La guerra dei mondi

Cheesy, Yes! But...

Probably the creepiest and most horrifying scenes in Filmdom was when the Martian crept up behind our heroine and clamped its tarsier-like fingers on her shoulder.

She freaked, but not immediately. She paused. Reacted to that touch. Slowly turned her head around and LOOKED at the offending appendages.

This entire moment of horror and violation took about four to six seconds.

Her mind - finally - comprehended it. IT had touched her.

Then she lost it.

One of the best screams in film history. Great acting and just overwhelming.

For that one scene, I love this movie. Creepy as hell!

Somewhere out in the American West, a huge meteor-like projectile crashes in the soil. Everyone initially believes it to be nothing more than a meteor, but soon all learn it is really an investigative ship from the planet Mars out to destroy anything and everything in its path. This film directed by Byron Haskin, based on a script by Barre Lyndon, and produced by George Pal is one of the quintessential science fiction films of the 50's, otherwise known as the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Based on the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells, this film keeps the spirit of the book intact while changing some things like the setting. The book takes place primarily in and around London. All of the talents in this film help make The War of the Worlds an innovative, intelligent, and evocative film that tries to get one thinking about alien invaders and their intentions. The earthlings in this film are the good ones...trying to be friendly, yet, treated as nothing more than impediments in the Martians' way. So many scenes in this film are strong: the army fighting the Martian space ship while a man of God tries to make peace with the strangers, the old farmhouse, and the ending as the aliens attack Los Angelos. Acting is strong too as leads Gene Barry - doing a very good job as a scientist who just happens to be nearby - and Ann Robinson convincingly portray what life might be like in a world with such horrific news. But despite a first-rate script, solid direction from Haskin, and good acting, The War of the Worlds owes its greatest debt to producer George Pal. Pal knew how to put films like this together and was a driving force in the film's innovative and unique special effects. Who could forget those bright green Martian ships or that figure of a Martian?

This film is easily one of the Top Ten of the Sci-Fi genre. Producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin certainly reached a creative plateau back in 1953 that is seldom attained even now in the current age of CGI effects and ear-splitting soundtracks.

I was lucky to attend the 50th anniversary screening in Hollywood recently, with Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, other actors and production people from the film, and 'Mr. Sci-Fi' Forrest J. Ackerman, all in attendance. To see it on a full size theater screen for the first time, and with these people there, was the thrill of a lifetime, for sure!

The Martians and their war machines in this movie are still some of the best and most memorable designs in the history of science fiction films. The color cinematography and musical score also hold up very well. And any film that starts off with the beautiful space art paintings of Chesley Bonestell has my vote of approval. Also, Jack Northrup's Flying Wing bomber puts in a splendid cameo appearance.

Simply the best 'alien invasion' type film ever made - bar none!

To be an effective thriller, a sci-fi film absolutely must impart to the viewer a sense of --- coldness, either the physical coldness of outer space or other worlds, or the emotional coldness of science.

Cedric Hardwicke's opening narrative in "The War Of The Worlds" is brutally cold, and the added images uninviting. The martian machines, vaguely resembling "legless swans", are both beautiful and terrifying. They move slowly, in a graceful but calculating manner. They warn of their approach with an eerie, unearthly "pinging" sound.

In the scene where the priest walks toward one of the "swans", the aliens do not impulsively open fire. Instead, they wait. The cruel "eye" peers down on the priest, studying him, in a foreboding prelude to his inevitable annihilation.

Other scenes in the first half also convey this needed sense of alien coldness. We can, therefore, forgive the film for its somewhat corny plot.

The film's second half is weaker because the aliens have to compete for screen time with Los Angeles mob scenes, a showy and irksome display of American military hardware, and dry narration of military war tactics. But even in this second half, suspense filters through, as we watch the heartless "swans" eject their heat rays on a helpless Los Angeles.

For sci-fi films made before "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The War Of The Worlds" is one of my three favorites, along with "Robinson Crusoe On Mars" and "Forbidden Planet".

Even though this is not a literal translation of the H.G. Welles classic, this is still a good film. I especially loved how it was updated to the 20th century and that all our modern weapons, including the atom bomb, couldn't destroy the Martians. George Pal is definitely one of the most underrated directors of science fiction and this film along his When Worlds Collide and The Time Machine stand out among the great science fiction films of all time.