WAR OF THE WORLDS MOVIE REVIEWS

MOVIES REVIEWS FOR H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. A PENDRAGON PICTURES PRODUCTION. PRODUCED BY SUSAN GOFORTH. DIRECTED BY TIMOTHY HINES

Martian Fighting Machine deploying the Heat Ray in Pendragon Pictures' H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, produced by Susan Goforth, directed by Timothy Hines. Copyright & TM 2005 Pendragon Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

H.G. WELLS'

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Screenplay adaptation by Timothy Hines & Susan Goforth

Based on the 1898 novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

Thank you for your faithful WOTW version!

Just a note of profound appreciation for your boldly faithful adaptation of H. G. Wells' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS.

We purchased our DVD copy at SAM'S CLUB Saturday. And after the hype

behind Steven Spielberg's coincidentally titled effort, our family were sincerely gratified by your fidelity to Wells' original. In fact, as all of us read the book (multiple times in some cases), my wife and I made weekend viewing mandatory for our four children.

And all of us loved it!

We also appreciate the boldness of director/writer Timothy Hines and

producer/writer Susan Goforth. As a fellow business owner, I respect and admire their daring decision to pursue artistic fidelity -- a possible path to marginal profits!

A couple questions . . .

As fans of the 1984 film THREADS, we were struck by the physical similarity between Susan Goforth and Karen Meagher, who played Ruth Beckett in THREADS. Are they related?

We also noted the common last name "Hines" in both movies. Are Barry and Timothy also related?

Again . . . from our family . . . thank you for your courageously close adaptation of H. G. Wells' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS!

Might we also enjoy an equally faithful THE TIME MACHINE from PENDRAGON?

David L. Veres

"credo quia absurdum est"

Superb...

Hi all at Pendragon,

I have just received the DVD of your new WOTW film and just wanted to say what a brilliant version it is.. it's a far cry from the bleached yet glossy americanised rubbish so far produced. You have captured the feel of the book really well.

I hope it is a great success.

Tim Hine

Dear Timothy and Susan,

First allow me to congratulate you on WAR OF THE WORLDS, which I picked

up at Sam's Club Store over the weekend. It is excellent! A faithful

adaptation of the H.G. Wells' novel. I really felt I was there, undergoing

the hero's desperate fight for survival even though the country and time

period was not my own. You also did an excellent job recreating the era,

even in the mannerisms of the actors and I recall that was important to you.

I wish you success beyond your expectations.

Best,

Nick

For Timothy Hines

Dear Mr. Hines,

I just wanted to write and personally tell you how much I love your movie, (H.G. Wells' ) The War Of The Worlds. I had been reading the forums (did not participate) prior to seeing and enjoying your movie, and looking forward to the movie with great anticipation since the beginning. I was thrilled to obtain the movie three weeks ago, and have watched and enjoyed it five times thus far (not counting the times I've re-played my favorite scenes, enjoying them in slow

motion as well). Everything is great, and I particularly enjoyed the performances of Anthony Piana, John Kaufmann, and Susan Goforth. The music was also wonderful, and brought to mind the music of the 1969 movie "Mark Of The Devil" in certain segments (the style and emotion of the music, that is) -- absolutely perfect.

My only regret is that the anticipation of seeing your movie has ended. I had lived with that wonderful anticipation every day for the past year or so, imagining what the movie would be like, what the martian war machines would look like and how they would move,

how the heat ray would function, how the characters would be portrayed, etc. You've done an excellent job -- I am so pleased with your movie and simply cannont get enough of it! I'll be watching

it again this evening.

Before I sat down to write you, I had decided that I would keep it brief and not bore you with comments about individual scenes and other praises. But I must tell you that the first appearance of the martian machines (in the storm) was superbly done and very frightening, and

I loved Piana's reactions. (Incidentally, it's of great compliment to you that I actually had a nightmare about this scene.) One scene which I fear might probably go unnoticed by many viewers is Piana's unearthing and eating of the carrots after emerging from the ruined house. That scene is excellent and very humbling, and one of the best.

