The 1953 adaptation of War of The Worlds is my favourite adaptation. The first time I saw the film, it left a lasting impression on me. Fun Fact: Gene Barry & Ann Robinson have cameos in the Spielberg adaptation of War of The Worlds; they play the grandparents we see at the end of the film.
@@white.lodge.dale.cooper it was such a great show of respect by Spielberg for the original 1953 Paramount Pictures adaptation having them both appear in cameos.
The 1938 Panic was largely to to two things: 1) An incredibly popular radio show on another radio station ended after Welles's show started 2) Having mossed the start of Welles's show the cut ins of alleged radio news was tok real.
Howard Koch, the show's scriptwriter, believes that people listening to the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy show on NBC switched around during the commercial break to see what else was on and they ran smack dab into the Martian invasion on CBS.
There was a War of the Worlds tv series on FOX tv back in the late 80s. It had the warmachines and Martians in it. It was a good series though short lived and Anne was in it as well on on or two episode. It was out on dvd. I recommend it. Watch the movie, then the series. 🙂
It is still the best one. I liked the one with Tom but the original will always be the best. You can make better effects but you cannot make a better movie. Not today.
What makes the doc so great, is the interviews and insights from Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. And so many others who were actually connected with the making of the film.
In the remake, with Cruise, Barry and Robinson play the characters of his parents. The original was groundbreaking--fascinating to (maybe) eight year old me when I first saw it on B&W TV. The remake is quite good, the script is a story of just unrelenting tension that has you on the proverbial edge of your seat throughout. I think the ending could've been better, but it was true to the original movie and the book (which I read a couple years later, along with everything else Wells wrote). I guess it might have been sacrilege to alter that.
I was a 10 year old fellow when we saw "War." It instantly became my top favorite...along with "Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951); "When Worlds Collide" (1951) and 1960's "The Time Machine." All by George Pal. I was a solid sci-fi fan from then on!
One of my absolute favorite movies ever, seeing those beautiful "martian" space craft and even more amazing to me that Northrop YB-49 flying wing! I'm 52 and I still get excited to watch War of the World just like I did when I was 5 years old.
I agree. I am glad they hired Byron Haskin to direct the film because he was a very talented director and expert special effects man. And he was a science fiction fan. Whatever Bryon Haskin directed turned out great. All of the "Outer Limits" 1960s TV episodes that he directed were brilliant. The beautiful Martian space craft were designed, I think, by the same very talented artist who designed the beautiful time travel machine for the 1960s "Time Machine" film.
Forbidden Planet and War of the Worlds were the 2 pillars of 50s A-list sci fi movies, in that both influenced the genre decades later. (Part. FB, which was the 2001 and Star Wars of the 50s).
I remember watching the film on the old big box TVs. Now we can see it on high resolution flatscreens, and it looks as good as it did on a movie theater screen.
The first time I watched this movie. The war machine are alsome and they hold up today.Sorry the 2005 looks like something we might build.The 1953 war machines are my all time favorite. And in 1989 a tv show in it we get to see1953 war machine blast there way out of a under ground bunker.Hearing those machine firing there heat rays and hearing a sound of the heat rays love.Great movie great effects a all time classic.
One of my all-time favorites along with Forbidden Planet, Jason and the Argonauts, When Worlds Collide and Godzilla. They blew me away when I was a young one
This movie came out 3 years before I was born but when I saw it as a youngster it left a lasting impression. I still watch it regularly, it being the very best of sci-fi then and now!
Thanks so much for posting this! Great movie. Was born in '53, didn't see this until it finally ran on tv when I was a kid and I loved it, esp. the magnificent Oscar winning sound which still lives in my nightmares (and the creepy, eerie less-seen-more-suspensefully-scary creatures and beautifully designed martian technology/ships.) I had always been a Wells fan. So great to see Ann Robinson talking about this and such interesting insight too. She was a 'babe,' and I just googled her--and she's still with us as of today at 95! I've been a Geo. Pal (and Harryhausen) fan since childhood. And I don't remember seeing that pic of Wells and Welles together before! Fascinating (and chilling) to think that H.G. was born shortly after our Civil War and lived to see 2 world wars (he had predicted) and the atomic bomb. Man was a visionary.
You're Welcome. I have been a fan of George Pal since childhood, too. His "Time Machine" film and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" film were major influences in the direction my life took. H. G. Wells mentions a "World Brain" in one of his novels, or short stories. That sounds like the current Internet.
Apparently an unpopular view, but I was really gripped by the remake. Cruise was....Cruise, but the part was right for him. The supporting cast was good. The remarkable degree of tension that was created by the script was notable. I'm not easily shocked or startled by anything I see on screen, so I was impressed by the filmmakers' ability to do so. I was particularly struck by the scene of the 'ghost train' barreling through the crossing, completely ablaze.
@@MegaMesozoic Yes, you are correct, I think my comment was about the updated version and special effects. Thinking in the time it was made it fit right into the era.
My brother and I snuck out of bed to watch this on late night TV. Our babysitter looked the other way. The move scared us both, so we kept the light on all night..... Fun times.
The creepy looking Martians are fuel for nightmares, especially if you are a kid. I had to have my light on all night if I watched "The Thing" or the "Beast with Five Fingers." Now, the politicians give me nightmares, Hah
I saw this first as a kid on our old black and white tv and loved it. I've seen it quite a few times since then, including a couple of times projected in a real theater, and my estimation of the film has inly gone up.
This movie was and is still very special! I do appreciate and very much enjoyed the new version with Tom Cruise, but it isn't a classic in the sense this is...
That's true. CGI in combination with the modeling methods of Golden Age Hollywood special effects would be interesting, maybe. Felix the Cat! I drove my parents and older brother crazy watching "Felix the Cat" cartoon episodes every day.
@@kesterfae5447 back in the early 80s one of the stops on the universal studios hollywood tour was a sound stage that held a working model from spielberg's film 1941 (released in 1979). it was from the scene where a ferris wheel rolls down a pier into the ocean.the thing was huge,and on film looks like the real deal. i hope model making doesn't become a lost art in movies.
I have extremely fond memories of watching War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet back in the 70s. Fantastic special effects and the characters were all people as a child you would want to grow up to be. Really enjoyed watching
Me too. I find the characters in most, or maybe all, remakes unbearable and mostly immature adult types. The characters in the remake of the "Fly" all behaved like adult children. Annoying. Characters from the older films of the 1950s behaved like mature adults, unless they were characters written into the scripts as immature types. My opinions.
