Long ago I saw a stage performance, and while I usually am not drawn to them, this one was special, because it was Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds. And very recently, I listened to a CD of that show, and remembered why I loved it so much, and immediately hunted down my DVD of The War of the Worlds, the 1953 film I hold in as high a regard as Godzilla and King Kong, and one of the films that I couldn't get enough of as a kid, let's go.
The film opens in a very different manner to the sci fis of today, with a narrated introduction to the Martians, setting up their reasons for attacking Earth in a surprisingly decent effects heavy scene, before getting down to Earth with the meteor crash, and giving an introduction to some of the film's characters. Our lead characters, and pretty much the only characters you gravitate to in the film, are Dr Forrester and Sylvia; Dr Forrester gets the job done as the lead hero of the film, he's a scientist, so he's smart, and he is there when the shit's going down, giving us a good perspective of the invasion, but as a character, he's not as interesting as the scenario around him, and what development he has isn't well incorporated into the story, but more just delivered in blobs. Sylvia has the same problem; an interesting enough character with development that's just dumped in exposition heavy scenes, rather than told throughout the film. I can't really see this as a bad thing however, since a lot of films of the period were like this, the original version of one of my favourite westerns; 3:10 to Yuma, had the same problem, and films these days are bound to have more complex characters anyway. What's truly fascinating about this film and actually a bit freaky is the depiction of the end of the world on offer here. This is at times an intensely morbid film, and it's portrayal of 'the rout of civilisation' is very unsettling, as people start running for their lives and turning on one another to survive. While it's more reflective of the period, I particularly like people's retreat into their faith, and it, again, is very morbid, especially near the end of the film, when you see churches packed with praying people as the Martians level the city outside, and the scenes of panic and chaos, immediately followed by utter desolation, are unpleasant to watch. This is something that still brings chills, because it's in human nature, apocalyptic events are accompanied by lawlessness and anarchy, as people fight to survive in an unfamiliar and primal world, and this film nails it, and is very depressing in the process. The film is filled with side characters to flesh out its themes, military guys are abundant, as are scientists, and again religion plays a part in the film's characters, with one particularly interesting character; Uncle Mathew, who's only in the film briefly, but adds an interesting element to the film, and makes its theme of religion all the more bleak and depressing. It is a shame that the film's characters are flatter than its story, but what story's on offer here is really good, even with it's very abrupt ending, which is more of a problem with the source material than the film itself, and is a very convenient Deus ex Machina that, while kind of making a bit of sense, comes across as sudden and underwhelming.
Elements of the original novel have been changed or abandoned for this film however, the setting has been switched to a more contemporary setting of 1950's California, rather than 19th century England, and the tripod fighting machines have been replaced by more conventional flying saucer type craft, albeit with invisible magnetic flux legs, and an eye stork that houses the death ray, other elements like the Martians eating humans and the red weed have been dropped, and the Martians themselves look very 1950's, and are easily the cheesiest and most outdated thing in the film. But as far as outdated things go, the most outdated things are the Martians and the flat characters; the effects, while not comparable to modern CG from a technical standpoint, are still very impressive and, in my opinion, cooler, but I'll always prefer props and puppets to CG, I grew up watching Supermarionation and Tokusatsu. And when the effects heavy scenes come, it's awesome, The Martian ships a simplistic in their appearance, but still look cool, and the effects used to create their weapons holds up very well, unlike when they turn people into ash, which does look goofy. The scenes where the military try and fail to fight the Martians are exciting and loud, as they should be, as guns and tanks are let loose on the Martians, and the practicality of the effects is so full of charm, and adds a physicality and weight to the film that really adds to its bleakness. The film's sound effects and music are also great, the shriek of the death ray is an awesome noise, with all the perfect amounts of power and otherworldliness, and is very charming in that old sci fi movie kind of way, and the same can be said for the music. All in all, The War of the Worlds is a film I very much enjoy; the film's characters are flat, and the film does a poor job of giving them any genuine development, but they get the job done in the roles they fill. The film's story however is excellent, depicting an exciting alien invasion and an unsettling downfall of society as the Martians begin wiping out humanity, and the surviving humans become desperate and violent. Some elements of the film are symptoms of its age; the emphasis on religion, which is a surprisingly interesting element, and the goofy look of the Martians, as well as failings like its characters, but its visual effects hold up very well, and look really good despite the age. Arguably the film's greatest flaw isn't even a flaw with the film, but with the book it's based on, and whether or not that's a flaw at all is debatable. The War of the Worlds is an excellent little sci fi, and it's definitely worth watching.
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