Thank you so much for creating this movie and finally bringing the book to life on screen. I've read the book many times in the past 30+ years, and had always wished for that movie. Now you've done it, and it's wonderful! I now cannot wait to see "Chrome", and I also want to see each and all of your other movies mentioned on the site.

Sincere thanks,

Steven J. Bello

The War of the Worlds

Hi Tim, Susan, and the rest.

Just a quick note to let you know my feelings about your version of WOW. I liked it enough to watch it 2 1/2 times in the last couple of weeks. Although there was much that I didn't like, there was more that I did like. In general I found it to be entertaining and thought provoking. (Thunderstorms will never be the same for me!) My son has watched it once and will probably watch it again today. It was well worth the $9 I paid for it. Good luck with Chrome and other future projects!

Harry Wilhelm

Jamie Hall's music

Ever since reading the book as a teenager, I've been sorely disappointed with Hollywood's treatment of the piece. Your film has reminded me how great a work of genius Wells' story is. Would like to say, I hope you plan to release Jamie Hall's musical score as a soundtrack album. It is a wonderful symphonic suite that deserves to be heard again and again. I'll be looking for it. Best regards, Jeff Skinner

Ingenious Film

Pendragon Pictures quirky take on this classic tale is delightful and perfectly executed. The script is beautifully, realisticly and humorously written. The sets and filming are artistic and a bit mythical, and the casting choices are just great. The film is peopled with interesting characters and great supporting characters.

And that's not all. Interwoven in this action-tense war-torn scifi movie is a great sensitivity to the nature of humanity and what calms and fulfills us as human beings.

This movie has excellent music by Jamie Hall. It was the best score I have heard in a long time. It is as much a musical epic as it is a classic epic.

I really believe that this movie reaches a height that isn't tried for today and I commend the filmmakers for boldly going for an original and interesting and also faithful take on this story. I also liked that it really does follow the book closely and doesn't cut or update any of the characters.

Kudos for fabulous Marians and Martian technology. This will be one of the most talked about movies this year and I look forward to their upcoming movies.

Eric Ortuzar

A pleasure to watch.

This very faithful adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS was my pleasure to watch. I loved the intertwining of the story and the music and the powerful feelings of hope and despair. This is an epic story framed to an intimate scale and I was moved and enjoyed it very much.

Though slow moving at times, the cast makes up for it with chemistry and the action scenes of war and destruction are mythically stunning and will leave a vivid impression on you.

As you may know, the story takes places in Victorian times at the turn of the century before cars and cell phones, TV and video games. The filmmakers chose well to keep the story set in its original period and location. To look back to an age where society was so preoccupied with mannerisms and etiquette displayed the air of arrogance in a gentle way that was needed to propel the story and the plausibility of Martians coming down from space and taking over the planet. It's as if we are looking back at an event in history, that we have learned from this experience and have grown as a society since 1900, but if you haven't heard the story you should sit down and see it unfold so you too can be a little wiser and little more tuned in to the heart of humanity. In a funny way it reminded me of the original THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, like a fable come to life.

The characters of the film are well portrayed and the most three-dimensional representations of these well known characters I have ever seen. The narrator, or writer as they call him in the movie, is who's eyes we see the story through. He could be any of us. He's middle class, middle of the road and not really effecting the world for better or worse. And still he is portrayed with very specific detail and complexity. The actor in every scene shows us his world is rich in detail and that there is a complex set of relationships going on whether its between him and his wife, him and the servant class, him and the upper class, or him with authority figures in the military and/or church. I was very impressed with the fellow portraying him and easily followed his journey never leaving his skin.

All the supporting characters were good as well, but the most intriguing were the Martians themselves. This is the first movie adaptation of the book where I got the sense that they were intelligent life from another world. The Martians in this movie do regard us with envious eyes. The do treat the humans with ill regard or with no regard--like ants.

Jeffrey Causey

Handsome little film.

There are many inspired moments in this movie,and it comes together as complete film.

It was most wonderful to see Wells' characters come to life, and like life itself, the destination of the narrator mattered no more than the shared journey he had with various people during the martian rule.

