“Hey, dudes in the spaceship! We need a fourth for bridge!”
The War of the Worlds (1953) is the classic retelling of H. G. Wells’ novel of the same name. This version is far more conventional than the 2012 version, which was quite innovative, but the 1953 version has a certain charm in that the conventional approach makes the violence, both between worlds and between humans, and the imminent end of humanity a bit more shocking; the transition from dum-de-dum-de-dum to We just got the shit kicked out of us! highlights the change from humdrum world to a sudden, surprising, and horrifying end.
The understandable, yet deplorable, fight for individual lives leading to the last hope of humanity being trampled under the heels of people desperate for their individual survival has parallels in our current American political contretemps, although the latter speaks more to the fiercely me-me-me character of the basest human characters, rather than the more noble and effective communal approach.
Technically speaking, while there is an inevitable 1950s-vibe happening, and people of color apparently didn’t exist for this movie, it’s a well made flick: good acting, good script which knows when to be slow and when to pick up the pace, and the special effects are excellent for the era, winning an Academy Award, although the actual Martians, when seen, are almost cartoonish.
Representative of its era, but made to an excellent standard, if you have some historical curiosity then this one has to be on your Must Be Seen List.