Orson Welles's little speech about the 1938 radio broadcast being for Halloween was improvised when RCA was made aware that the play was causing a panic.
Not true at all. It wasn't ad-libbed, although it WAS a scripted, last-minute addition by Wells. He added it over the objection of the show's producer who felt admitting the show's format was a deliberate stunt would lead to legal liability. Source: Brad A. Schwartz's 2015 book on the broadcast. Best wishes from Vermont 🍁
I saw W of the Ws in 1953 in its first run at our small town local theatre. I was 13 years old. I begged my mother for the change to go back the next night to see it again. Nothing better than the 50s science fiction films!
Wow ... your older than I am. I was born in 1954. I saw the film for the first time at a theater in our area that revived older movies. I was about 6 years old at that time. Patrons wrote down on a paper slip the names of older movies that they would like to see and a month, or so, later the theater would show them. Thank God for that theater.
@@timfonseca5066 Thanks for bringing this doc here for us to see. I looked for the copyright year and Paramount left it out! Do you happen to know when it was made? I'm guessing mid-'90s. I'm a '55 kid and first saw it in '63 or '64 in the cafeteria of a Lake Isabella CA campground on movie night. It scared the living hell out of me and I loved every moment of it. To this day, that's the only thing I remember of that family trip. Breaks my heart to hear every single one of those beautiful spaceships were melted for scrap. And as much as people deride the Cruise remake, I liked it quite a bit - the ferry attack is amazing and that klaxon sound they made is probably the scariest, most ominous tone I've ever heard in a movie theater. Thanks again!
The Spielberg film wasn’t a remake. Just a different interpretation of the source material. Did it’s own thing and that’s not a crime either, just as the 50s classic has bare bones similarities to wells novel.
After the copyright expired, this movie was remade more times than almost any other film, with the exception of perhaps Sherlock Holmes or Dracula. Two other sci-fi films from the 1950s that come to mind as being tops of their genre are "The Day The Earth Stood Still" from 1951 and "Forbidden Planet" from 1956, yet somewhere along the way sci-fi films lost their respect until it was rekindled in 1968's "2001".
I saw this movie for the 1st time in the 80s. I must have been 6 or 7. At the time it was shown on tv my parents had recently bought our first VHS player. It was recorded so my Dad could watch it when he got home from work. Over the following months I played that VHS so much that it degraded to nearly unwatchable. I still love this movie to this day.
You reminded me of something I have forgotten until now. When I was about 6 or 7 years old our local movie theater would have Kiddie Matinees on Saturdays. Parents would drop off their kids. The whole theater was filled with kids only and we went nuts when they showed Science Fiction films. One Saturday the theater manager stormed down the aisle and yelled at us because we were hooting and yelling too much.
In 1962 I was in 9th grade. The AV kids would show movies in 15-20 minute segments, and that was how I first saw this one. I'd read the Classics Illustrated comic book by then, and had a quibble or two about the use of flying ships instead of the tripods, but the atmosphere of the movie couldn't be denied. My introduction to SF was "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Gort, and Samuel Hoffman's Theremin terrified me, but I guess I loved being terrified. SF has been my favorite genre ever since.
I think the whole idea of making the tripod legs on the Martian machines composed of electromagnetism was perfect. They were still tripods, but suitably futuristic. I'd bet that Wells himself would have approved it. Esp considering his skepticism about the ability for his own book to be modernized.
I got to see one of the models for the Martian ships when I stayed at Forrest J Ackerman's place in the '90s. He had an absolutely mind-blowing collection. It was a major treat to be able to take it all in. I grieve that we'll never see another Ackermansion--nor another Forry.
Walking down a street in Hollywood one day I needed to know what time it was, so I asked the first person who I encountered for the time, and it was Forrest J Ackerman. I was so stunned and nervous by that surprise encounter that I forgot to ask Forrest J Ackerman if I could visit his SF Musuem mansion. God what a boob I was. Well, I kept putting off making an appointment to visit his mansion, out of nervousness, until it was too late. The closist I have gotten to visiting his mansion has been by watching RUclips videos of visits other people filmed using Super 8- and 16-millimeter film. That nervousness trait of mine "nipped in the bud" lots of opportunities including stuff like "a woman needing a ride home." My brother collected a lot of the early issues of Forrest J Ackerman's "Famous Monsters" magazine. Some of the issues had long, detailed, articles about the making of "War of the Worlds", etc.
@@timfonseca5066 Hey, I've been a big chance-misser in life, too...but for the middle part of it I was pretty lucky. I'm so glad you were lucky enough to meet Forry! He had that ability to make so many parts of your brain spark at once just by talking with you--I'm no mystic, but it was like an intellectual energy transference mixed with joy and laughter and hope. His type shall not walk this mangy planet again, and we are all the poorer for it...but he left behind so many traces and pointed out so many new horizons that he's still here in many ways.
@@Susie_Floozie My meeting with Forry on the street was very brief. I asked him for the time, he gave it to me, I thanked him, and we went our ways. However, the issues of his magazine "Famous Monsters" have been scanned in high resolution and uploaded by devoted fans. I downloaded many of the early issues. The issues are filled with his articles, and comments. So, even though I never had a long conversation with him I can still be inspired by what he has written. His sense of humor is fun and makes me laugh.
I toured the "Ackermansion" and saw Forry again at Bookfellows in Glendale in company with two old friends he had helped start: Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen!!! Forry made an atrocious pun and I was the only one who laughed! Which he liked. What a night. What a memory.
@@garryferrington811 Haha, that's a lucky break, like meeting Sinatra with two members of the Rat Pack! I never got to see the two Rays together at the same time, so that was a coup for you! Forry and one Ray or the other were often accompanied by Robert Bloch, and it was a treat to hear them tell of their adventures. Forry and Ray B. pulled off the first Sci-Fi convention way back in 1939!
The Martians were sure nasty and sadistic, spoiling a well-deserved breakfast, frying three guys waving a peace flag, roasting a priest holding a Bible, destroying city hall in L.A., zapping churches into rubble with their ray guns. Were the Martians chuckling inside their machines when they did all that? Well, I love this movie too, but one thing I wish is for a special version to be made where the wires holding the floating machines are digitally removed. The Studios cleaned up the wires holding the flying cars in Blade Runner in a special version.