And, in this case, the gorgeous yellow-toned cinematography and the musical score were feting the movie fantasies of a bygone era.

A handsome little film.

Terry Cuff

Have to admit they made it enjoyable.

Ok, so I can't stand Masterpiece Theatre...but I have to admit they made this movie an enjoyable experience. So, I can't say I agree with people that say they didn't have a big enough budget being Indie filmmakers. They have just enough to tell the oldest martian invasion story to its fullest as it was meant to be told in its original time and location with victorian lace and fields all around them.

It takes a certain type of story to successfully sell the audience on an antique looking period piece. Tim Hines gets nothing but my humble admiration in this respect as the design work of the martians and their fighting machines, the meteorite crash and pit, the collapsed house, the martians dying, it all provides a visual feast fit for anyone and everyone.

As you know the main character, stranded from his family while chasing the excitement of war, embarks on a journey to reunite with them and it turns into a fight to live and not be eaten by the martians.

Also, if you realize this movie is a throwback to vintage gothic horror movies, you should be smart enough to know the filmmakers were not going for Oscar winning special effects, but for the truth of the story--surviving against overwhelming odds.

The expressions on the actors' faces in the last shot gave this whole movie the closure I needed.

Luis Hernandez

Visually fun, emotionally satisfying

H. G. WELLS THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is a detail rich,cool movie, crafted by hand by obvious real scifi fans. You can feel in your heart and gut why this story has been popular for so long.

This movie takes a complex, episodic 100 year old best seller and builds it into an emotionally satisfying, visual fun whole. I loved it. It might make me take another crack at reading the novel.

Robert Bodkin

H.G Wells' The War of the Worlds: Mark's Take

This is the first film to do the novel in the period in which it was intended, says Mark. The acting is stylized; the photography is stylized; the special effects are stylized. All this effectively evokes a period feel on a dime-store budget. This exceptionally faithful adaptation of the Wells novel, but is a film that will appeal to only a very narrow audience.

Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

The new version of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS seems to be channeling Karel Zeman. Zeman was a Czech filmmaker who made several remarkable and heavily stylized movies. Frequently adapting classic works of science fiction or fantasy, he had a somewhat tongue-in-cheek style. His special effects were not lavish, but instead looked like they were done imaginatively on a tiny budget. If the films were not always highly-polished, they were done with panache, creativity, and frequently a whimsical feel. For THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE, Zeman combined live-action with what appeared to be animated Gustave Dore lithograph illustrations. They evoked the feel of the classic editions of Verne that had been illustrated by Dore. Zeman's other films include THE LOST AIRSHIP, ON THE COMET (both based on Jules Verne), and THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN.

Karel Zeman is no more, but, intentionally or not, the spirit of Zeman is very much alive in H. G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, directed and co-written by Timothy Hines. It is one of this year's three versions of that novel and may well end up being my favorite of the three. With what are occasionally somewhat playful comic-opera performances Hines gives us an extremely accurate and faithful adaptation of the H. G. Wells's novel. And he sets it around 1900, just as Wells intended. Nobody has ever done that on film before. To make sure that he does not omit any important plot points from the novel Hines's version is just a minute or so short of three hours.

To fans of only lavish fantasy filmmaking with completely convincing special effects, this film may be a disappointment. And the film has gotten little positive comment. Fans of the Wells novel, however, will not find a better adaptation to film. I will not outline the plot. The plot of the Wells novel is the plot of the film to several decimal places. The only plot point that I noticed that was lost was that the Martian red weed that dies off, foreshadowing the fate of the invasion. Because the film so closely follows the book, the pacing may be slower than modern audiences might expect. But patience has its rewards.

The film has no familiar actors. The cast is made up of mostly first-timers. Hines has them parody stuffy British stage melodramatics of turn-of-the-century Britain. Their acting style is less that of a 21st century film and more that of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. That is all Hines asks of them. That is quite possibly all Wells would have wanted. Wells wrote his novel to complain about British Imperialism in places like Tasmania and to vent his anger at the indifferent English populace. The Gilbert-and-Sullivan-style acting is sufficient to create the feel of empty people, and Wells would have approved most heartily. The one poor touch in the casting is that all the major actors appear to be at most in their early thirties. Somehow that is not the impression I get from the book.

