PATREON EXCLUSIVE UNCUT REACTION The War of the Worlds (1953) - 90-MINUTE CLASSICS
Added 2022-12-25 12:00:04 +0000 UTCMERRY CHRISTMAS!
Here is our full uncut reaction to The War of the Worlds (1953)
This was chosen by the Patrons to be our next installment of 90-Minute Classics, so we hope you enjoy!
Be on the lookout for the next 90-Minute Classic poll in January!
Thank you for being a Patron & enjoy!
Comments
Saw this movie as a kid I'm betting the movie was hardly out for 15 years when I first saw it. The scenes in the farm house scared me to death. Really enjoyed watching it with your reactions. Now about Dr Foresters plane, I think the reason he was able to fly it was that he actually owned it. There is a scene where one of the local police contacts Forester while he's eating at his campsite. You can see the plane parked behind the tent. So it I would say forester flew his plane there to go camping. Right after I watched this here I watched the Tom Cruise version. Near the end there was a cameo aperance by the actors who played Dr Forester and Sylvia. Which I only caught because I watched this one first. One other thing I think TOS got a lot of their weapons sound effects from this movie.
Keith S
2025-06-13 22:57:21 +0000 UTCThe new head of the Television Division didn't understand it. Then, like most hollywood executives, he said "how about we change this?" and as usual the result was disaster. What's funny is, the first half of season 2 does its best to distance itself from season 1, then the second half moves back towards it, using the prosthetic aliens again. I guess they realized their mistake, but it was too late.
tyranusfan
2024-01-24 00:26:36 +0000 UTCThanks for coming back and checking this one out!
Josh (Target Audience)
2024-01-23 15:40:21 +0000 UTCNice reaction to this one, guys. One of my favorite sci fi movies of all time. I had the rare experience of getting to watch this on the big screen in a theater in the late 1970's. Was rereleased as a special double feature along with "When Worlds Collide". Just awesome to get to see it on a big theater screen! A bit of sad trivia about this movie: The Martian war machines were made out of copper, 3 were made for the production. They were 4 foot wide and nearly solid except for the middle interior where wiring and motors for the neck were installed, neck and cobra head were made out of copper also. SADLY all three were sold years later in a Boy Scout copper drive and were melted down!!!!!
Monty Crawford
2024-01-23 15:34:00 +0000 UTCYa, I really enjoyed the first season, although it was clunky like most are. Why they destroyed it for the second still remains a mystery to me. It's available on DVD.
Monty Crawford
2024-01-23 15:24:36 +0000 UTCThank you Gary!
Josh (Target Audience)
2023-02-12 17:22:26 +0000 UTCThank you. I haven't watched this film since I was a kid, it was fun watching it with you. Keep putting movies on here, we may not watch them right away but it's sure nice to have them when we have time.
Gary Leyh
2023-02-12 07:49:05 +0000 UTCYes they did say he could fly early on
AzoriusMage
2023-01-24 19:32:17 +0000 UTCI'm a little late but I'm finally watching this and enjoying it. For the record and comparison, the original novel takes place in and around London, England in the 1890s, and one of the more horrifying parts describes how humans are being captured and used for food. The 1938 Orson Welles radio version takes place in the eastern United States, primarily in and around New Jersey and New York. I've read the novel, heard the radio version, and watched this one multiple times each, but I have no interest in the Cruise remake. My copy of this version is the Criterion Collection Blu-ray. And for anyone familiar with the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, the main villain for the first 7 seasons is named Dr. Clayton Forrester after the character in this movie.
KatWithAttitude
2023-01-05 06:58:24 +0000 UTCThe War of the Worlds is a book written in 1898 by H.G. Wells (no relation to Orson Wells). Other books that made it to film in the the 20th century were: The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The First Men in the Moon (1901) Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mary Shelley were very prolific writers of the 1800s and their works were considered "The Science Fiction That Came Before Science". Theirs were a cornucopia of stories to feed the early film industry. Film makers chop away at these stories using their artistic license. To find the full story you will need to reach back and read the authors original intention.
TeenyStudio Flicks
2023-01-02 14:16:45 +0000 UTCI would really recommend the mini series War of Worlds from 2019 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8001226/
Delphinus
2022-12-29 18:57:44 +0000 UTCThe blu ray I have altered the film by removing the strings that were very visable, which held up the ships. Looks more convincing - yes .. but something is lost in the update.