I carried Miss Robinson in my sleeping car on train 30, the Capitol Limited, from Chicago to Washington, D.C., about 20 years ago. She was a lovely passenger.
This video brings out the skill and craftsmanship that went into making this movie. Those folks behind the camera that built things and made it all work, deserve our respect.
I remember first seeing this as child on British television and being totally gripped. I’m now 64. I’ve seen it several times. It doesn’t diminish with time.
I was 4 years old and had just entered kindergarden when mother took me and my two year old sister to see "War of the Worlds." She said we're going to see a war movie. I slept with my head under the covers for then next 9 years. Seeing the 3 guys with the white flags turned into dust gave those of my generation PTSD!
I looked it up. "PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event, such as a life-threatening situation ..." Running like rats on the streets of L.A. from Martian War Machine Death Rays would certainly qualify. I vaguely remember sitting in my seat horrified and wondering how the human race was going to save itself. I hadn't read the book, yet.
@@masive1498 Oh, my gosh! You're right! I'd never seen that one. Even the dialogue is similar. Alien: So, Commander Holloway, as you Earth inhabitants would express it, we meet face to face. Holloway: That's a face? Alien: Point of view is everything! Such a Kodos thing to say.
I was unsurprisingly disappointed with the Spielberg version, while the look and SFX were good, I disliked the Tom Cruise character and his children so much, I started rooting for the Martians to eat them.
Despite what these people think the Father of SG films was French, Georges Melies, who combined Jules Vernes a trip to the Moon and HG Wells The First Men in the Moon in the FIRST movie with an actual atart, finish, end, and a plot, 1904's Une Voyage dans la Lune.
Before seeing this excellent documentary, something hadn't ever occurred to me. But as I watched, I realized that when I'd gone to see the Dakota Fanning version, I had indeed been comparing it to this original film as each scene unfolded. To me, this indicates just how much the 1953 version had set a high standard in filmmaking, and in spite of all the tense thrills & grand spectacle of the modern version, this original might still be the better of the two. The film's success at the box office no doubt paved the way for other timeless, classic sci-fi films such as "The Day The World Stood Still", "Day Of The Triffids", and "This Island Earth". Thank you for posting this video!
Thanks for this, I had issues with the co stars Screams but in realistic terms, this was the first of so many great Sf movies ever produced, that will Always get an audience because of its originality.
when i first saw this i guess i was around 7 or 8, now i watch it on a flat screen tv with a billion more quality pixels and surround sound. im so spoiled.
I wish I had a large high tech private movie theater. I miss going to see these films in a quality theater with a respectful, mature, courteous audience.
Ann Robinson is one of the greatest actresses I’ve ever seen based on this movie alone! I never saw anyone else express total fright as believably as she did when the Martian touched her in the farmhouse.
Being a kid and seeing the machines for the first time... The wicked cool copper manta design, the skeleton ray, the martian bodies, the sounds that went with them, the sparks on the ground as the machines floated along, WOW. Then add to it all of our technology of the time including the atomic bomb were useless against them was just boggling. It's still one of my favorites that I can watch repeatedly and not get tired of seeing.
1953 The War of the Worlds not only is my favorite version from H.G. Wells but also my all time favorite movie of all time. Pure brilliance especially with the special effects for that time and the way they brought the movie to the modern day of its release. To this day the intro by Sir Cedric Hardwicke still brings goosebumps every time I hear it. This movie is the definition of the word classic
I agree. Your comment, "To this day the intro by Sir Cedric Hardwicke still brings goosebumps every time I hear it. This movie is the definition of the word classic" happens to me too.
It's not really possible to get the full effect of these great great films in your home. Even with an 80" screen you can't get the same effect as you could get in those old movie houses. And there is no comparison when it comes to the sound the movie houses offered.
That's true, but the last few times I was in a movie theater too many people were talking to each as if they were sitting in their living rooms. I almost had a fistfight with someone for telling them to be quiet. From my theater going experience before the middle of the 1970s anyone who started talking was immediately slapped down by other audience members and that was the end of that. Also, ushers would focus their lights on the "big mouths" and threaten them with being thrown out of the theater. The only way to see the old movies again in a quite theater is to be as rich as Hertz, of Hertz Castle, and own a private theater.
@@timfonseca5066; in my day, you wore a suit and tie when you traveled by air, and you were quite and respectful of others when watching a film at a nice theater. HOWEVER, at the kids Saturday matinee at the old theater down the street, it was practically a riot from the time the lights were turned out till the last Three Stooges Short was over, and we all had to leave. We hurriedly ate our "Dots" so we could throw the empty box. We seldom got into a fight, because we were too busy throwing spit balls, yelling at the screen, and generally acting the fool.
What does Cecil B. Demille, gotta do with Paramount??? This is one of my favorite, sci-fi/horror films. In, my top five. Very, VERY IMPRESSIVE production😉👍👏!!! Remember it well, watching this back in the late '60's- early '70's, on warm summer, weekend nights, and imagining the martians, just landed, in our big backyard😁. Love the scene when Sylvia (Ann), looks in the martians camera eye, and her face is shown. That's almost scary, in itself😳. Still watch it occasionally, like two weeks ago. What year was this documentary, made???
CB DeMille's association with Paramount dates back to 1916 and when he returned to the studio in 1932, he never left until his death in 1959. He was the top director there.
It's *impossible* to convey just how dropped jaw astonishing this film was at the time. The mood, the deep color saturation, the ships, the sound. The only movie I can compare to it for audience impact was 2001 A Space Odyssey. I recall not a single person could summon words when leaving the theater for it. And, of course, there's 1977's Star Wars but I was never really a fan. It seemed a bit silly to me 😂
When I was younger, I always got that excited "goose bumps" feeling in anticipation before and while watching "War of the Worlds." The word that best describes that experience for me is "magical." Not even the "Lord of the Rings" makes me feel that way.
In 2020 a version of "War of the Worlds" was released wherein the strings were digitally removed as was done for the wires holding up the flying cars in the original "Blade Runner" film.
I wish a remastered version of this film was made that digitally removed the wires holding up the Martain machines. I always liked the Martians and wish they had shown more of them creeping about, and maybe some running in the woods and on the streets in LA. Maybe speaking too, in Martian.
