War Of The Worlds (1953) – Special Collector’s Edition

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B     Film: B

 

 

Especially in a age of tired, and mostly idiotic digital visual effects, its always great to see a classic that can weather times with few flaws in its own special effects, that continues to entertain and be influential.  Byron Haskin’s 1953 version of the 1898 (yes, 1898) H.G. Wells’ classic novel War Of The Worlds is such a film, constantly referenced, celebrated, imitated (including recent hit Independence Day, reviewed elsewhere on this site) and even remade a few times, with the surprisingly good Steven Spielberg version for 2005 managing to pull off more goodies than expected.  A favorite of genre fans for that mater, it is amazing how many times the book has translated into one interesting version after another.

 

This new Special Collector’s Edition DVD from Paramount is meant to be an expanded version of an old double 12” LaserDisc edition they did years ago.  It may be lacking the isolated music score (and there was certainly room for it), but the disc is loaded up with new extras, the film and other bonuses.  First, there is the film; a stunningly beautiful and dark production from what was one of the biggest studios around.  In the 1950s, Destination Moon may have been more scientific, Forbidden Planet as elaborate, The Thing From Another World and This Island Earth as terrifying, but nothing was quite like it.  In many ways, it was a landmark at a time when this subject matter was considered unprofitable and of little interest.  Now, it is the dominant genre.

 

What looks like a meteorite lands in some desolate land in a small town near Los Angeles.  The local townspeople think they have a new moneymaking attraction, but a clever nuclear/rocket scientist (Gene Barry) has a Geiger counter that shows it to be more radioactive then expected.  It turns out the activity is far more kinetic when a pieced of the side unscrews and a deadly green slimy alien emerges.  With their flying machines, they have laser-like zappers that spark with tremendous energy that vaporizes all who get in its way.  Eventually, the entire U.S. Military comes in to attack the invasion, which turns out to be global and causes other countries to go on the defense.

 

Yes, this has people talking at each other, is a product of its time and some moments are a tad campy, but the intensity of the attacks shot in a way we will never see again makes this very effective.  That is because the Barré Lyndon screenplay adaptation is a very solid piece of work that absolutely grasps the original novel, while the casting and production design is as much of a bulls-eye as the alien and space ship designs.  Ann Robinson and a fine cast of supporting actors gel well and never fail to seem panicked or reactive (versus reactionary, another issue).  With the Science Fiction and Horror genres in a tailspin of late, it is no wonder a film like this has actually appreciated in value.  If you have never seen it, do not underestimate its capacities and impact.  This War Of The Worlds is just a marvel to watch, something that cannot be said for so many such films over the last 20 years in the same genre.

 

The 1.33 X 1 full frame image was shot in three-separate strip Technicolor by George Barnes, A.S.C., and continues to offer some of the most memorable images in cinema history.  The dye-transfer process produced stunning, rich color like few other Sci-Fi or Horror films and the production designers and visual effects crews created a color-saturated atmosphere that still makes this all more menacing that you would expect.  It received an Academy Award® nomination for its editing and another for its Visual Effects that it won.  The copy here is a little softer than it should be in many parts, while the color has moments worthy of a real Imbibition Technicolor print, but this is unfortunately not all the way through.  However, this still plays back fine, though there will be some upgrades needed when they do a digital HD version.

 

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and Stereo with Pro Logic surround are passable, though for a film that also has a solid score by Leith Stevens and received its third and final Academy Award® nomination for its sound, this deserves a 5.1 remix in Dolby & DTS.  This sounded richer in the old 12” LaserDisc edition and the separate music track on that set not here shows they elements still exist independently to do so.  Dialogue sounds good in either version, but the stereo mix is still too limited and weak for how good I have heard this film sound elsewhere.

 

Extras are many, including two audio commentaries: actors Barry and Robinson, then writer Bill Warren, film historian Bob Burns and director Joe Dante.  You also get the original trailer, a 10+ minutes H.G. Wells: The Man Of The Future, the hour-long The Sky Is Falling (an exceptional making of program about this show), and the all-time classic, original, hour-long 1938 Orson Welles/Mercury Theater radio drama version that caused people to panic massively.  That’s a great combination and though the Welles drama has sounded better on CD releases, the only thing Paramount skipped was including a copy of the book.  A nice job otherwise.

 

Haskins had made his mark with the likes of the 1950 Treasure Island before, going on to do more work in the genre in films like From The Earth To The Moon in 1958 and fan favorite Robinson Crusoe On Mars in 1964.  Remarkably, Mars is still not legitimately on DVD despite an old 12” Criterion LaserDisc set with almost as many extras as this DVD.  Science Fiction would become secondary to often-schlocky Horror films until the mid-1960s, when it experienced a rebirth.  One way or the other, hundreds to thousands of alien and alien invasion films followed this one, but few really equaled or surpassed what this film achieved.  As you may know, the corny ending in the film is from the book, that the aliens could handle all kinds of military weapons but not an earthly virus.  In the late 1980s, Paramount decided to shoot a syndicated TV series sequel in which the viruses did not kill the aliens and the first season has been issued at the same time this DVD came out.  That is our next review elsewhere on this site.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo