intimidating, though the scene where one fondles Sylvia is still somewhat striking and the cold, efficient ruthlessness of the flying machines more than makes up for how ridiculous the operators look. Indeed, the film emphasises that the Martians are biologically unremarkable, doubling down when they succumb to simple bacteria, and are only fearsome because of their machines, making for a startling allegory for the arrogance and warmongering nature of humanity.

Final Thoughts:
The War of the Worlds certainly earned its place as one of the quintessential sci-fi movies of the 1950s and beyond. It’s the classic story of aliens invading the Earth and set the blueprint for so many alien invasion movies, rip-offs, and parodies, and it all came from this loose adaptation of a centuries-old text whose message has only become more prevalent over time. The main showcase of the film might be the amazing special effects, but the character work is pretty good here, too. I liked Dr. Forrester as an unlikely hero. He knew enough to flee when faced with an overwhelming force and his first thought was also to learning more about their enemy than confronting it head-on, and to protecting others rather than giving in to fear and despair. Sylvia is largely here to look pretty, scream when the Martians attack, and lose herself to hysterics, but she gives Dr. Forrester strength and something specific to fight for and focus on. I enjoyed how stern but fair General Mann was and how utterly useless all our fancy weapons and military might were against this aggressive and advanced enemy. The visual of the Martians shrugging off an atomic bomb remains striking and seeing them slowly and methodically wipe out humanity across the world set the standard for later depictions of world-wide destruction. Sure, there are liberties taken with the text and the Martians themselves look kinda goofy, but their flying machines are now intrinsically linked with the story and have become a symbol of the genre. The War of the World’s message about the dangers of humanity taking their planet and lives for granted remains as true as ever, with us being hopelessly insignificant compared to Mother Nature, and the film remains a bleak, humbling narrative about how insignificant we are against such homegrown and outside forces.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Is The War of the Worlds one of your favourite sci-fi films? Did you like the changes made to the source material or were you annoyed to see the focus changed so much? Were you impressed by the special effects and the sleek flying machines or did you miss the lumbering Tripods? Do you believe alien life is seeking to conquer our world? Which version of The War of the Worlds is your favourite and how are you celebrating sci-fi this year? use the comments below to let me know, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other War of the Worlds media for me to cover.