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The War of the Worlds | Year: 1953 Classification: Science Fiction Directed: - Byron Haskin Actors/Actresses: - Gene Barry - Ann Robinson - Les Tremayne Great for its time! If you have ever listened to the original Orson Welles' infamous radio show of the same name, you will have to watch this movie. The story begins as a meteor crashes to the earth and puzzles the residents of a California town. The incident isn't given much thought, until one night, everything in town turns off. No electricity, no phones, watches stop. Gene Barry, the resident scientist from Pacific Tech, is trying to find out what's going on, as masters' student Ann Robinson tries to help.....predictably, they fall in love while chaos ensues all over the planet. The aliens are not friendly. Their technology outdoes anything on earth. Not even atomic energy seems to stop them. So, what does? You'll have to watch this and see. The movie is somewhere between a really great B movie and an actual heavy duty motion picture event. The story is entertaining, and the writing is not as corny and stilted as a lot of sci fi movies made in the 50's. And whoa, those special effects! Not bad for an old classic! "They murder everything that moves." Holy Schnikes! Run for the hills! It's all out Martian mayhem as Legendary director and producer George Pal brings to life H.G. Wells classic story of alien invasion with this 1953 release of War of the Worlds, directed by Byron Haskin. The film stars Gene Barry as Dr. Clayton Forrester, a scientist who finds himself quickly caught up in an invasion of the likes never seen before on this world. Ann Robinson plays Sylvia Van Buren, a teacher and most likely love interest for Dr. Forrester later on in the film. The film opens with a meteor landing near a small town in California. As the local yokels gather with amazement and awe, the authorities contact Dr. Forrester along with a couple of other scientists, who happen to be on a camping trip within the area. Dr. Forrester questions why the meteor didn't make a larger crater, theorizing that maybe it's hollow, but there's nothing to be done until the cosmic rock cools. Which it does...and then opens, much to the surprise of three men left to watch over the rock. Even more surprising is what comes out of the rock, in the form of a shiny metallic armature with a glowing, red orb-like appendage at the end. What the heck is it? We soon find out at the three ill-fated men try to communicate with the device, and learn the hard way that these visitors are not of the friendly, Reese's Pieces eatin' variety but of the annihilate everything in their path type aliens. The military soon arrives, and proceeds to surround the area in hopes of containing whatever it is that fell from the sky. And speaking of falling from the sky, many more of these meteors begin arriving from space, in locations all over the world. Can you say full-blown invasion? You better believe it, my droogies. Why? Why not? Early on, we learn that the Martians are having a hard time making a go of it on Mars, and are looking to, in the immortal words of TV's The Jefferson's, 'Move on up, to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky' and they decided Earth is a prime piece of pie...Fish don't fry in the kitchen/beans don't burn on the grill, took a whole lotta tryin'/just to get up that hill...oops, sorry, got carried away there...only problem...it's littered with pesky humans. What's a dying alien culture supposed to do? Wipe out all humans and assume control of the planet...sounds like a plan to me. Thing is, humans have seemed to always enjoy a good scrap, so I doubt they will go quietly into that good night... The aliens begin to get jiggy with it, using their advanced space rays to mess with our atomic glue, destabilizing the very particles that hold objects and people together, causing objects within the path of the rays to cease existing. Not a bad way to go, but certainly a fearsome power to have to try and defend against. Not only that, but the aliens have some sort of shielding that protects them against all our conventional weaponry. Nutz...looks like we're doomed...Oh well, we had a pretty good run, righ When worlds collide I am by no means a fan of science fiction movies but of the few that I do enjoy, "The War of the Worlds" is my favorite sci-fi flick. Devlin Emmerich's 'Independence Day" has nothing on this film despite having the state of the art special effects. "The War of the Worlds" was based on a radio program that legendary actor Orson Welles read one Halloween night and caused a lot of people to freak out because they thought what they were hearing were true. Dr. Clayton Forrester played by the handsome Gene Barry comes across a small town in California. He was called by the townsfolk to investigate the meteor that crash landed in their town. What Forrester soons discovers is that the meteor that crashed was no meteor. Chaos ensues when the aliens reveal themselves and their deadly intentions. For its time, "The War of the Worlds" had quite the special effects. It may not be as dazzling as that modern rip-off "Independence Day" and even the '80s tv series of the same namesake but it certainly had heart and was more entertaining. I remember first seeing the film in high school and enjoying every second of it, and ten years later I still enjoy watching "The War of the Worlds". Too bad Devlin Emmerich didn't have a backbone and had to ape the concept of this film for his atrocious "Independence Day". That just lacked originality. Nothing beats the original concept of aliens invading earth than "The War of the Worlds" in my book. 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