Ranking Versions of War of the Worlds

Ranking Versions of War of the Worlds

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Posted 2022-04-07 by Steven Gfollow
Well, I finally got around to watching a film. We'll get to that, but I discussed this film with a friend and whinged it was not as good as the first filmed version. He actually disagreed. So we discussed it, and somehow other versions of this story came up, and so this list was born!

I am ranking the six main versions of the property War of the Worlds.
via GIPHY

Now, this is works directly inspired by the source material, the original book by H.G. Wells (which is also on the list).

Sequels in books (like George H. Smith's The Second War of the Worlds (1976), which is actually a load of fun) are not here. Films inspired by the works (like the wonderful Independence Day (1996), which even has a virus) are not here. Likewise, TV episodes. There are no readily available TV adaptations, at least none that I could find. And no foreign language films.
Surprisingly, there are very few video games directly based on this. Like, I found one, and it is also not readily available, and I have never played it.

Now, SPOILERS for something more than 120 years old. So, the original story is Martians come to Earth and attack, starting with England. They use tripods and other vehicles to gather people, their red plant-life covers the world and mankind is doomed. Then the aliens get sick because of the bacteria in Earth's air and they die and mankind is saved. Yay? At university, we were directed to read it as a protest against colonialism, placing the major colonial power – Britain – in the role of the subjugated people.

With a few tweaks, this story has held in all adaptations.

So, six main adaptations. I think I should explain how I came to them: apart from the musical, they were the adaptations mentioned at university (though not examined). I did some research and found that at least four of these were mentioned in most discussions of the property, and those four were not consistent, but always come from the list of six you are about to see.

Now, as with all my ranking lists, I do like all of these versions, it's just I like some a lot more than others.

So, with no further ado, here are the six main versions of War of the Worlds ranked!
6) Film – 2005. Directed by Steven Spielberg; Starring Tom Cruise

There are three things about this film that made it not too bad for me. First was the look of the tripods. They were amazing and shows what can happen when CGI is done well. Second, the ending death scene was really well done. And finally, it kept the focus on a man, a single man, which was what the book did (sort of) and what helped increase the horror of the situation. Of course, there are negatives: the acting of Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin, the inconsistencies as to what the ray guns did and the way the film ended with the son just appearing, right as rain. But it did capture the feeling of utter helplessness, the mob mentality, and the way people would react really well. An enjoyable film, but not one I need to see again.
5) Musical – Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds (1978)

I am not going to lie – I love this album! Well, double album. I own the double album, the 1995 CD re-release with bonus remixes and the 2005 CD set with even more remixes. Richard Burton's narration is so good that the live version I have on DVD features an eerie head with him talking long after his death. I should also mention that most of the computer games released were based on this version. Really. Is it perfect? Well… No. The songs by the artilleryman and the preacher and his wife are wa-a-ay too long, the tacked-on modern setting epilogue is groan-inducing, and many of the remixes are not worth it. But the original album had such a good selection of talent, the songs 'The Eve of the War' and 'Forever Autumn' are classics, and it sounds like everyone's having fun. But much is missing, it is very niche (prog-rock is not everyone's favourite, I know), and if you don't know the story, even with Richard Burton's narration, you could well get lost at times. Still – I like this so much!

4) Film – 1953. Directed by Byron Haskin; Starring Gene Barry & Ann Robinson

Famously unable to use the tripod iconography because of how much they would have cost to look realistic, and transplanted to the USA (like the later film, which does make sense – the USA was the world power by then), this keeps a lot of the story beats and overall story. But there are so many differences! No red weed, religion is painted as a positive, there are no scenes of Martians eating the humans, and so on, and so on. However, the main difference – the fighting machines – does not bother me because they look more otherworldly in the guise they have here. The reason I like this film is that the mounting terror and atmosphere are built so very well. There is a subtlety of vision here that makes it feel more frightening than the more recent version.
3) Graphic Novel – Classics illustrated, by Lou Cameron, 1955.
[CENTER]

Picture taken from the 1997 re-release with study guides; found at the CCS Books Website ; my copy is missing its cover.[/CENTER]
This is the story, beat for beat, but it has been sanitised for children. The illustrations are really good, but there are times when the story is lost a little. This feels like a lot of positives, but… there is just something lacking about it and the gearing it towards children does reduce the horror element. However, for a quick and easy introduction to the original story and keeping everything that makes the story what it is. So, for an adult, some things are missing, that is all. Still, as far as adaptations go, it is a really strong one.
2) Radio Play – Mercury Theatre (1938), directed by Orson Welles

This is available in the public domain, including on YouTube, so you can go and listen to the whole hour and see what all the fuss was about. This was such an amazing adaptation, again taking it to the USA, but using the audio format to a degree that you can picture it in your mind. The story is told as a series of pseudo-news reports at first, then goes into the story in the second half. In the real world, there are many stories about how much the USA panicked and people did silly things because of this broadcast. That is very exaggerated. Some did panic, but the whole-scale terror in the streets was made up to give Orson Welles grief, and he was even forced to apologise. Still, you don't need that background stuff – this is a masterful adaptation.
1) Book – by H.G. Wells (1897)
[CENTER]
Original cover, embedded from Wikimedia Commons.[/CENTER]
Yes, nothing beats the original. The language might be a little archaic for modern readers, as might the long passages of description. The unnamed narrator and (later) his brother tell a story from a personal point of view that does make the terror feel closer to the reader. There is a reason it has lasted in the public conscience for so long – this is story-telling at its finest. Alien invasion stories really started here. Wells was an absolute master of the science fiction and horror story-telling crafts; he invented so many tropes that have become the norm, and this book is the source of much of science fiction literature that followed. The characters are sympathetic (except the curate, probably, but that was by design) and flawed, and the ending feels like it isn't really an ending, as if leaving it open for a sequel.

And there you are – 6 versions of the story. You could take any of them in and enjoy it. And, more importantly, I think there is something for everyone here.

Have you seen/read any of these? What did you think?


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83557 - 2023-06-11 06:43:04

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