'

The War of the Worlds

Play trailer

2:27

The War of the Worlds

G

Released Aug 26, 1953

1h 25m

Sci-Fi

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

37 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Though it's dated in spots, The War of the Worlds retains an unnerving power, updating H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi tale to the Cold War era and featuring some of the best special effects of any 1950s film.

Read Critics Reviews

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

As the perfect crystallization of 50s ideology the film would be fascinating enough, but the special effects in this 1953 George Pal production also achieve a kind of dark, burnished apocalyptic beauty.

Jun 8, 2007

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

War of the Worlds is a socko science-fiction feature, as fearsome as a film as was the Orson Welles 1938 radio interpretation of the H.G. Wells novel.

Jun 8, 2007

Full Review

A.H. Weiler

New York Times

Mind those heat rays!

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 31, 2006

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

As a piece of science fiction, it is quite exciting when it offers its rain of special effects to accentuate its apocalypse of space invaders and allegorically depict the atomic dangers in “extraterrestrial” hands. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Aug 25, 2023

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

The film deviates quite a bit from the novel, but the fear of the mysterious being is still present, and at the time, was a hit with audiences thanks to some special effects that made it all look too real.

Mar 7, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The filmmakers’ optimism and favoring of luck (even with glimpses of rioters and looters and humanity crumbling under existential pressures) lends to an unforgettable resolution.

Rated: 6/10

Sep 22, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é mais ou menos, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é mais ou menos, os personagens sao fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes para fazer o filme ser bom.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/28/25

Full Review

Mario V

Better than Spielberg and Tom Cruise 2005 version!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/06/25

Full Review

David S

Classic...and the line there at the end having to do with we were all praying for a miracle....still impacts me today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/28/24

Full Review

Lucas t

A very fun 50s sci-fi film that never falls flat. 8/10.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/08/24

Full Review

Ian N

I have never seen this film until today, thanks to it being on Sky Movies. I must admit that I enjoyed it very much. It isn't particularly faithful to the book to be honest. Obviously it has the main plot and variations of scenes in the book but it misses some of the greatest parts. That aside it looks good for a movie of its time and the sequence in the farm house is great. I still prefer the Steven Spielberg film, just. The one thing I would love to see in a movie, is the sequence in the book where the Martian emerges from the cylinder. With today's CGI it should be easy to create. Maybe one day somebody will produce a film that is faithful to H G Wells novel.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/10/24

Full Review

Nol P

War of the Worlds, (1953). I can imagine that this was a great book to read by HG Wells. For 1953 the special effects were not too bad and I did take that into account when watching finally today. But wow, so silly and wow, such horrid over the top acting! Because of such I can only rate this a max 4 out of 10! That is really being nice too and understanding on the release yr.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/05/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Byron Haskin

Director

Gene Barry

Dr. Clayton Forrester

Ann Robinson

Sylvia Van Buren

Les Tremayne

Maj. Gen. Mann

Lewis Martin

Pastor Dr. Matthew Collins

Robert Cornthwaite

Dr. Pryor

It Came From Outer Space

81%

55%

It Came From Outer Space

Watchlist

When Worlds Collide

81%

64%

When Worlds Collide

Watchlist

The Time Machine

76%

80%

The Time Machine

Watchlist

Forbidden Planet

92%

85%

Forbidden Planet

Watchlist

The Day the Earth Stood Still

95%

87%

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Now Streaming: Lucy, Laggies, and More

Box Office Wrapup: "Superman Returns" to Top of Charts

Razzie Nominations Announced; Easy Targets Run for Cover

The War of the Worlds: Trailer 1

2:27

View more videos

View more photos

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.

Director: Byron Haskin
Producer: George Pal
Screenwriter: Barré Lyndon, H.G. Wells
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: G
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 26, 1953, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2016
Runtime: 1h 25m
Sound Mix: Mono, Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1), 35mm

Most Popular at Home Now