Customer Reviews

War of The Worlds

5 star:		(203)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

War of the Worlds has been on DVD before, but it's much better in this special edition, restored and presented, thankfully, in full frame, as it was shot. The print quality is just beautiful, and the movie looks as good as it's ever looked. Special features are also of a high standard: especially welcome are the commentaries by stars Ann Robinson and Gene Barry. Barry seems a little less in command than Robinson, but she graciously compensates, by eloquently describing her experiences, her affection for Barry and producer George Pal, and the film itself, with which she seems wonderfully familiar. Her insight is detailed, sometimes funny, exhaustive, and genuinely revealing--even down to the revelation of a cameo by Woody Woodpecker. Images are so crisp that the wires supporting the ships are sometimes sadly visible, but fans will be so caught up in the frightening story that this won't matter much at all. For those who love this film, I'd say get out there and pick this up: someone got it right, and went to the trouble to present this admired film in an edition that can really be called "special". What a pleasure to see old Technicolor the way it was meant to be seen! A great movie, and a great DVD.

Based on H.G. Wells' classic novel, George Pal's The War Of The Worlds is a classic in its own right. The movie transfers the story from England and the turn of the century to California and the 1950's. Some people see the paranoia of the '50s in the movie but the novel also had a strong theme of fear of things beyond our ken. Pal often included a religious theme in his movies and this film would have been better without it, but it does not detract from the movie enough to keep it from being a classic. The story is that of an invasion of Earth by coldly intelligent Martians. Told in clear, bold strokes with exceptional special effects (for the time) and fine performances by the two leads, Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, The War Of The Worlds should be in every collection of science fiction movies.

The DVD transfer is excellent. The picture is sharp and clear. The color is strong and rich, as Technicolor should be. Like most people, I had only seen this movie on television and it never looked as good as it does on DVD. The picture resolution is so good that you can easily see the wires supporting the Martian war machines. The sound does not measure up to the standard of the video. It is mono and there are cracks and pops on the sound track during the early part of the movie, though I didn't notice them as much in the later scenes (but that may simply be because I was caught up in the excitement of the story). The disk provides only a trailer as supplemental material (I don't consider scene selection to be a special feature, it should be standard on any DVD). The disk is formatted in TV standard but that is not significantly different from the movie's original ratio, since it was not shot in what we now call widescreen.

Although I would have liked to see more supplemental material, this is still a fine DVD of a nearly fifty year old movie that has not received the special treatment of movies like The Wizard Of Oz.

If you have a VHS version with which you are satisfied, hang on to it: the DVD release of 1953's WAR OF THE WORLDS is a slipshod and very shabby affair.

Loosely based on the classic H.G. Wells novel, WAR OF THE WORLDS moves the original story from late 19th Century England to 1950s California, where a group of scientists confront an invasion from Mars. Arriving in meteor-like projectiles and sweeping across the landscape in strange, birdlike machines armed with death-rays, the Martians prove invincible to human attack. How can mankind survive?

The great attraction of the film is its special effects, which is early 1950s state-of-the-art in its combination of rear-screen projections, miniatures, and truly imaginative design. But the film also has an additional interest, for it is very much of its time, presenting us with some of the most relentlessly stereotypical characters to ever reach the screen. This is particularly true in terms of gender roles, for seldom has any film before or after created such a hysteria-prone and clinging leading lady as Sylvia Van Buren, played here by the hapless Ann Robinson. Not only would the special effects and story prove tremendously influential, so too would the film's gender stereotyping. While the slightly earlier THE THING offered a strong female lead, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS would generally set the tone for every sci-fi leading lady well into the 1960s.

But all of this is analytical criticism. We may hoot a bit at the incredibly broad performances, the frequently silly dialogue, and the truly ludicrous gender roles, but WAR OF THE WORLDS is a tremendous amount of fun to watch. It makes you want to break out a bag of popcorn and curl up with friends and family in true Saturday matinee fashion. And it is a great pity that the DVD release is so... well... dire.

The DVD was transferred from a poor-condition print riddled with artifacts. In an effort to compensate for this, the technicians have toyed with the contrast, and as a result the picture quality varies from foggy to grainy--and in the process quite often reveals the wires used to manipulate the famous Martian machines. Adding insult to injury, the technicians have also fiddled with the color balance, often reducing the film's brilliant colors to a grayish hues. There are also problems with the sound; when I watched the DVD I found that the sound levels of several scenes were so faint I had to turn up the volume... and then, quite naturally, when the soundtrack returned to normal the blast almost blew me through the wall.

It seems almost beside the point to note that there are no bonus features beyond the original movie trailer--which, sadly, is in better visual condition than the film itself. I purchased this DVD with the idea of replacing my VHS copy, but it was money wasted. Get the VHS and hope that someday someone will give this film the DVD release it deserves.