As with the acting, Hines does not give us all that might be expected in the special effects. As would be true with a marionette show, it is easy to tell we are not looking at reality, but the effects are sufficient to do their part to carry the story. Frequently effects will be botched, and my guess is that it was done intentionally. When a building is burning, flames will be superimposed over the windows, but they will be just enough off-position to remind us that these are effects. The Martian war machines, this time envisioned with a sort of arthropod look, do not have much mobility and look flat and cartoonish.

Perhaps an irritating touch of the film is in its emulation of very early cinema. The visuals frequently jump and jerk as if an old film has been repaired many times and frames are missing. It is an interesting idea, but the effect quickly wears out its welcome. Fortunately we see a lot less of this touch in the second half of the film. The score by Jamie Hall, credited in the IMDB for only one previous film, has some moments, but for the most part is just adequate.

Personally I would have liked the first period adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS to have been done well and seriously with believable effects. That would probably have met with more audience approval. Perhaps such a film will eventually be made. This is a film that serves the novel and H. G. Wells's intentions well, without letting the visual effects or even the action steal the show. The film is just a kinetic illustration of the novel. But I am happy to settle for that. I rate this version a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10. But I do not expect that there will be many viewers who will like the film as much as I do. I might suggest watching the film with the novel in hand and open. As far as I know this movie is available only on video.

Mark R. Leeper

Amazon Editorial Review

H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds is a quirky if well-meaning, labor-of-love adaptation of Wells' seminal 1898 science fiction novel. A website for the film's production company, Pendragon Pictures, explains that this version of Wells's thinly disguised prediction of World War I actually began as a modern-day variation on the story. Terrorist attacks in America on September 11, 2001, however, convinced co-writer and director Timothy Hines to set the project instead in the late 19th century period Wells imagined.

By coincidence, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's contemporary take on War of the Worlds began production shortly after Hines's adjustment. While hardly a competitive threat to Spielberg's movie, Pendragon's War might have made an interesting complement to it. Unfortunately, Hines and company seriously blew their opportunity. While there is some money and impressive special-effects wizardry on the screen, this embarrassing, seemingly endless feature is doomed by a crazy effort to marry the look and texture of Silent Era epics to Computer Age manipulation. Not that War is a silent picture, mind you. But much of it is tinted in expressive rainbow hues that were common in films a century ago; the cast of unknowns' performances are mannered and exaggerated in a silly impression of pre-optical soundtrack acting; and primitive effects (e.g., printing a scene backwards for an ethereal feel) are unflattering. As if that's not bad enough, no one involved with this movie appears to know basic editing principles for compressing time and action. On the plus side, the extraterrestrial killers and their awesome machines of destruction are startling to behold. The image of Big Ben's clock tower blown apart over a flaming London is persuasive indeed.

--Tom Keogh

A beautifully rendered movie.

This version of the H. G. Wells book THE WAR OF THE WORLDS takes place in the period the book was set in 1900. It is true to the book and makes the right choice by focusing on the story and the characters.

The film makes clever use of it's low budget as Masterpiece Theater does. The filmmakers are good at drawing your focus from anacronisms and they do a similar good job at masking the seems. But if that's all your looking at, you are in trouble from the start. Because this movie is about the relationships of the characters and their attempts at dealing with a world gone mad.

There are so many human moments of true depth I don't know where to begin. The narrator's joy at seeing Mars through a telescope for the first time. He's childlike in his enthusiasm and plays nicely against the astronomer Ogilvy's old owl wisdom.

The movie also effortlessly shifts from character to character as it does in the book, while always maintains a cohesive structure.

The wife come across as wise but trapped in the "guilded cage" of the times. She struggles to wear her position in life as a woman deferring to her husband's wishes, even as her better judgement tells her that to do so will put her in danger. Susan Goforth delivers a soft, yet strong character, such as was expected of women. Be feminine, wear a corset, be a lady, do the washing and a day of hard labor. Do it as if you were a little bird.

