The War of the Worlds

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The War of the Worlds

G

Released Aug 26, 1953

1h 25m

Sci-Fi

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Popcornmeter

89%

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37 Reviews

71%

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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A.H. Weiler

New York Times

Mind those heat rays!

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 31, 2006

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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

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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

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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

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Mario V

Better than Spielberg and Tom Cruise 2005 version!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/06/25

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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

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Lucas t

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

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/08/24

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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

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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

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Jay H

I've been a fan of MST3K for years, and I've seen this movie several times. I just realized that a main character's name in both is Dr. Clayton Forrester. *facepalm*

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/09/23

Full Review

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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

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The War of the Worlds: Trailer 1

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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

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