n Southern California, what appears to be a large meteor streaks across the sky and lands on the outskirts of a small town. Some of the locals who saw the object crash decide to check it out. Not quite knowing what they've found, they decide to ask some scientists camping nearby to give the encrusted, vaguely cylindrical "meteor" a look-see.
Among these scientists is Dr. Clayton Forrester (Barry), a physicist of some renown, who, after a brief inspection of the foreign object, also finds himself a bit stumped--he'll have to do some tests once the thing's cooled off. Later that evening, as Forrester is square-dancing the night away with the fetching young Sylvia Van Buren (Robinson), whom he met at the crash site, all the town's lights, phones and clocks suddenly go dead.
What then rises from the pit is something almost too incredible to believe--a flying, alien craft possessing remarkably destructive power (including a menacing heat ray) and it's not interested in making peace with the people of Earth. These are invaders from Mars, and they're landing all over the planet!
The Martians, superintelligent refugees from a dying world, make quick business of overtaking much of the Earth's surface, intending to make the planet their own. They seem invincible--no Earth weapons, not even the atom bomb, has any effect on them; their ships protected by some kind of "electronic shielding." But perhaps a bit of Martian technology and some of the horrendous creatures' blood, obtained by Forrester and van Buren as they narrowly escape a run-in with the aliens, could hold the key to repelling the invaders.
All Forrester and a team scientists need is a safe, stocked laboratory in which to work. Humanity may undo itself in the end, though, as all of Los Angeles is rioting in panic.
A classic among classics
Byron Haskin's masterful The War of the Worlds (produced by George Pal), based on H.G. Wells' classic, turn-of-the-century novel of the same name, has spawned many imitations and homages since being unleashed on the public.
Its Academy Award-winning special effects and dynamic sound, certainly nothing short of completely amazing when the film was made, have stood the test of time well, and the film's gorgeous colors, dramatic sets and all-around fantastic artistic design make for a rich cinematic experience. The aliens themselves, moving across the Earth like a patient and deadly storm in their ominous, otherworldly ships, are still a chilling sight.
The story itself is efficiently and effectively written and directed, and, while perhaps not a faithful adaptation of Wells' book, it is a smart modernization of it, drawing on Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast for some elements. The film, like the novel, also does a wonderful job of portraying a disaster of this magnitude.
It's this "modernizing," however, that dates the film a bit. It may be hard for some viewers to get past what nowadays could be seen as somewhat hokey character interaction and sentimentality. All sorts of hegemonic American Cold War flags go up on this one as well.
This version's favoring of the relationship between Forrester and van Buren also takes away from the experience of the tale to a small degree. Van Buren's efforts to make sure she doesn't appears too smart (she's "only" got an M.A. in library sciences, after all) in front of Dr. Forrester is cringe-worthy, while Forrester's periodic roughing her up (throwing her around supposedly to get her out of harm's way, shaking her violently to get her to stop acting "hysterical," etc.) could be downright gasp-able to today's audiences.
All in all, though, this movie is a must-see.
