Review of The War of the Worlds

Cedric Hardwicke opens the proceedings with all the dramatic impact of someone reading the London Telephone Directory. It does not bode too well for what is to follow. Gene Barry does his best with a somewhat vague and disjointed script but does not appear to be involved in the proceedings to any great extent; and Ann Robinson screams very nicely. The special effects are, for its time, quite clever, although not a patch on 'Forbidden Planet', made just a few years later. The real trouble lies in the fact that there is no real story as such. At least the recent effort with Tom Cruise had a tale to tell - and obviously far more impactful effects - not just machines bashing up the earthlings! For a better example of cinematic sci-fi of the 1950s have a look at 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' or 'Forbidden Planet'. These two, and some others, are rightly 'classics'. This one is just fairly good fun.