--GFT (Amazon.com Reviewer)--

The War Of The Worlds DVD

The War Of The Worlds is based on the story by that name by the , Father of Science Fiction, H.G. Wells, at least in the english language. It's about an invasion of Earth by what is thought to be Martians with superhuman talents and weapons. This story was made famous by Orson Wells on his Halloween special on October 30, 1938 when he reenacted it on a CBS radio show as if it were true, using actual street names and place names to make it more realistic. People panicked grabbed their guns and hid their children. Gene Barry plays the protagonist in the movie with Ann Robinson as his "love interest" (got to have a pretty girl).

Highly recommended for fans of science Fiction, both books and movies, to see the roots of what is coming out even today See A Hymn Before Battle (Posleen War Series #1)John Ring's Posleen War series beginninig with
A Hymn Before Battle



Gunner March, 2008

I wish Amazon would separate reviews for old and new releases of the same film. In this case, I would hate for any potential buyers to be scared away from Paramount's recent (November, 2005) re-release of the 1953 classic, "The War of the Worlds," because they read the negative comments about an earlier DVD release.

This newest release has an exceptionally clear picture, a great 2.0 stereo mix, and a plethora of extras that are worth far more than the selling price. At around ten bucks, it's a steal.

One of my fav sci-fi films from the 50's. It had some of the best SFX of the time. The only thing that bugs me about the film is its length. At 82mins its a little short. The models of the war machines are some of the coolest of the time. I have seen this film multiple times and it never fails to entertain.

I hope no one is paying the prices these vendors are now selling this dvd at. Yes its out of print but it will be released later this year with the new film in a special editon format. The current out of print was on store shelves for years and was selling for around $15. Sellers got wind of the fact it was out of print and with the new movie just released have been selling them at ridiculous prices. Even on ebay buyers are paying between 50-80 bucks for these things. I dont understand why anyone would pay between 50-120 bucks for an 82 min movie that is bound to be released again and most likely will be on tv again at some point when someone pays license fees.(TCM has shown it uncut but no longer does)

I was fortunate enough to see this George Pal classic upon its original release in 1953, and it was an awesome experience for a 13 year old boy! I saw it on the big screen again in 1977, when it was re-released to cash in on the tremendous success of Star Wars, and it was just as good the second time around. The special effects held up very well, even against that formidable competition. And, of course, I'd seen it many times on TV and I have it also on videotape, so I really like this movie!

But this DVD edition was a bit of a disappointment. The image quality is good, as is the sound, but there are no bonus features at all. (I don't consider the movie trailer and a scene index to be "bonus" features any more, but "standard" DVD features.) A true classic of the sci-fi genre like this should have been given "star" treatment, with commentaries, behind-the-scenes stuff, etc. Why bother to bring it out on DVD if you're not going to give it the royal treatment? Still, it's worth being in anybody's DVD collection, if only for completeness. But if you just want to see the movie, the videotape edition is cheaper, and AMC shows it quite regularly.

I recently saw this movie for the first time on VHS and was surprised at the many similarities I found associated with the blockbuster Independence Day. Still the story is pure fun in its own right, the special effects are quite special given the 1953 release date and the technicolor will blow you away - I couldn't wait to add this movie to my collection.

Imagine my surprise when I found the VHS to be a 'better' transfer than the DVD. This transfer leaves much to be desired (dust) which is a pitty given the quality of the film and the effects that went into it.

A let down from a studio that yields no extras and large price tags -PARAMOUNT in cost NOT quality.

I won't repeat the plot details since there are so many viewer reviews here. I'm a home theater buff. I actually saw this film in 1953 when I was a little kid but that's not so important right now. I have the laserdisc special edition of this film mastered in 1993 and it's terrific. They took a lot of care creating a new IP for the film transfer and retrieved the archival original full coat mag sound elements to create a high quality stereo soundtrack for the laserdisc edition. Apparently, when the DVD master was created, they either lost all this or they just didn't care. The film transfer for the DVD is very grainy and the audio is awful, sounds like a mono optical track pulled off a release print. What a shame! And what a sucker I feel like for buying the DVD and thinking it would be technically better than the old laserdisc. Someone at Paramount cut too many corners on this one! If you are a quality freak like me then avoid this DVD version. It is not very good. Look for the 1993 laserdisc with the "1st time Stereo Soundtrack" label prominently displayed on the back cover art.

Great special effects for it's time and fine performances highlight this adaption of the H.G. Wells classic novel. One of the best science-fiction movies of the 50s and can still hold it's own today. My son loves it as much as I do and a great movie to watch with the kids. A true 50s sci-fi classic.