Ogilvy, the astronomer is the original scientist arguing for reason over fear. Some of the fun of the storytelling comes from the present knowledge that we have that the meteorite with "men inside" is not what it seems. The actor Jack Clay plays this straightforward. In one scene he is frightened for the men trapped inside the meteor and the music has tragic qualities as we know he should be running away.

Henderson, the reporter is played with energy and wonderment. He's out of his legue as Ogilvy brings him to the meteor. There are great moments when Henderson first sees this huge molten rock at the bottom of a crater and constantly checks in with glances to Ogilvy as to whether or not he should run.

There lies the irony. And it build throughout the movie. We are constantly shown innocence as it meets the discovery of truth and then falls away. For some of the characters, their very soul falls away with this loss of innocence.

The narrator, being a writer, is able, at first, to keep a perspective, if not a distance from that which he encounters. But as the Martians unfold their plan for conquering the world, he is slowly pulled in more and more on a personal level.

Finally his being is tested to the fullest as he faces the possible loss of his wife. Anthony Piana does a superb job displaying this innocence and then progresses the character nicely as his repeated horrors and mistakes grow him and show him what is really true.

Severel times in the film, with the best of intentions, he accidentally causes the deaths of people. At one point he gets the idea that people will be safe from the Martian heat ray if they all dive into the water. The results are tragic as they are boild to death. By luck or fate he survives.

And this happens often. Just as in life, sometimes the wrong choice saves him, sometimes the right choice puts him in harm's way.

One of the people the narrator encounters and travels with is an Artillery man, dryly played by the strapping James Lathrop. Lathrop skillfully captures the fractured soul of a soldier shocked loose from the realities of the world by the horrors of a war. A war like no Victorian has ever seen. He plays the character straight arrow, as if he has no awareness of his detachment that alternates with a need to silently weep.

He is in great contrast to the curate performed by John Kaufmann. Kaufmann bears an uncanny resemblence to Ron Howard. When we meet his charracter, his spirit is so broken that he has reverted to a child-like state.

The narrator is saddled with taking care of him and constantly worries that this poor soul is going to cause the death of them both. This builds over time and comes to a peak as the two are trapped for days in the pantry of a collapsed house. The curate increasingly rants louder and louder, ultimately drawing the Martians to them.

The story goes back and forth between the narrator and his borther, both cleverly played Anthony Piana. The brother is a sharp contrast to the innocence of the narrator. From the get go he is all business and focus. A trained fighter he takes on a group of men in a particularly realistic fight scene to save two women from the villians' clutches. He winds up travelling with the women as their protector.

The most famous aspect of the book is the 100 foot tall Martian fighting machines and these are cleverly rendered in CGI and with puppeted models. They have a scary presence and a calculation in their movements.

The battle scenes are tragic and played fully in this direction. The effects are sometimes low budgety but support the story and seen through the character's eyes, quite frightening.

There are many small character touches. When the brother declares that he is an excellent shot, but you can se in his eyes that he is not. When the young girl with Shirley Temple hair has to fire a pistol but has no idea how to handle the kick. When the curate knocks over a bottle and slyly steals the narrator's portion. When the wife tries to convince the narrator not to leave her and she thinks she has succeeded only to feel him pull away. The transition of shock and sadness is a great moment of acting. When the narrator discovers a young lady who has commited suicide. He reaches out to touch her check, to find connection with her, but finding her cold, recoils in horror. When the narrator is informed that the town his wife was in was completely destroyed, his sorrow is so true it is almost to much to watch. As if you stumbled in on a private moment and want to back out.

For some viewers, moments such as these may make them uncomfortable, but they are raw and true in a MIKE LEE kind of way.

This movie feels completly true throughout its running time from an emotional performance perspective. In style, the movie is surreal, like pre WW2 German cinema that spawned films such as Metropolis.

Occaisonally the style is so surreal that I was reminded of early David Lynch with his films like the Elepahnt Man or Eraser Head. But the people are real and the tale unfolds. through them.

