The War of the Worlds is an impressive movie from the technical standpoint though I felt the writing wasn’t the best and the ending was terribly abrupt and not especially satisfying.
The War of the Worlds
– Paramount Presents –
(1953)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Action, Fantasy
Paramount| G – 85 min. | September 27, 2022
Date Published: 09/27/2022 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Scientist Clayton Forrester (GENE BARRY) and Sylvia Van Buren (ANN ROBINSON) are the first to arrive at the site of a meteorite crash. Soon after, an alien war machine emerges and begins killing at random. The Marines are called in, but they’re no match for the aliens’ force field. Forrester and Van Buren, however, are able to wound one of the creatures and procure a sample of its blood. They take it to Los Angeles where they hope, through testing, to be able to discover the aliens’ weakness. Quick Hit Review: The War of the Worlds is a movie I had heard of even before Spielberg’s version from 2005 but never got around to watching. Seeing it now, while the script isn’t the best and the acting not the best, though typical of these 1950s sci-fi flicks, I was moderately impressed with the practical effects and the designs of the alien ships as they wreaked havoc upon the planet; I have to think audiences were pretty wowed by the effects back then, although even today it’s better than the schlock on SyFy or lower budget theatrical films. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3¾/5 |
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This is part of the The War of the Worlds/When Worlds Collide double feature and comes with a slip cover and is part of the “Paramount Presents” line (#35). Inside are codes for both films. Audio Commentaries:
The Sky is Falling: Making The War of the Worlds (29:59) — This archive featurette from 2005 includes interviews with the cast and crew discussing their time working on the production and how it came to be. H.G. Wells: The Father of Science Fiction (10:29) — Another older featurette, this a biography on the renowned author. The Mercury Theatre on the Air Presents The War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast (59:30) that was recorded on October 30th, 1938. Interestingly, according to the text, listeners were convinced it was real. Original Theatrical Trailer (2:20) |
VIDEO – 4¾/5 |
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The War of the Worlds comes to 4K Ultra HD, presented in the original 1.33 full frame aspect ratio and given a 2160p high-definition transfer. The back cover makes no mention of where the transfer was from or if there was any restoration done, but I assume this was taken from the Paramount vaults. In any case, the picture does look incredible with sharp detail for both distant and close-up shots while colors are vibrant, most notably the array on the Martians’ armor or the green exterior while skin tones also appear well balanced. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
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Also a pleasant surprise was the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Dialogue comes across the center channel with good clarity while the attack sequence does deliver a wallop throughout every speaker: front, sides and back, very nice depth for a movie going on close to 60 years old. I didn’t detect any considerable hissing, pops or other flaws. |
OVERALL — 4/5 |
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The War of the Worlds is an impressive movie from the technical standpoint though I felt the writing wasn’t the best and the ending was terribly abrupt and not especially satisfying. Beyond that, the video and audio transfers were excellent and has a fair amount of features. |