@@timfonseca5066 The newest version of the DVD and the Blue Ray have been remastered with the original 3 color film like it was meant to be. The wires are invisible again.
War of the Worlds entertaining value to We of the 50's, beat out the Star Wars Series of movies. Still well worth watching, for the Drama, Excitement and more. 👍👍 5👑 & 100🤠 Hat-tips for sharing.
First WoTW 'adaptation' I grew up with was the 1978 musical presentation, with 'The Moody Blues' playing/singing, and, Richard Burton narrating the story. Still holds up to this day.
Weird! I wondered what this exactly was, only to see MYSELF at the very beginning! I never watched this after I did the interview. (I supplied some of the behind-scenes photos as well). But, it IS weird because so unexpected!d
The Square-dancing scenes are great. I remember my grammar school was still teaching Square Dancing when I was 6, or so. I could do those steps! We used records, and never had a live energetic band going wild though. I was born in 1954.
I recall, as a young lad, watching this film on "NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies." After watching this magnificent Science Fiction classic, I became an amateur astronomer, of sorts. Many thanks, Retro Lad!
@@timfonseca5066 I have an old DVD which the wires were visible. With the wires removed on the Blu-ray, I think the film is perfect. I play it more than I do the new remake with so much CGI.
#28 AFI? Well deserved. Movie making perfection in all respects. You never get tired watching it, it's so well made and compelling. Way ahead of its time. Unbelievable visual effects, even by today's standards. Beautifully filmed.
Three great 50s films began the Sci Fi Film era. "War of the Worlds.", "This Island Earth" and "Forbidden Planet". Yes there was the suspense of " Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the powerful message of "Day the Earth Stood Still", the simple fear of "The Blob", the apocalypse of "When Worlds Collide" and the stark reality of "On the Beach" but those first three, were the standouts that stood out and still do.
Anne Robinson is still with us in 2024 she turns 95 this year
Barbara Rush may still be alive, too. The last time I checked on the Web she was in her 90s.
@@timfonseca5066 Sadly,Miss Rush passed recently. She was also great in the Batman '66 series.
WOOOOWWWWWW. thanks I thought she and Barry were both gone thanks
Gene Barry died in 2009 and Ray Harryhausen passed in 2013
She was a dream in my teenage years.
The 1953 adaptation of War of The Worlds is my favourite adaptation. The first time I saw the film, it left a lasting impression on me.
Fun Fact: Gene Barry & Ann Robinson have cameos in the Spielberg adaptation of War of The Worlds; they play the grandparents we see at the end of the film.
No way, I didn't know that, that's so great!
Paramount pictures movies version.
@@white.lodge.dale.cooper it was such a great show of respect by Spielberg for the original 1953 Paramount Pictures adaptation having them both appear in cameos.
The remake was lacking in depth and acting. The special effects were poor quality. The 1953 version was something special.
Both pioneered special effects. The cgi was handled well for their tight schedule of 9 month’s production time in total. That’s unheard of.
The remake is also noteworthy, for having two of the most irritating kids ever in a movie.
Nice documentary. Wished they'd have discussed the sound effects of the two martian weapons. Always loved those!
The 1938 Panic was largely to to two things:
1) An incredibly popular radio show on another radio station ended after Welles's show started
2) Having mossed the start of Welles's show the cut ins of alleged radio news was tok real.
Howard Koch, the show's scriptwriter, believes that people listening to the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy show on NBC switched around during the commercial break to see what else was on and they ran smack dab into the Martian invasion on CBS.
There was a War of the Worlds tv series on FOX tv back in the late 80s. It had the warmachines and Martians in it. It was a good series though short lived and Anne was in it as well on on or two episode. It was out on dvd. I recommend it. Watch the movie, then the series. 🙂
It is still the best one. I liked the one with Tom but the original will always be the best. You can make better effects but you cannot make a better movie. Not today.
I agree.
The thing, the war of the worlds, forbidden planet, the day the earth stood still....wow, what great science fiction films!!!
They were the four best!
i think Forbidden Planet was the first time i saw a girl in a mini skirt
@@Rick-l6e us dirty old men!
dont forget Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
don't forget When Worlds Collide witch was two years before war of the worlds. Which didn't have the budget.
What makes the doc so great, is the interviews and insights from Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. And so many others who were actually connected with the making of the film.
In the remake, with Cruise, Barry and Robinson play the characters of his parents. The original was groundbreaking--fascinating to (maybe) eight year old me when I first saw it on B&W TV.
The remake is quite good, the script is a story of just unrelenting tension that has you on the proverbial edge of your seat throughout. I think the ending could've been better, but it was true to the original movie and the book (which I read a couple years later, along with everything else Wells wrote). I guess it might have been sacrilege to alter that.
I was a 10 year old fellow when we saw "War." It instantly became my top favorite...along with "Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951); "When Worlds Collide" (1951) and 1960's "The Time Machine." All by George Pal. I was a solid sci-fi fan from then on!
He made many great films!
If my memory is correct George Pal was planning to produce "Logan's Run."
One of my absolute favorite movies ever, seeing those beautiful "martian" space craft and even more amazing to me that Northrop YB-49 flying wing! I'm 52 and I still get excited to watch War of the World just like I did when I was 5 years old.
I agree.
I am glad they hired Byron Haskin to direct the film because he was a very talented director and expert special effects man.
And he was a science fiction fan.
Whatever Bryon Haskin directed turned out great. All of the "Outer Limits" 1960s TV episodes that he directed were brilliant.
The beautiful Martian space craft were designed, I think, by the same very talented artist who designed the beautiful time travel machine for the 1960s "Time Machine" film.
Forbidden Planet and War of the Worlds were the 2 pillars of 50s A-list sci fi movies, in that both influenced the genre decades later. (Part. FB, which was the 2001 and Star Wars of the 50s).
I have the same reaction to this classic as you do.
If the word "classic" has any meaning, it fits this movie perfectly. It was the 2001 of its day, and still holds up 70 years later.
I remember watching the film on the old big box TVs.
Now we can see it on high resolution flatscreens, and it looks as good as it did on a movie theater screen.
@@timfonseca5066 The 4K UHD looks absolutely stunning on a good setup. I've watched it several times.
@@timfonseca5066
It's good, although I prefer The Forbidden Planet.
