The War of the Worlds (1953) Review

The War of the Worlds (1953)

The War of the Worlds follows Dr. Clayton Forrester, who arrives at the sight of a crashed meteorite in the hills of California. Soon after however, alien crafts, seemingly impervious to damage, emerge, bent on world domination and wiping humans off the face of the planet. 

Famous for being the film that all of Hollywood wanted Orson Welles to direct at one point, The War of the Worlds has stood the test of time as a groundbreaking achievement for science fiction and cinema in general, in this apocalyptic thriller that throws out the camp of Golden Age sci-fi in favor of genuine scares and an unbelievable sense of dread and despair. Following Wells novel rather faithfully, swapping England for sunny Los Angeles, it charts the meteoric downfall that would befall humanity as beings from another world sought a new, habitable planet, with every intention to annihilate all preexisting life. Mankind’s attempts at stopping them are met with complete and repeated failure, as they casually shrug of nuclear attacks and bring about pure devastation and hysteria, really bringing out the best and worst humanity by the end. 

While the story is no doubt something to behold, I think it’s the revolutionary special effects of War that further set it apart from anything of the time. You can almost feel the deathly glowing lights, the city crumbling around Forrester, and plainly, the end of the world. The miniature work was exceptionally well done, along with the crafts themselves, which operate and feel completely out of this world. 

We get an acceptable cast, featuring Sandro Giglio, Robert Cornthwaite, Lewis Martin, Les Tremayne, Ann Robinson, and Gene Barry. While much of Barry’s nonchalance towards the premise of the film can be somewhat off putting at times, it’s his complete turn into a frantic, unhinged, and rather hopeless mess as Los Angeles falls around him that redeems all, turning a hell of a performance towards the close. 

Based on the novel by H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, directed by Byron Haskin, is an unsparingly dark, grim, and despairing film that is hopelessly bleak but incredibly effective in striking terror, making the viewer wholeheartedly believe that humanity is done for. 

8.4/10