War of the Worlds

When the War of the Worlds, based on a novel by H.G. Wells, was released on film in the United States in 1953, it was a complete success, as evidenced by its three US Academy Award nominations and the Oscar it won for best effects/special effects in 1954.

Following the famed 1938 Mercury Theater radio broadcast presentation of the War of the Worlds by the late Orson Welles and his radio crew, which unexpectedly terrorized much of the United States because of the actors' horrifically realistic portrayal of a so-called Martian invasion of the US East Coast, the movie had much to live up to. But it succeeded so well that the Wells estate immediately gave producer George Pal his choice of Wells' works to do another movie.

One can only wonder whether the Wells estate would be so kind to producers Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson of Steven Spielberg's 2005 version of the classic tale.

Perhaps it was an uphill battle for Spielberg. When the original film was made in 1953, memories of the death, violence and terror of invasion and World War II would have been fresh in the minds of most people, but have we now become so apathetic about death and the suffering that it is difficult to connect to the pain and suffering of others? Is there any longer a need for a cathartic blood letting by the hero or anti-hero at the end of the movie to justify the violence of the preceding hour or so? Back then, the aliens would have been truly horrifying, as was the idea of any kind of alien invasion. Then, too, there were the threats of the Cold War.

Faced with the almost impossible task of making a movie that would engage a modern audience, Spielberg shifts the focus from the general plight of humanity to the specific plight of Tom Cruise and his dysfunctional family. True, there are some moments where Spielberg does try and make us care for a few more people-a ferry scene springs to mind-but mainly we just see Cruise trying to protect the cute daughter and rebellious son. Unfortunately, this scene has been played out a thousand times before in a thousand different movies.

The special effects are, as you would expect from Spielberg, pretty spectacular, but again, they distract from the core of the story. While the 1953 version's special effects are tame by today's standards, they were fresh and new then. Trouble is, we moderns have been spoiled by flashy CGI (computer-generated imagery); it ceases to amaze.

As you can see from this article, the modern remake fails to escape the fact that it will always be compared to the original movie. Times change; the cultural environment of the War of the Worlds has changed. Even though Spielberg deserves respect for tackling such a tricky project, it seems that such remakes are almost all doomed to fail because of the inevitable comparisons with the original and the historic moments that gave rise to it.

I say, rent this movie, but it is not worth an expensive trip to the cinema. Doubtless, at some stage, there will be a double DVD release featuring both versions of the Wells classic, but I think the 1953 version would be the only one worth keeping.