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The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)
 
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The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition) (1953)

Starring: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson Director: Byron Haskin Rating: G (General Audience) Format: DVD
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (274 customer reviews)

List Price: $12.98
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The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition) + The Day the Earth Stood Still + Forbidden Planet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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  • This item: The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition) DVD ~ Gene Barry

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)
81% buy the item featured on this page:
The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition) 4.4 out of 5 stars (274)
$7.49
The Day the Earth Stood Still
7% buy
The Day the Earth Stood Still 4.6 out of 5 stars (415)
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Editorial Reviews

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After the success of 1950's Destination Moon and 1951's When Worlds Collide, visionary producer George Pal brought the classic H.G. Wells story of a Martian invasion to the big screen, and it instantly became a science fiction classic and winner of the 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It's a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. As formations of alien ships continue to wreak destruction around the globe, the military is helpless to stop this enemy while scientists race to find an effective weapon. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the hero and heroine roles that were de rigueur for movies like this in the '50s, and their encounter with one of the Martians is as creepy today as it was in '53. It finally takes an unseen threat--simple Earth bacteria--to conquer the alien invaders, but not before War of the Worlds has provided a dazzling display of impressive special effects. As memorable for its sound effects as for its spectacular visions of destruction, this is a movie for the ages--the kind of spectacular that inspired little kids such as Steven Spielberg (not to mention Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, whose Independence Day cribs liberally from the plot) and still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
H.G. Wells' chilling novel of a Martian invasion of Earth becomes even more frightening in this 1952 film adaptation that's widely regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. An Oscar. winner for Best Special Effects, The War of the Worlds delivers eye-popping thrills, laser-hot action and unrelenting, edge-of-your-seat suspense. No one who has seen the film's depiction of the swan-shaped Martian machines-ticking and hissing menacingly as they cut their path of destruction-will ever forget their ominous impact.

See all Editorial Reviews

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Customer Reviews

274 Reviews
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 (178)
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 (63)
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (274 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Review for special edition: release 11/05, November 6, 2005
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.
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170 of 192 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars DVD Does Justice to a SF Classic, January 28, 2000
By Blackhawk (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The War of the Worlds (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.

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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Grandfather of all Science Fiction Movies in the USA, March 19, 2008
By Gunner (Bethlehem,Georgia) - See all my reviews
  
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

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars war of the worlds
This dvd is so good that you could really see the wires on the spaceships.I dont know why the wires were not painted out. It has great special features. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Robert J. Szvetics

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
When a meteor comes down in an out-of-the-way western town, it seems that they finally have something to put the town on the map. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Kurt A. Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing For Its Day
I really enjoyed this the first two times I saw it but on the third, several years ago, t seemed to have lost its impact. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Craig Connell

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect
The movie itself was excellent! In wonderful condition, I couldn't be happier. . .my only complaint is not with the condition of the movie. . . Read more
Published 1 month ago by Debbie Pearson

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
We like watching the earlier movies ! Myself I like these older types of movies when they were made because they are not all about sex!!!! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lorrain D. Huntley

5.0 out of 5 stars alien invadee
Amazon made it very easy to find the version I needed for my spouse's birthday gift. The movie is still great fun to watch -- the effects are as good as anything found today... Read more
Published 3 months ago by TTTE Fan

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nature of Destruction
The iconic H.G. Wells story of a Martian invasion was given an incredible platform in 1953 to launch into the rarified air reserved for classic films; it won a 1953 Academy Award... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Richard D. Coreno

5.0 out of 5 stars Best movie
This is probably the best Sci-Fi movie for it's time. The special effects were ahead of it's time. Great movie,and I continue to view it several times a year.
Published 5 months ago by Donald A. Ladely

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT GENE BARRY VEHICLE
The story is updated to the 1950s for this film, and the setting is moved from the environs of London to southern California. Dr. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie
The War of the Worlds is one hour and twenty-five minutes long and war released on August 26, 1953. The story begins Linda Rosa, California where a comet like ball crash lands on... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Michael Patrick Boyd

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