The first time I watched this movie.
The war machine are alsome and they
hold up today.Sorry the 2005 looks like something we might build.The 1953 war machines are my all time favorite.
And in 1989 a tv show in it we get to see1953 war machine blast there way
out of a under ground bunker.Hearing those machine firing there heat rays and hearing a sound of the heat rays
love.Great movie great effects a all time classic.
Ann Robinson seems like such a cool lady. This was fascinating and very educational. Thanks for posting.
You're Welcome. I enjoy doing this.
One of my all-time favorites along with Forbidden Planet, Jason and the Argonauts, When Worlds Collide and Godzilla. They blew me away when I was a young one
This movie came out 3 years before I was born but when I saw it as a youngster it left a lasting impression. I still watch it regularly, it being the very best of sci-fi then and now!
Thanks so much for posting this! Great movie. Was born in '53, didn't see this until it finally ran on tv when I was a kid and I loved it, esp. the magnificent Oscar winning sound which still lives in my nightmares (and the creepy, eerie less-seen-more-suspensefully-scary creatures and beautifully designed martian technology/ships.) I had always been a Wells fan. So great to see Ann Robinson talking about this and such interesting insight too. She was a 'babe,' and I just googled her--and she's still with us as of today at 95! I've been a Geo. Pal (and Harryhausen) fan since childhood. And I don't remember seeing that pic of Wells and Welles together before! Fascinating (and chilling) to think that H.G. was born shortly after our Civil War and lived to see 2 world wars (he had predicted) and the atomic bomb. Man was a visionary.
You're Welcome.
I have been a fan of George Pal since childhood, too. His "Time Machine" film and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" film were major influences in the direction my life took.
H. G. Wells mentions a "World Brain" in one of his novels, or short stories. That sounds like the current Internet.
This is the absolute best version of War of the Worlds ever made! It beats out even the modern versions and remakes.
Even the parody of WotW with Leslie Neilsen is better than the remake.
@@kristinaF54lmao that’s an exaggeration
Apparently an unpopular view, but I was really gripped by the remake. Cruise was....Cruise, but the part was right for him. The supporting cast was good. The remarkable degree of tension that was created by the script was notable. I'm not easily shocked or startled by anything I see on screen, so I was impressed by the filmmakers' ability to do so. I was particularly struck by the scene of the 'ghost train' barreling through the crossing, completely ablaze.
@@jackdedert2945 It was closer to H G Wells book than the 1953 version.
@@MegaMesozoic Yes, you are correct, I think my comment was about the updated version and special effects. Thinking in the time it was made it fit right into the era.
One of my FAVORITES…
Love watching this movie late at night with the lights out
I’ve loved this film all my life. I’m 69 years old.
Me, too.
So am I!!! I still enjoy watching it.
I'm 82, and I remember this movie as if was yesterday. I had read the novel, and didn't the movie would do it justice, but I was wrong.
This is the best sci Fi movie ever. Even newer versions cannot compare.
Yup, I agree 100 percent.
Thank you so much for posting this documentary. Really fun to see so many of the participants speaking about the project.
You're Welcome.
Too bad there wasn't an old film clip of George Pal speaking about the War of the Worlds.
One of the best films, ever!
I agree. A magical achievement.
This is my favorite movie version of War of the Worlds!
My brother and I snuck out of bed to watch this on late night TV. Our babysitter looked the other way. The move scared us both, so we kept the light on all night.....
Fun times.
The creepy looking Martians are fuel for nightmares, especially if you are a kid.
I had to have my light on all night if I watched "The Thing" or the "Beast with Five Fingers."
Now, the politicians give me nightmares, Hah
@@timfonseca5066 The current administration gives me real nightmares.
LOL
@@jetsons101We Have a President That's Old Enough to be in a Nursing Home.
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
@@davidwesley2525 It's not his age, it's his mental acuity. Anyone running for federal office should be required to take a mental acuity test......
@@davidwesley2525 The 'Dump', is just as old.
Brilliantly updates Wells' 1897 novel to 1950's California without compromising his disturbing vision 3:49
I think it’s awesome when they capture the actors, directors, produces, and staff’s feedback
That sound efx for the heat ray is the best
The "clunk" as the ship hits the ground still gives me goosebumps and I've watched the film hundreds of times.
If I'm not mistaken, Byron Haskin used the same sound effect a decade later in Robinson Crusoe on Mars.
@@grouchomarxist666 True, and it was used numerous other times like in pin-ball machines, video games etc
I saw this first as a kid on our old black and white tv and loved it. I've seen it quite a few times since then, including a couple of times projected in a real theater, and my estimation of the film has inly gone up.
The sound effects were perfect!
Love the heatray sound.
Yes!!!!!!!!!!
@@dogwalker666yes
@@edellis515 👍🏻
Still one of the best films ever,,,,,,,frighten the life out of us kids!!
One of the greatest movies ever! The craftsmanship put into the special fx is astounding.
WONDERFUL MOVIE... WONDERFUL CAST!!!
Frame by frame, near perfection.
This movie was and is still very special!
I do appreciate and very much enjoyed the new version with Tom Cruise, but it isn't a classic in the sense this is...
fascinating stuff. people today are so spoiled by CGI.
That's true.
CGI in combination with the modeling methods of Golden Age Hollywood special effects would be interesting, maybe.
Felix the Cat!
I drove my parents and older brother crazy watching "Felix the Cat" cartoon episodes every day.
Some excellent miniature and practical work used in the Spielberg film too. Most won’t be able to tell however. Composited very cleverly.
@@kesterfae5447 back in the early 80s one of the stops on the universal studios hollywood tour was a sound stage that held a working model from spielberg's film 1941 (released in 1979). it was from the scene where a ferris wheel rolls down a pier into the ocean.the thing was huge,and on film looks like the real deal. i hope model making doesn't become a lost art in movies.
I still watch it. Great movie
I have extremely fond memories of watching War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet back in the 70s. Fantastic special effects and the characters were all people as a child you would want to grow up to be. Really enjoyed watching
Me too.
I find the characters in most, or maybe all, remakes unbearable and mostly immature adult types. The characters in the remake of the "Fly" all behaved like adult children. Annoying.
Characters from the older films of the 1950s behaved like mature adults, unless they were characters written into the scripts as immature types.
My opinions.
