original "WAR of the WORLDs" 1953

[green papaya]

I just picked up War of the Worlds on DVD and they show lots of 1940's - 50's style clothing, automobiles, lots of suits, fedora hats, sporting clothes, also a guy wearing a commercial version of the leather A2 flight jacket [except his had two zippered hand pockets]
did not have the A2 flap pockets with snap, but it had the brass zippered front, collar, epaulets, wool cuff & waistband like an A2.

filmed on location on the streets of Los Angeles early 50's

plus it's filmed in high quality "technicolor" :cool2:

 

[DanielJones]

I'd have to say I like that one better thant the Tom Cruz version. It may have been a bit campy but the story line was much more enjoyable. I just couldn't get into the new one or feel any emotion for the characters. Dakota Fanning did a good job but it wasn't enough to carry the film. Granted the visual effects were better than the 1953 version, but special effects just don ammount to much if the story falls flat.
Now, I heard rumor somewhere that they were going to do a remake of Fantastic Voyage. with the visual effects now they should be able to make something visually pleasing. Lets just hope they don't botch up that story line.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Vanessa]

one DVD I'm not going to buy

This is the only movie that ever actually scared me. . . Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Jaws, Exorcist - all rather blah for me.. But War of The Worlds - man oh man, I had nightmares for years.
Sad, I know.

 

[Bill O'Rights]

This is the only movie that ever actually scared me. . . But War of The Worlds - man oh man, I had nightmares for years.

Yup. Me too.

 

[Vanessa]

I'm glad I'm not alone. I caught the new one with Tom Cruise and was more or less unimpressed.
But just thinking about the original one right now is causing bad thoughts.

(Well, ok - I have to admit that that scene in "Signs" when the alien steps out from the trees next to the garage and the kids are screaming "Es behiiiiiiiind" - that kinda freaks me out too on the same level as War of The Worlds)

 

[DanielJones]

A good ghost story...

I think that's what I liked about the 1953 version. It played on your emotions. That movie was a very mental film. It had that element of the Red Scare behind it, but it was more than just that. It was a boggie man bump in the night movie. It played on your fears more than trying to impress you with visual effects.
The new version took a good scary story and deflaited it. Spielberg relied too heavily on the visuals and didn't play on the emotional at all. With the new one I felt nothing for the characters. They could have all been evaporated and there would have still been the unfulfilled feeling. The gave nothing to the character for you to care about. On top of it Spielberg gave you nothing to fear. It just was not impressive like the original.
Vanessa, the original was so good that it did it's job properly. The film makers did their job well. They scared the willies out of you with a good ghost story. That's why the 1953 version is so much better.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Andykev]

War of the disappointment

The original movie was in an era of the "Red Scare", where we as a society were fearful of invasion. So, be it Martians, or the Russians. There was a lot of good special effects, and a believable story line.

Jump ahead 50 years. Ok, the special effects, and the sound was good. But the story line was horrible. The Martians popped up from below the ground, and they had been there for YEARS? And now they are walking around the planet, eating people, and spraying their blood? Turning Earth in to a Red Planet? And the little girl who screamed the entire movie?

We haven't decided if it joins the DVD collection.

 

[DanielJones]

Sorry, but it won't be joining mine. Spielberg took a good bump in the night story and made the audience not care. It just fee on it's face. The box office numbers were high, but I think it was because of all the Tom Cruze hype before it ever came out. Oh well, live and learn.
Now, has anyone here ever listen to Orson Wells RKO radio program?

People were so scared by that one, that some went toes up out of fear, and without all the visual effects too. Now that was the power of the mind treated to a good ghost story.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Rigby Reardon]

I remember a made for TV movie about the night the radio broadcast aired...at least, I THINK it was a made-for-TV movie...back in the 60's or 70's I believe, about all the panic that occurred when it was first played live. You got to see folks flipping out, and hear entire sections of the radio broadcast. Very interesting. I remember the one guy sitting in a jail cell after the cops pulled him over, lamenting, "I didn' kno' it was no radio program."