Delphinus
2022-12-29 18:44:37 +0000 UTCThere was a direct sequel in a TV series, where the world acknowldged the invasion happened and the aliens did not "die" but went into hybernation, as a way to continue tale. They also possessed human beings (for budget reasons).
Delphinus
2022-12-29 18:42:29 +0000 UTCI guys did great! I grew up watching this film, one of fav from childhood. The "twist" that despite their technological prowess, they underestimated nature.
Delphinus
2022-12-29 18:40:19 +0000 UTCThey made a TV show in 1988 that was a direct sequel to this movie. I loved it. First season had its ups and downs, like most, but a promising setup. Unfortunately, Paramount's incoming head of the TV division ordered it revised, they wrecked the whole show, fired the two most popular actors and it tanked in season 2. (I don't know if it's on Paramount + or not)
tyranusfan
2022-12-27 05:23:15 +0000 UTCYes, one of the two attempts in the late 40s to make a flying wing. The idea didn't work well until the current B-2 bomber.
tyranusfan
2022-12-27 05:03:48 +0000 UTCIt was filmed in color. That’s what Technicolor is.
James H
2022-12-26 23:07:38 +0000 UTCHuh?
Young Blood Priest
2022-12-26 13:32:41 +0000 UTCThis movie was indeed presented in Technicolor so filmed black ad white and then colour added but always has been shown in colour but the Paramount logo was black and white back then and was the pretty much the only thing in black and white except for the footage of WWI and WWII. As I stated previously in The Day the Earth Stood Still movies back then were heavy into religion and/or politics. As churches seemed invincible here, Stephen Spielberg made it a point that the first building destroyed in the 2005 version was a church, specifically the church steeple. Between the two movies there is the 1978 musical version of The War of the World's produced by Jeff Wayne and narrated by the late great Sir Richard Burton. The music is awesome throughout and I have it both on the original vinyl and on CD. In that version it has the Martians come down in the late 1800s. If interested you should look it up and give it a listen. The famous opening line in all 3 versions are the same except state the time the Martians invade. "No one would've believed in the last years of the nineteenth century..." "in the middle of the twentieth century..." "at the beginning of the twenty-first century..." Incidentally Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day was very smart but he wasn't a scientist but rather a computer software engineer and hacker whose job was a cable repairman.
Brad Barter
2022-12-26 06:17:55 +0000 UTCAlmost forgot. The original novel was an allegory on the countries bigoted fear of immigration. How the “other” was coming to take and/or destroy the country as well as bring disease.
Young Blood Priest
2022-12-26 04:41:04 +0000 UTCThe Northrop flying wing never made it into production because it was hard to control and prone to go into uncontrollable spins. The problem was solve with computers and fly by wire technology (I watch way too much discovery channel…sorry). Anyway that’s probably why you didn’t see it in the Air Force museum. Also, after analyzing the alien blood the doctor noted how anemic it was. She also said even though they were more advanced technologically, they were more primitive biologically.
Young Blood Priest
2022-12-26 04:34:03 +0000 UTCJust curious, have you guys ever explored the classic sci-fi of the Thirties? I’m thinking specifically of the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, which are cheesy by today’s standards but informed a lot of the cinematic language of Star Wars. They might be fun to react to, if you haven’t seen them, and each episode only runs about 20 minutes. I think Buck Rogers (1939) has the best story, but Flash Gordon (1936) is probably the most bizarre, fun, and visually dynamic.
James H
2022-12-26 03:09:28 +0000 UTCIt was a Northrup YB-49 "Flying Wing"
Collin Freeman
2022-12-25 23:24:53 +0000 UTCI am in no way a military expert. The plane used could have been a f22 Raptor. I am looking forward to being corrected. I have save seen the movie many times over the last 50 years, but never thought about the plane. Thanks guys
peter spartz
2022-12-25 23:08:02 +0000 UTCThanks Collin!
Josh (Target Audience)
2022-12-25 22:08:43 +0000 UTCOrson Wells did a radio play adaptation of the H.G. Wells (no relation) story: War of the Worlds, and yes, the way Orson did the radio play, it was as if the Martian invasion was actually taking place using fake news broadcasts. This movie was more a faithful adaptation of the story that was published in 1897. This film was originally in color.
Collin Freeman
2022-12-25 21:44:18 +0000 UTC"Jeepers!"
Lin Phillips
2022-12-25 19:38:48 +0000 UTCWhoa! Cool! MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!
Rich Cirivilleri
2022-12-25 12:05:20 +0000 UTC