Orson Welles's little speech about the 1938 radio broadcast being for Halloween was improvised when RCA was made aware that the play was causing a panic.
Actually, the show broadcast from the Columbia Broadcasting Building, 485 Madison Avenue in New York City. The show was on CBS radio.
Not true at all. It wasn't ad-libbed, although it WAS a scripted, last-minute addition by Wells. He added it over the objection of the show's producer who felt admitting the show's format was a deliberate stunt would lead to legal liability.
Source: Brad A. Schwartz's 2015 book on the broadcast.
Best wishes from Vermont 🍁
I saw W of the Ws in 1953 in its first run at our small town local theatre. I was 13 years old. I begged my mother for the change to go back the next night to see it again. Nothing better than the 50s science fiction films!
Wow ... your older than I am. I was born in 1954. I saw the film for the first time at a theater in our area that revived older movies. I was about 6 years old at that time.
Patrons wrote down on a paper slip the names of older movies that they would like to see and a month, or so, later the theater would show them.
Thank God for that theater.
@@timfonseca5066 Thanks for bringing this doc here for us to see. I looked for the copyright year and Paramount left it out! Do you happen to know when it was made? I'm guessing mid-'90s.
I'm a '55 kid and first saw it in '63 or '64 in the cafeteria of a Lake Isabella CA campground on movie night. It scared the living hell out of me and I loved every moment of it. To this day, that's the only thing I remember of that family trip.
Breaks my heart to hear every single one of those beautiful spaceships were melted for scrap.
And as much as people deride the Cruise remake, I liked it quite a bit - the ferry attack is amazing and that klaxon sound they made is probably the scariest, most ominous tone I've ever heard in a movie theater.
Thanks again!
'Theater', the American spelling.
This was much better than the remake in every way.
The Spielberg film wasn’t a remake. Just a different interpretation of the source material. Did it’s own thing and that’s not a crime either, just as the 50s classic has bare bones similarities to wells novel.
@@kesterfae5447 Not a crime. I watched it. It was just okay. The headlight in the tripod was amusingly fake.
@@kesterfae5447 And it was a nice touch to include in a cameo Ann Robinson and Gene Barry in the Spielberg's film.
After the copyright expired, this movie was remade more times than almost any other film, with the exception of perhaps Sherlock Holmes or Dracula. Two other sci-fi films from the 1950s that come to mind as being tops of their genre are "The Day The Earth Stood Still" from 1951 and "Forbidden Planet" from 1956, yet somewhere along the way sci-fi films lost their respect until it was rekindled in 1968's "2001".
I loved the film "Them!" which was 1957.
@@MegaMesozoic Ah, yes, the giant insects! (If memory serves).
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Giant carnivorous ants!
@@MegaMesozoic 👍
I saw this movie for the 1st time in the 80s. I must have been 6 or 7. At the time it was shown on tv my parents had recently bought our first VHS player. It was recorded so my Dad could watch it when he got home from work. Over the following months I played that VHS so much that it degraded to nearly unwatchable. I still love this movie to this day.
Haha, I had that same experience with certain videos, playing them literally to death.
I saw this at the Saint Louis Park theatre in the late 1950''s with 500 kids at a Saturday Matinee. It was fantastic.
You reminded me of something I have forgotten until now. When I was about 6 or 7 years old our local movie theater would have Kiddie Matinees on Saturdays.
Parents would drop off their kids.
The whole theater was filled with kids only and we went nuts when they showed Science Fiction films.
One Saturday the theater manager stormed down the aisle and yelled at us because we were hooting and yelling too much.
'Theater'. The American spelling.
In 1962 I was in 9th grade. The AV kids would show movies in 15-20 minute segments, and that was how I first saw this one. I'd read the Classics Illustrated comic book by then, and had a quibble or two about the use of flying ships instead of the tripods, but the atmosphere of the movie couldn't be denied. My introduction to SF was "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Gort, and Samuel Hoffman's Theremin terrified me, but I guess I loved being terrified. SF has been my favorite genre ever since.
The best looking alien space craft to this date,,,2024.....Not just some garbage can lid......
Great piece. Thank you for posting.
You're Welcome.
This is fun.
I think the whole idea of making the tripod legs on the Martian machines composed of electromagnetism was perfect. They were still tripods, but suitably futuristic. I'd bet that Wells himself would have approved it. Esp considering his skepticism about the ability for his own book to be modernized.
I got to see one of the models for the Martian ships when I stayed at Forrest J Ackerman's place in the '90s. He had an absolutely mind-blowing collection. It was a major treat to be able to take it all in. I grieve that we'll never see another Ackermansion--nor another Forry.
Walking down a street in Hollywood one day I needed to know what time it was, so I asked the first person who I encountered for the time, and it was Forrest J Ackerman.
I was so stunned and nervous by that surprise encounter that I forgot to ask Forrest J Ackerman if I could visit his SF Musuem mansion. God what a boob I was.
Well, I kept putting off making an appointment to visit his mansion, out of nervousness, until it was too late.
The closist I have gotten to visiting his mansion has been by watching RUclips videos of visits other people filmed using Super 8- and 16-millimeter film.
That nervousness trait of mine "nipped in the bud" lots of opportunities including stuff like "a woman needing a ride home."
My brother collected a lot of the early issues of Forrest J Ackerman's "Famous Monsters" magazine.
Some of the issues had long, detailed, articles about the making of "War of the Worlds", etc.
@@timfonseca5066 Hey, I've been a big chance-misser in life, too...but for the middle part of it I was pretty lucky. I'm so glad you were lucky enough to meet Forry! He had that ability to make so many parts of your brain spark at once just by talking with you--I'm no mystic, but it was like an intellectual energy transference mixed with joy and laughter and hope. His type shall not walk this mangy planet again, and we are all the poorer for it...but he left behind so many traces and pointed out so many new horizons that he's still here in many ways.
@@Susie_Floozie My meeting with Forry on the street was very brief. I asked him for the time, he gave it to me, I thanked him, and we went our ways.
However, the issues of his magazine "Famous Monsters" have been scanned in high resolution and uploaded by devoted fans.
I downloaded many of the early issues. The issues are filled with his articles, and comments. So, even though I never had a long conversation with him I can still be inspired by what he has written.
His sense of humor is fun and makes me laugh.
