The War of the Worlds
Published August 6, 2025
Film info
- Title The War of the Worlds
- Director Byron Haskin
- Year 1953
- Run time 1hr 25m
- Genres Science Fiction, Action
- Tagline Mighty panorama of earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!
The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:43 | Superscience! |
| 2:39 | Aww, poor Pluto, still a planet back then. |
| 6:16 | “But it’s a whale of a size.” Whale for scale. |
| 10:38 | She calls that a beard?? He can disguise himself like Clark Kent can. |
| 16:38 | That’s the tricky thing isn’t it, aliens won’t know what a white flag means. How else to say ‘we come in peace’. |
| 21:40 | Policeman isn’t supposed to be the cowardly one. |
| 28:26 | Tell me that woman isn’t there just to hand out the tea. |
| 40:38 | This just has a real Thunderbirds feeling about it, I love it. |
| 50:25 | As always, it was better before we could see the creatures. |
| 55:58 | So, for Martians, what would the strategic significance of the British Isles be? It’s tiny. |
| 1:03:28 | “Attention please, four minutes to bomb time.” We can’t come up with a better phrase than ‘bomb time’? |
| 1:11:52 | “Money’s no good anymore, Mac.” |
| 1:24:52 | “Saved by the littlest thing.” Cute. |
Thoughts
What a treat this old-school War of the Worlds adaptation, so you have to adjust your expectations accordingly. The effects are surprisingly good, although it did, at times, feel like I was watching an episode of Thunderbirds. The models and the flames and the sirens and the little emergency vehicles, it was good!
The story was well told, stiff upper lip acting that you’d expect from the 1950s, but a lot of fun along the way. My only real problem with it was it leant a little too far into the religious side of things, for me. The chaplain thinking he can make a difference, and everyone praying for, and thinking they got, a miracle in the church at the end. It’s a little bit on the nose but ultimately of its time. I really enjoyed it.
Rating: 4 / 5