La nouvelle guerre des mondes

War of the Worlds season one was my favorite television series. I was only nine when it came out, but I was amazed from the first episode. The characters were complex and very different from each other. The storyline kept me hooked wondering just who would win in the next episode. I was, however, very disappointed with season two. I couldn't really follow what had happened to make the series so different from the first and it was very dark. As for the first season, I haven't found a series on television since that has topped it. I remember it so well after 16 years and really want to see it again. I truly hope that it will be released on DVD someday. If you ever get the chance to see it, I know you'll really enjoy it.

Before the X-Files, before Millenium, Space Above and Beyond, before Nowhere Man and all of the other strange and paranoid filled shows on television, there was War of the Worlds. Set in modern times, this series employed so many disturbing images and stories, it genuinely gave me creeps at night. While the show bombed on many levels with viewers, I only remember it for being something different, out of the ordinary. While young kids were watching cartoons, I tried watching this show as often as possible, considering my parents cared little for it. Then, when it went into syndication, I watched it as often as I could. If you could ever find tapes for this series, and you like odd and unusual programming, then you will like this series.

You know, the first season of this show wasn't that bad. You had strong plots, good acting, and a good overall storyline.

Then the second season started.

What the hell was Frank Mancuso Jr. thinking when he made this series? It sucked! Here are some of the reasons why it sucked:

1) You killed off half the cast, including the strong military commander and the computer expert. They were actually the most interesting characters on the show!

2) What year is it? For one thing, it's never explained how much time has passed between the first and second seasons, and there's also the matter of where the woman who owned the house where lived in the manor went? She just disappeared.

3) The main characters now live in an underground pipe.

4) Even when the main character (Harrison) said he never used a gun, he just broke his own moral code and shot some guys in the second season premiere.

5) The plots just sucked. Period.

Bottom Line: Stick to the first season, and forget this season ever happened. You'll be better off.

"War of the Worlds: The Series" continues the storyline from the original movie while giving it a new twist, with the Martians, or the "alien invaders" as they are called now, taking over people's bodies to prevent them from succumbing to the bacteria that "killed" them in the original movie. Taking place 35 years after they destroyed Los Angeles and almost took over the world, they are revived after a botched attack at a nuclear waste dump, where their remains were sealed in metal barrels. They awaken, take over the bodies of the terrorists and plan out their second invasion of the world. The series was a bit graphic, but the storylines of the episodes were terrific. The new cast also shines, as a small group willing to fight the aliens before it's too late. Also seen were their war machines with the heat rays, and Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), the heroine of the original who fell in love with Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry's character). All in all, this series is great and I wish it was back on TV! Sci-fi at it's best!

This is one of those series that I caught in second run, and had to see all of. Rather than being cliched and boring, War of the Worlds managed to be trendy and dark, attempting to deal with mature themes and violence in an intelligent fashion all too rare today.

Perhaps the best season was the second, when the war becomes a drawn-out war of attrition, culminating in one of the most thought-provoking finales I have seen this side of Babylon 5. It is currently airing on Space in Canada, and is definitely worth seeing if you can.