One of the most adapted novels of all time is H.G. Wells THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. Originally published in 1897, it has inspired several feature films, a 1980s TV series and infamously the 1938 radio broadcast from Orson Welles which convinced Americans that the world was indeed being invaded, such was the power of suggestion!
In 1953 legendary producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin took the basic ideas of Wells’ original novel and adapted it to a 1950s nuclear ideal when manta-shaped, telegraph pole shaped heat ray blazing ships landed in California and then proceeded to obliterate everything they saw and touched, with only the insights of a USC physicist, Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) and others to try and save the day.
For a novel written at the end of the 19th century, the novel was such an imaginative experience, told in a first-person narrative of one guy fleeing Surrey, England and heading towards London, where he meets another loner Ogilvy and having to face up to the elements such as the ‘Red Weed’
In 2005, Steven Spielberg would be the ideal choice for this film, having covered alien invasions in a more pacifist way in the likes of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) and E.T. – THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982), which were hugely popular in their time and still are fondly appreciated all round.
Spielberg’s version of the Wells novel is anything but, but although it lacks some of the faithful elements of the novel, relocated to New Jersey rather than London, it retains the basic essence of what makes the Wells novel such a legendary classic.
Crane shift worker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced father of two who has a habit of lacking punctuality with ex-wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto, LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy). They have two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Mary Ann is heading off with new partner Tim (David Alan Basche) for a weekend away,
Mary Ann is not impressed with Ray’s way of living and is pressuring Robbie to complete a paper on Algeria in time for Monday. Ray’s approach to parenting in terms of supporting is to advise Rachel to order, which she does, in the form of hummus and other health food stuff from a local shop she kept a menu from. Robbie disappears with Ray’s car, causing consternation, but suddenly from above, explosive flashes of light appear, hitting the ground in one place in the local town area.
Ray scolds Robbie for taking his car and threatens the police next time if he goes without permission, telling him to wait in the house.
Ray heads with other locals to the area where the lightning hit, but discovers all of a sudden there is more to this. The ground begins to crumble and shake – to reveal a rather ominous and huge metallic machine – which proceeds to start zapping everything in sight. Ray heads home and grabs his children – and the first vehicle he can find to escape….
Morgan Freeman provides the opening narration, retaining the opening lines of the original book (‘No-one would have believed…’ etc) and as an adaptation, WAR OF THE WORLDS is a better version at times than the 1953 version, although that is very much watchable in its’ own way as a film even today)
Spielberg knows how to work an audience and there are some great moments here (Chatwin has the best line in the film when Cruises tells him these aliens are from ‘somewhere else’) and more of the elements in the book are retained, including Martian war machines that are very much like the ones Wells described in the book (though disappointingly, the toxic drums in the book that are spat out onto the landscape by the machines, which did feature in a PlayStation game adaptation years ago, are not here)
Cruise is very good in the lead role and works well with Spielberg, having appeared in MINORITY REPORT before this. Visual effects are great from ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) and John Williams, long-term collaborator with Spielberg, provides a great score as always