The best way to describe this movie is that it's the 1950's equivalent to the big budget disaster movies of the 90's like Armageddon, Deep Impact, and, of course, Independence Day. In my opinion, though, this movie trumps all of them. This is another one you can't be a 50's sci-fi fan and not know about. Ever since I started to search out the best of these movies when I was a little kid, this one often came up. It was often described as the best alien invasion flick ever. I finally saw it when I was 13. At first, I enjoyed the special effects and battle scenes (which are incredible) but didn't care that much for the characters. However, upon watching it more and more, the movie grew on me completely to the point where I stand by the point that it's the best alien invasion flick ever.
The film starts with a brief history of warfare in the 20th century and the progression of weapon development throughout. It ends with a declaration that this "war of the worlds" will be the most devastating and horrific the Earth has ever seen. After an exciting credits sequence with flashing letters and fast music, Sir Cedric Hardwicke narrates about how civilization on the planet Mars had reached the point of sheer exhaustion and that the Martians were seeking a new planet to migrate to. He then gives reasons why they couldn't go to any of the planets except for Earth (although he skips Venus, for some reason) due to its plentiful continents, fresh water, and life giving water. Then the real story begins: a meteor crashes outside a small California town, eventually revealing itself to be the first unit of a Martian invasion force that uses powerful, hovering craft to destroy everything in their path. It soon escalates into a full-scale war but after a while, it seems like the human race will be wiped out completely.
These Martians make it clear from the second they arrive that they have only one agenda: exterminate everything on the planet and take it over. They don't care about contact, peace negotiations, comprise, nothing. They're cruel and cold, seeing the human race merely as an obstacle in the way of a new better life for them. Their machines are horrifically effective in obliterating anything that stands in their way. The first battle scene between the military and the Martians is an amazing spectacle. The military throws everything at the crafts but the machines are impossible to damage. They use invisible shields to deflect all manner of gunfire and their death rays live up to their name. As the military monitor the Martians' actions, they see that the attack is brilliantly coordinated; they come down in groups of three, form groups, and then completely wipe out the area they've arrived in.
This movie is incredibly frightening for many reasons. One is, as I've described, the Martians' incredible war machines. I love the design of these things. They're shaped sort of like a manta ray, with a swan-like like probe sticking out of the middle. They don't fly so much as hover using magnetic fluxes to travel. Each craft has two basic weapons: a devastating heat ray and green-colored energy bursts that disintegrate anything they hit. The shields they use to protect their craft from enemy fire are impenetrable to the nth degree. As a last ditch effort, the military drops a freaking nuclear bomb on them and it doesn't even scratch them! Nothing can stop them.
This movie does a very good job of conveying the sense that this probably is the end. You hear reports that the Martians are attacking not only America but all over the world, destroying all the major cities and the surrounding countrysides. Even animals are not spared, as one sequence shows deer, birds, horses, and other animals fleeing for their lives. At one point, one scientist says that at the rate the invasion is going, the Martians will have conquered the Earth in six days. Paul Frees has a brief role as a reporter making tape recordings as the countdown to the atomic bomb being dropped approaches. He says that the tapes he's making will be for future history... if any. After the bomb fails, the movie takes on even bigger feeling of dread. If the most powerful weapon in the world couldn't kill them, then humanity is doomed. Los Angeles is evacuated and as you're shown hundreds of people fleeing to the speculative safety of the countryside, it really does feel like the human race doesn't have much time left. Even more disconcerting is a scene of absolute chaos in the streets of the city, as looters attack any vehicle that comes nearby and the police are overwhelmed. Civilization is coming apart at the seams. Not only that but when the looters attack Clayton Forrester, the film's hero, they unknowingly smash instruments that could be their salvation. As Clayton later shouts, "Fools, they cut their own throats!"
While the characters in the film aren't the deepest that have appeared in these types of films, they are likable and worth caring for. Gene Barry stars as Dr. Clayton Forrester, a scientist from the Pacific Tech Institute who happens to be near the town when the first Martian unit arrives. He's intelligent, charming, and brave. You don't find out much about his background other than his parents died when he was young and he's been on his own a lot ever since. As per usual to these types of movies, he becomes very close to the main female character, Sylvia van Buren. Ann Robinson plays her as a likable, sweet young lady who may be very frightened by what's happening around her but her fear comes across as understandable and never annoying. She's also probably the deepest character in the film. When she and Clayton take refuge in an abandoned farmhouse, she tells him about something that happened to her when she was very young; she'd run away and hid in a church for some reason and prayed for the one who loved her most to find her. It was her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins, who found her.
