The original and for me, the best cinematic adaptation of HG Wells' classic yarn about invading Martians. Produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin, it's a vivid, exciting and fast-moving adventure with terrific special effects for the time which still impress today.
The basic story must be almost universally known as a fleet of UFO's begins to land at different spots on the planet with our story concentrating on San Francisco. Unlike Wells' tripod-borne invaders these Martians pose an even bigger threat as they use flying machines to search and destroy. And search and destroy they most assuredly do, repelling everything our fighting forces can throw at them, all the way up to an actual atomic bomb while rasing whole buildings to the ground and reducing to dust any humans who unwisely cross their path.
Caught up in the middle of it all are scientist Gene Barry and Ann Robinson the pretty young niece of the local padre, both obviously inserted to provide a little human interest but the real attraction here is in the action sequences with the Martians in their bright green vessels and flame-orange disintegrating rays wreaking colourful havoc on the local landscape. There are also fine perspective shots of early 50's Frisco. The acting by the cast is a little stiff and at times you can almost imagine the director cuing "Action!" for some shots but the crowd scenes on the other hand are convincing.
The narrative fairly hurtles along and even up to the last five minutes you can't see where redemption will come from but reflecting contemporary, conservative attitudes towards religion, it just goes to show you what the power of prayer can do...I personally found that particular idea to be sillier than that of the men from Mars themselves but it can't detract too much from all the bangs and crashes which preceded it.
As good in its way as Orson Welles' celebrated radio version of the same story from fifteen years before, this remains the definitive take and is still one of the best sci-fi movies you'll ever see.
The basic story must be almost universally known as a fleet of UFO's begins to land at different spots on the planet with our story concentrating on San Francisco. Unlike Wells' tripod-borne invaders these Martians pose an even bigger threat as they use flying machines to search and destroy. And search and destroy they most assuredly do, repelling everything our fighting forces can throw at them, all the way up to an actual atomic bomb while rasing whole buildings to the ground and reducing to dust any humans who unwisely cross their path.
Caught up in the middle of it all are scientist Gene Barry and Ann Robinson the pretty young niece of the local padre, both obviously inserted to provide a little human interest but the real attraction here is in the action sequences with the Martians in their bright green vessels and flame-orange disintegrating rays wreaking colourful havoc on the local landscape. There are also fine perspective shots of early 50's Frisco. The acting by the cast is a little stiff and at times you can almost imagine the director cuing "Action!" for some shots but the crowd scenes on the other hand are convincing.
The narrative fairly hurtles along and even up to the last five minutes you can't see where redemption will come from but reflecting contemporary, conservative attitudes towards religion, it just goes to show you what the power of prayer can do...I personally found that particular idea to be sillier than that of the men from Mars themselves but it can't detract too much from all the bangs and crashes which preceded it.
As good in its way as Orson Welles' celebrated radio version of the same story from fifteen years before, this remains the definitive take and is still one of the best sci-fi movies you'll ever see.