Views on the 2005 and 1953 original War of the Worlds

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2006)

I was thrilled to know that Stephen Spielberg was remaking the War of the Worlds which came out last July, 2005. Having seen the original and owning it on DVD I was eager to compare the two. HG Wells' classic story is timeless and can be adapted for different concerns of different generations. The 1953 version was made at time of the post-war atomic age where for the first time we were reliving in fear of being wiped out by the newly-found super-science eg: the atomic bomb. The cold war put forward the idea of being attacked by other nations and remember, the UFO phenomenon had taken hold. The film saw the earth being attacked by these invaders from Mars with mankind fighting for survival until the invaders were destroyed by the unlikely slaying of a virus which killed them. The very real threat of being attacked by something or someone with superior technology somehow seemed possible. In the original 1953 film, flying swan shaped machines replaced the heavy lumbering tripod conception of Well's original. The special effects department thought this a good idea and indeed it worked for the time. The overhead wire technique was used to propel the machine along and you can just about make this out in some scenes in the movie. The message of fear of invasion had been established.
The remake, although modelled on the original, concerned our very real threat of being attacked by terrorists. Spielberg himself said that the film was inspired my the events of 9/11 and showcased a very vivid story of what could happen if we were attacked and showed Tom Cruise desperately trying to protect his family from the onslaught of these enemies. The effects in both films were brilliant. The 1953 original was good for the time it was made and I still have shivers when watching it: the hissing of the invaders, the the heat ray, the scene where the three men come to greet the Martians etc. The tripods in the re-make were really brilliant and the alien design so real. Just listen to the sound of those wars machines out side the bunker where Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning and Tim Robbins were. Could we perhaps learn a lesson from the story today? It gives food for though as to our own time where the threat of attack is still ugly and real.Plot wise, I would have to agree with other user's comments that Spielberg could have added more scenes in the way of the military fighting the aliens and remember in the first film the deadly heat ray vaporising the tanks and combat units. What is different though in the remake is of course our not being told of where the invaders come from, which adds to our tension. My advice is to watch the original first and then the remake and you will get a better overview of the story line. Result I would give 7 out of 10.