That leads us into a brief but likable character in Matthew Collins, played by Lewis Martin. There's not much to say about him but he's a warm, religious man whose beliefs unfortunately lead to his demise. He thinks the military should try communicating with the Martians before attacking. (Makes me wonder: did he not see the death and destruction they've already caused? They're clearly not interested in communication.) To that end, he walks out onto the battlefield in front of the Martian war machines, which immediately kill him with their heat rays. The scene I described before between Sylvia and Clayton comes not long after Matthew's death. Sylvia is clearly pained by the loss of her uncle. This makes Sylvia more likable to me.
General Mann, played by Les Tremayne, is a character who also isn't very deep but I can't help but like for one reason: his voice. Tremayne had one of the deepest, most commanding voices ever heard, perfect to play a general. While his efforts prove ineffective against the Martians, you can't help but admire his determination even after the atom bomb fails. He becomes intent on fighting them to the bitter end. He's not going to go down quietly! The last character that I'll mention is one that's hardly even featured but the actor who plays him is noteworthy. It's Dr. Pryor, played by Robert Cornthwaite, who played the antagonistic Dr. Carrington in The Thing from Another World. He's hardly in this movie much and almost doesn't speak but I just find it interesting to see him play a scientist who's the exact opposite of Carrington only two years later.
As I've said, the special effects and the sheer spectacle of it all is where this movie truly shines. First of all, it's filmed in glorious, vibrant Technicolor. It really brings out the excitement and the visuals, especially during the effects sequences. The effects in this film are absolutely spectacular. I'm not even sure how they achieved some of them. The battle sequence between the military and the Martian war machines is one of the most exciting spectacles ever filmed. It's so overwhelming, with the loud sounds of the battle, the visuals of the military desperately trying to destroy the Martians and the latter calmly crushing them like ants, and the sight of civilians fleeing in terror. The attack on Los Angeles has a similar power. The Martians absolutely decimate the city, destroying everything in their path. Clayton and Sylvia take refuge in a church along with dozens of others, who continue to sing hymns and pray to God. As the stained glass window is shattered by a heat ray, it seems like it's the end for them. The sound effects in this movie are also amazing. The screeching of the heat rays and pulsating blasts of the disintegrating rays are classic 50's, as well as the pinging noises the probes on the crafts make.
One interesting aspect of the film is the Martians themselves. You only get a look at one in a scene where Clayton and Sylvia are trapped in a farmhouse by the crafts. Sylvia has an eerie encounter with one of the Martians which is out on foot. It's an interesting creature design; short, reddish brown colored flesh, a single, three-lens eye, and long arms with suction cup-like fingers. When Clayton hits it with a metal rod, the Martian makes an almost sympathy-inducing shriek. They get a sample of its blood and later when it's analyzed, it's revealed that for all their mental capacities and technological talents, the Martians are actually quite primitive on a physical level. It's an interesting contrast to the powerful, advanced war machines we'd seen so far. They're so primitive that they're ultimately killed by, of all things, bacteria that no longer affect humans. I actually knew this going in so it didn't surprise me.
The music by Leith Stevens adds to the drama as well. As I said, the music that plays over the credits is very exciting, getting you in the mood for an amazing flick. The music is ominous when the military awaits the first advance of the Martians, scary in the scene where Clayton and Sylvia are trapped in a farmhouse by a Martian craft, and conveys a feeling of hopelessness and sadness as it looks more and more like humanity is going to be wiped out. My favorite piece of music is the one that plays during the ending, when the Martians have finally been stopped by simple germs and Hardwicke describes how humanity was saved, "by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth." The music is absolutely hopeful and wonderful, giving the sense that mankind has been saved from an evil force and can begin to rebuild. It gives me chills to this day.
I will forever stand by my feeling that this is the greatest alien invasion movie ever. Sure, movies made nowadays have more advanced visual effects, gigantic budgets, and top actors but this film was good without needing that. While it was definitely a fairly big budget film for its time and the actors are quite good, producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin created awe-dropping spectacle and an amazing film with the bare minimum of effects technology. That's something to be admired. To prove it to yourself, look at the rather fake-looking CGI machines and Martians of the Steven Spielberg remake and look at the ones here. I rest my case. To me, this movie is and always will be the true War of the Worlds.
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