The War of the Worlds

1953
PG
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

40K

YOUR RATING

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1 Video

99+ Photos

Alien Invasion Sci-Fi Epic Action Sci-Fi Thriller

A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

40K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 2 nominations total

Dr. Pryor
(as Bob Cornthwaite)

Sandro Giglio

Dr. Bilderbeck

Lewis Martin

Pastor Dr. Matthew Collins

Houseley Stevenson Jr.

Gen. Mann's Aide
(as Housely Stevenson Jr.)

Paul Frees

Second Radio Reporter…

William Phipps

Wash Perry
(as Bill Phipps)

Vernon Rich

Col. Ralph Heffner

Henry Brandon

Cop at Crash Site

Jack Kruschen

Salvatore

Cedric Hardwicke

Commentary
(voice)
(as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)

Peter Adams

Pine Summit Fire Watcher
(uncredited)

Eric Alden

Man
(uncredited)

Hugh Allen

Brigadier General
(uncredited)

Ruth Barnell

Mother
(uncredited)

Edgar Barrier

Prof. McPherson
(uncredited)

Director
- Byron Haskin
Writers
- H.G. Wells
- Barré Lyndon
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The estate of H.G. Wells was so pleased with the final production that it offered George Pal his choice of any other of Wells' properties. Pal chose The Time Machine (1960).

Goofs
Modern viewers often complain that the wires used to suspend the Martian war machines are plainly visible throughout the film. The film was originally shot in three strip Technicolor, with prints made using a dye transfer process that resulted in very saturated colors, but with a slight reduction in overall resolution. This reduction in resolution "fuzzed out" the wires in original prints, making them effectively invisible. Later prints were made in Eastman Color, which uses a photographic process and yields sharper prints, but here had the side effect of making the support and electric wires plainly visible - the models had electrical wires as the side pods of the machines really lit up green and the "cobra heads" lit up as well. It is common practice in the film industry to take into account what details will be visible when a print is projected so as not to waste production time and money on details that will never actually be visible to a viewing audience, especially in the areas of effects and matte paintings. Thus, the filmmakers never thought the wires would be visible and in fact they weren't until the first Eastman Color prints of the film were struck in the late 1960s, and they had become even more visible on modern video releases as there is no dye sublimation resolution loss when making video masters from the original negatives. In the 2018 restoration this was resolved using digital technology.

Quotes
Radio Reporter: All radio is dead, which means that these tape recordings I'm making are for the sake of future history - If any.

Alternate versions
For the 2018 restoration Ben Burtt created a new 5.1 surround sound mix with replacements for many of the film's original sound effects, with the jarring result that the sound effects have fidelity far above that of surrounding dialogue in the film. The 2020 Criterion Collection release features this new sound mix as well as the original mono track.

Connections
Edited from When Worlds Collide (1951)

Soundtracks
Paramount on Parade
(uncredited)
Written by Elsie Janis and Jack King
Played over the opening logo

User reviews302

Featured review

What more can be said?

I was 6 when I saw War of the Worlds, my first color sci-fi film, "live" in a theater. (We did not have TV then!). I've seen all the other classics like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "Day the Earth Stood Still", "Them", "The Thing", etc. before and after WOTW, all good films but War of The Worlds was in a class all by itself. I know, the Brits lampoon the film all the time because it's not set in England/London, and not in the proper time period. I didn't know why it was updated and set in LA but..as a 6 year old I could have cared less...the movie was magical, frightening and memorable.

Over the years I've read the book and and seen dozens of films within this genre. Yes, FX are far better now but 50 years ago this film set the standard. I hope the rumored remake in 2004 can be as memorable. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson did a great job. (If they're up to it, it would be neat for them to have cameos) Has anyone compared the farmhouse scene to the similar scene in "Close Encounters". Both deliver the goods...they scare the heck out of you. The sound effects were so outstanding the producers of the new film should consider using them again! All true WOTW fans know that the sounds of the "cobra" and the weapons fire are sounds you never forget..like the antenna sounds of "Them".

Try to look past the re-locating and re-dating, kick back and enjoy a film that was king for 20-30 years, not topped until "2001", "Star Wars", "Close Encounters" and "Alien" came along.