 

[Andykev]

Those god fearing folks believed, yep.

Yes! Back in the day when people believed the media. What was in the papers was true. What your neighbor promised, happened. Oh, yes. They believed that there was an attack. It was on the radio, wasn't it? Long before Jerry Springer, shock journalizm, slanted reporting, bias media.

Oh yea.

 

[Andykev]

Those god fearing folks believed, yep.

Now, has anyone here ever listen to Orson Wells RKO radio program?

People were so scared by that one, that some went toes up out of fear, and without all the visual effects too. Now that was the power of the mind treated to a good ghost story.

Cheers!

Dan

Yes! Back in the day when people believed the media. What was in the papers was true. What your neighbor promised, happened. Oh, yes. They believed that there was an attack. It was on the radio, wasn't it? Long before Jerry Springer, shock journalizm, slanted reporting, bias media.

Oh yea.

 

[Doh!]

Don't get me started about how much the Cruise version sucks...

The original's been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid, and I wasn't even born yet when it came out! I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen a couple of years ago, and not only does the story still hold up, the effects are gorgeous -- there is nothing like Technicolor! Sure, once in awhile you can see the wires, but I'll take that over the cold, soulless CGI effects any day of the week.

50 years from now, it'll still be an amazing film. Spielberg's? Perhaps a curiosity to film students.

By the way, the making of the radio play was done as a TV movie in 1975 called "The Night That Panicked America"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073454/combined

 

[Rigby Reardon]

That was the movie I was thinking of, Doh, thanks!

 

[Feraud]

The best review of this new War of the Worlds....

The original movie was in an era of the "Red Scare", where we as a society were fearful of invasion. So, be it Martians, or the Russians. There was a lot of good special effects, and a believable story line.

Jump ahead 50 years. Ok, the special effects, and the sound was good. But the story line was horrible. The Martians popped up from below the ground, and they had been there for YEARS? And now they are walking around the planet, eating people, and spraying their blood? Turning Earth in to a Red Planet? And the little girl who screamed the entire movie?

We haven't decided if it joins the DVD collection.

It is great to have the original on dvd. This will be added to my collection.
Give me 50's sci-fi any day!
War or the Worlds, The Thing from Another World, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Forbidden Planet. I was raised on this stuff.

 

[Vanessa]

I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen a couple of years ago,

Eeep! That's one I would not have gone to.

 

[Hondo]

I'm glad I'm not alone. I caught the new one with Tom Cruise and was more or less unimpressed.
But just thinking about the original one right now is causing bad thoughts.

(Well, ok - I have to admit that that scene in "Signs" when the alien steps out from the trees next to the garage and the kids are screaming "Es behiiiiiiiind" - that kinda freaks me out too on the same level as War of The Worlds)

Having been born in 1953, when I caught this at a cheap-o Saturday afternoon matinee it scared the crap out of me as well, (remember that little Martin running out screaming?) the metal sounds, almost creepy sounds of silence. I haven?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t seen Tommy C?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s, version but from previews, Hollywood loves fire and bombs galore, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll stick with this original, hope to pick up DVD soon.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I finally saw this one on DVD for the first time today. It really is a wonderful movie, and there's lots of stuff to see, from clothes and hats to cars and aircraft. Excellent (stock) footage of the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing and the seldom-seen B-45.

I really want General Mann's black 1946-48 Chrysler limo. What a honey of a ride!

 

[52Styleline]

I saw the original 1953 War of the Worlds in my hometown movie house when it first came out. I was pretty small but I can still remember the tension that was built up by not actually showing the martians right away. When the little red critter was actually shown, some of the people in the audience screamed and hid their eyes. I know we weren't as sophisticated (jaded?) in those days, but the movie had a real impact on the audience. The comment about the red scare was bang on the mark. A lot of the scifi movies in the 50's actually reflect the social/political tension of that era. We used to do "duck and cover" drills at school as though that would protect us from an atomic bomb (or Martians either for that matter).