I toured the "Ackermansion" and saw Forry again at Bookfellows in Glendale in company with two old friends he had helped start: Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen!!! Forry made an atrocious pun and I was the only one who laughed! Which he liked. What a night. What a memory.
@@garryferrington811 Haha, that's a lucky break, like meeting Sinatra with two members of the Rat Pack! I never got to see the two Rays together at the same time, so that was a coup for you! Forry and one Ray or the other were often accompanied by Robert Bloch, and it was a treat to hear them tell of their adventures. Forry and Ray B. pulled off the first Sci-Fi convention way back in 1939!
STILL my favourite version of the story, sorry Tom.
The original & the best ever version of War of the Worlds, A big thank you to all that created or worked on it. My favorite sci fi film !
I saw The Phoenix Lights UFO fly right over my head in 1997. That was beyond amazing. They are real, it's not just movies.
That was disproven. It was secret military, aircraft.
@@rogerrendzak8055 share where this was proven to be military
I love this movie, but they never even got to take a bite of that yummy looking breakfast !
The Martians were sure nasty and sadistic, spoiling a well-deserved breakfast, frying three guys waving a peace flag, roasting a priest holding a Bible, destroying city hall in L.A., zapping churches into rubble with their ray guns.
Were the Martians chuckling inside their machines when they did all that?
Well, I love this movie too, but one thing I wish is for a special version to be made where the wires holding the floating machines are digitally removed.
The Studios cleaned up the wires holding the flying cars in Blade Runner in a special version.
This movie and "Forbidden Planet" made SF movies popular and profitable for the studios.
I carried Miss Robinson in my sleeping car on train 30, the Capitol Limited, from Chicago to Washington, D.C., about 20 years ago. She was a lovely passenger.
A classic that stands on its own...❤
This video brings out the skill and craftsmanship that went into making this movie. Those folks behind the camera that built things and made it all work, deserve our respect.
I agree.
They, got it☺️!!!
I remember first seeing this as child on British television and being totally gripped. I’m now 64. I’ve seen it several times. It doesn’t diminish with time.
I was 4 years old and had just entered kindergarden when mother took me and my two year old sister to see "War of the Worlds." She said we're going to see a war movie. I slept with my head under the covers for then next 9 years. Seeing the 3 guys with the white flags turned into dust gave those of my generation PTSD!
I looked it up.
"PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event, such as a life-threatening situation ..."
Running like rats on the streets of L.A. from Martian War Machine Death Rays would certainly qualify.
I vaguely remember sitting in my seat horrified and wondering how the human race was going to save itself.
I hadn't read the book, yet.
I had a similar experience. I was about 6 years old when it came out. Gave me nightmares for several years after.
So, Ray Harryhausen invented Kodos and Kang? Who knew?
There is another similarity in the 1959 movie The Atomic Submarine. Even the voice sounds the same.
@@masive1498 Oh, my gosh! You're right! I'd never seen that one. Even the dialogue is similar.
Alien: So, Commander Holloway, as you Earth inhabitants would express it, we meet face to face.
Holloway: That's a face?
Alien: Point of view is everything!
Such a Kodos thing to say.
The sound of the heat ray and Godzilla's roar are the two most memorable sounds from Sci-Fi movies.
Yes
"No computer had to do that!"---Ann Robinson's comment on the "dying Martian" scene at the end of the film. Practical F/X are the best!
I was unsurprisingly disappointed with the Spielberg version, while the look and SFX were good, I disliked the Tom Cruise character and his children so much, I started rooting for the Martians to eat them.
Despite what these people think the Father of SG films was French, Georges Melies, who combined Jules Vernes a trip to the Moon and HG Wells The First Men in the Moon in the FIRST movie with an actual atart, finish, end, and a plot, 1904's Une Voyage dans la Lune.
Before seeing this excellent documentary, something hadn't ever occurred to me. But as I watched, I realized that when I'd gone to see the Dakota Fanning version, I had indeed been comparing it to this original film as each scene unfolded. To me, this indicates just how much the 1953 version had set a high standard in filmmaking, and in spite of all the tense thrills & grand spectacle of the modern version, this original might still be the better of the two. The film's success at the box office no doubt paved the way for other timeless, classic sci-fi films such as "The Day The World Stood Still", "Day Of The Triffids", and "This Island Earth". Thank you for posting this video!
Thanks for this, I had issues with the co stars Screams but in realistic terms, this was the first of so many great Sf movies ever produced, that will Always get an audience because of its originality.
Somewhere I have the blueprints for the Martian War Machine that I bought in the 70ies. With them you could make a fiberglass model of the craft.
Far more believable than the overblown, self-important, computer generated junk we have now.
Compare this to "Disney Star Wars". 70 years later and they can't make a movie as good as WOTW.
Always love the two big films George produced. War of the Worlds and When Worlds Collide. Awesome.
Time Machine.
when i first saw this i guess i was around 7 or 8, now i watch it on a flat screen tv with a billion more quality pixels and surround sound. im so spoiled.
I wish I had a large high tech private movie theater. I miss going to see these films in a quality theater with a respectful, mature, courteous audience.
Unlike today. RESPONSIBLE.
It was and always will be one of my favourite sci fi films.
First saw war of the worlds in black and white old t.v. then 10 years later in colour what a difference
Ann Robinson is one of the greatest actresses I’ve ever seen based on this movie alone!
I never saw anyone else express total fright as believably as she did when the Martian touched her in the farmhouse.
Being a kid and seeing the machines for the first time... The wicked cool copper manta design, the skeleton ray, the martian bodies, the sounds that went with them, the sparks on the ground as the machines floated along, WOW. Then add to it all of our technology of the time including the atomic bomb were useless against them was just boggling. It's still one of my favorites that I can watch repeatedly and not get tired of seeing.
I agree.
1953 The War of the Worlds not only is my favorite version from H.G. Wells but also my all time favorite movie of all time. Pure brilliance especially with the special effects for that time and the way they brought the movie to the modern day of its release. To this day the intro by Sir Cedric Hardwicke still brings goosebumps every time I hear it. This movie is the definition of the word classic
I agree.
Your comment,
"To this day the intro by Sir Cedric Hardwicke still brings goosebumps every time I hear it. This movie is the definition of the word classic"
happens to me too.
I love this version
I was s young boy when i first saw this movie. Im 66 now and still love this flick.
I am 70 and I feel the same way.
