H G WELL'S WAR OF THE WORLDS Emmigrates to America

Rating: 5/10 (14 August 2005)

I wasn't much impressed with this version of War of The Worlds. Did it live up to HG Well's original? I don't think so.
HG Wells must be recognized as one of the founders of SciFi and futurism. Writing at the height of the British Imperium in 1898, HG Wells posited the unthinkable a direct attack on the peace and order of the world at its pulsating heart: London with an almost unbeatable foe.
But of course while it might be unimaginable that invincible Britain could be beaten, war drums had spread in the Sudan in 1880s and the mighty British Lion would seem to have met its match in Mahdist rebels. Not to worry, the Mahdist rebels though they took Khartom in 1885 and killed the hero of the Imperium General Gordon, succumbed to a plague left from unburied dead in the wake of their rampage through Khartoom.
Hence the genus of the idea from War of the Worlds put out in 1898 when the last of the Mahdists were being put down: the seemingly indestructible Mahdist enemy wiped out in a plague.
This movie is called HG Well's War of The worlds. A certain liberality was indulged here when Well's story migrated in this movie to American shores. There are stock American characters such as the bratty kid who'll act up in the car when absolute obedience and immediate compliance is required. I suggest in such circumstances a more direct approach than reason and understanding if undertaken in the proper dosage might prove more efficacious.
Then there are the extras the 10th Mountain Division whose badly needed manpower and equipment could have been used elsewhere in the US struggle against the spiritual successors to the Mahdists were devoted to cinematography instead, no doubt to demonstrate the firepower and resources of the current Imperium. The 10th was shown in full retreat, retiring ominously in disorder. When one sends a message out, one best ponder what message might be transmitted. The two might not be the same.
For all the special effects, the movie dragged. I gave it a *** 5 ***.