EXCELLENT MOVIE, EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY!! THANK YOU!
You're Welcome,
Are you a fan of the 1960s "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" TV series?
Years ago, I bought the entire DVD series sets.
It's not really possible to get the full effect of these great great films in your home. Even with an 80" screen you can't get the same effect as you could get in those old movie houses. And there is no comparison when it comes to the sound the movie houses offered.
That's true, but the last few times I was in a movie theater too many people were talking to each as if they were sitting in their living rooms.
I almost had a fistfight with someone for telling them to be quiet.
From my theater going experience before the middle of the 1970s anyone who started talking was immediately slapped down by other audience members and that was the end of that. Also, ushers would focus their lights on the "big mouths" and threaten them with being thrown out of the theater.
The only way to see the old movies again in a quite theater is to be as rich as Hertz, of Hertz Castle, and own a private theater.
@@timfonseca5066; in my day, you wore a suit and tie when you traveled by air, and you were quite and respectful of others when watching a film at a nice theater. HOWEVER, at the kids Saturday matinee at the old theater down the street, it was practically a riot from the time the lights were turned out till the last Three Stooges Short was over, and we all had to leave. We hurriedly ate our "Dots" so we could throw the empty box. We seldom got into a fight, because we were too busy throwing spit balls, yelling at the screen, and generally acting the fool.
What does Cecil B. Demille, gotta do with Paramount??? This is one of my favorite, sci-fi/horror films. In, my top five. Very, VERY IMPRESSIVE production😉👍👏!!! Remember it well, watching this back in the late '60's- early '70's, on warm summer, weekend nights, and imagining the martians, just landed, in our big backyard😁. Love the scene when Sylvia (Ann), looks in the martians camera eye, and her face is shown. That's almost scary, in itself😳. Still watch it occasionally, like two weeks ago. What year was this documentary, made???
CB DeMille's association with Paramount dates back to 1916 and when he returned to the studio in 1932, he never left until his death in 1959. He was the top director there.
One of my favourites
It's *impossible* to convey just how dropped jaw astonishing this film was at the time. The mood, the deep color saturation, the ships, the sound. The only movie I can compare to it for audience impact was 2001 A Space Odyssey. I recall not a single person could summon words when leaving the theater for it. And, of course, there's 1977's Star Wars but I was never really a fan. It seemed a bit silly to me 😂
When I was younger, I always got that excited "goose bumps" feeling in anticipation before and while watching "War of the Worlds."
The word that best describes that experience for me is "magical."
Not even the "Lord of the Rings" makes me feel that way.
In the original release, the model's strings were less visible on the Technicolor prints.
In 2020 a version of "War of the Worlds" was released wherein the strings were digitally removed as was done for the wires holding up the flying cars in the original "Blade Runner" film.
I loved this movie and still do. But I never like the Martian and thought it looked cheap and un-realistic. But it has grown on me.
I wish a remastered version of this film was made that digitally removed the wires holding up the Martain machines.
I always liked the Martians and wish they had shown more of them creeping about, and maybe some running in the woods and on the streets in LA.
Maybe speaking too, in Martian.
@@timfonseca5066 The latest 4K remastered version, has had all the wires removed, and looks amazing.
@@timfonseca5066 The newest version of the DVD and the Blue Ray have been remastered with the original 3 color film like it was meant to be. The wires are invisible again.
War of the Worlds entertaining value to We of the 50's, beat out the Star Wars Series of movies. Still well worth watching, for the Drama, Excitement and more. 👍👍 5👑 & 100🤠 Hat-tips for sharing.
Thank You for your hat-tip.
Saw the original in a movie theater as a teenager. I remember it being kinda scary. This from an 80 year old man.
I lived in a suburb of L.A., California, when I was a kid and the scenes of L.A. being attacked and destroyed by the Martians was very creepy.
Woody's not in the tree..
THE "Woody" is in the lake scene and the next scene at the landing site
I hope he wasn't zapped by the Martians.
Thank you for uploading this!!! You have a new subscriber my good sir. I have a lot to watch.
Welcome aboard, and Thank You for subscribing.
First WoTW 'adaptation' I grew up with was the 1978 musical presentation, with 'The Moody Blues' playing/singing, and, Richard Burton narrating the story. Still holds up to this day.
What a sad thing it is, that Hollywood's gone Hollyweird, and has not made many films that come close to War of the World's popularity, for decades.
I agree. It's sad.
Weird! I wondered what this exactly was, only to see MYSELF at the very beginning! I never watched this after I did the interview. (I supplied some of the behind-scenes photos as well). But, it IS weird because so unexpected!d
I am honored to have you watching and commenting on my Channel. The documentary was very well made.
@@timfonseca5066 Thanks! Love that film. It was one of my fist SF films ever, which I saw at age 5 on its original release.
The radio version caused people to shoot at water towers
Watching this movie was great but it made me miss the old America with its good old family values all the more.
The Square-dancing scenes are great. I remember my grammar school was still teaching Square Dancing when I was 6, or so. I could do those steps!
We used records, and never had a live energetic band going wild though.
I was born in 1954.
Great doc. Thanks for posting.
You're Welcome.
I recall, as a young lad, watching this film on "NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies." After watching this magnificent Science Fiction classic, I became an amateur astronomer, of sorts. Many thanks, Retro Lad!
You're Welcome.
"Keep watching the skies"
I bought a recent Blu-ray and they did wire removal. That film is awesome.😎😎😎
The wires were finally removed digitally. Great!!!
Was anything else digitally altered, or removed, from the film.
@@timfonseca5066 I have an old DVD which the wires were visible. With the wires removed on the Blu-ray, I think the film is perfect. I play it more than I do the new remake with so much CGI.
#28 AFI? Well deserved. Movie making perfection in all respects. You never get tired watching it, it's so well made and compelling. Way ahead of its time. Unbelievable visual effects, even by today's standards. Beautifully filmed.
Gene Barry was the star that really made the grade. Thankyou George Powell for this remarkable sci fi adaptation .
Three great 50s films began the Sci Fi Film era. "War of the Worlds.", "This Island Earth" and "Forbidden Planet". Yes there was the suspense of " Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the powerful message of "Day the Earth Stood Still", the simple fear of "The Blob", the apocalypse of "When Worlds Collide" and the stark reality of "On the Beach" but those first three, were the standouts that stood out and still do.