To view this movie solely on the sum of its parts is to miss what it is. To break it down into its elements and then study the elements is like studying the pigments of the Mona Lisa or marble compound of the statue of David without looking at the art these elements make up.

Undoubtedly, some will only see the parts. But H. G. WELLS' WAR OF THE WORLDS is much much more than the sum of its parts. It is the transformation of souls in uncertain times. And the telling of the story is executed with mastery.

Becca Faccio

A tribute to H G Wells and the early years of film making.

War of the Worlds is a dark tale written in 1898, taking place around 1900, about man's transient place in nature, and the effects of modern machinery on human struggle, whether the machines are in the hands of humans or another species entirely. In the original book, humankind and the narrator are both in defeat and despair at the end, saved for the time being not by any human effort or invention, but by the accidental vulnerability of the Martians to a bacterial organism--another natural species entirely.

This engaging film tells the story in full, including dialogue taken almost verbatim by the page from the original. The visuals are photographed or processed to simulate early 20th Century hand-cranked cameras and projectors, so motion is at variable speeds, with the flickering quality of sub-24-frame-per-second projection. The color is in the style of tinted or two-color process early film (such as sequences in Hell's Angels or the original King of Kings). The actors act like people of 1900, in speech, manner and sentiment. The audio quality is modern, with a good symphonic score.

Special effects echo an earlier age of film, even those effects probably duplicated with CGI rather than modelling and stop-motion. Folks who have to have modern graphics won't like it, period. However this film is a story being told, not an imitation of an imaginary hyper-reality handed to an audience. It requires an extention of the viewer's mind, and rewards that effort with a journey through the world of Herbert George Wells. The Martian war machines and the reduction of their victims to skeletons, as well as the occasional squashing-flat of the stomped-on are efforts which Harryhausen would appreciate (though one sequence of naval combat would have been regarded as primitive by D W Griffith).

Because of the fidelity to the book, and probably because the film is released on DVD without preliminary editing for an American theatre audience, it runs three hours, a sort of director's cut. For those who get into the creative stye of the film and enjoy the details of the authentic story, this is not too long.

J. Young

Jamie Hall's Music

Best told WOTW ever.

Bravo for finally doing WAR OF THE WORLDS right.

This small budgeted indie movie of the classic novel by HG Wells is convincingly elegant, unsparing and entertaining. It is a sweeping and enriching narrative that captures the fancy and tragedy of old-fashioned poetic storytelling.

You don't need a lot of money to tell a really good story. You need talent, skill and heart and this movie overflows with it all.

Best told WOTW ever.

Derek Ko

hello from north dakota

Well 2 nights ago I bought the dvd to your movie. I finally watched it

yesterday. It was awesome seeing the novel brought to life. I wish

more people would stick to the book when turning the book into a

movie. A lot of films don't do that. But you stuck very well to the

storyline. This is 1 dvd I am glad to own.

Daniel Torstenson

Adoring, adventure and fun.

I simply adored watching this movie. It's not a hollywood blockbuster special FX movie. It's more like Never Ending Story. It's set in 1900 Dickinsian England like A Christmas Carol and you are completely transported to another era of gentlemen and ladies, culture and apertiffs. And then eruptions turn to flashes turn to falling stars turn to...Martians.

It was pure fun.

It begins with the Narrator taking us into the time before through old documentary footage like the Road Warrior. This changes into color like the Wizard of Oz, only much faster. Then the story unfolds. The Narrator meets Ogilvy, a popular astronomer who tells him about the activity on Mars, so the Narrator can do a story on the subject. He and everyone in general think nothing of the strange flashes and falling stars. Then Ogilvy sees a falling star literally crash and goes to investigate.

This reveals the fallen meteorite. A bit of chaos ensues, and most fascinating is that this, in the year 1900 is the most exciting thing to happen in a long time. People gather as if the circus was coming through town. Fascination then gives way to horror, as the meaning of the meteorite is revealed.

I really enjoyed the Narrator's performance in this tale and his adventures. Tragic and moving, it was all very interesting and stuck very closely to the novel version of War Of The Worlds. The rapor between the actors was very good, and there were comical bits that gave me a much needed laugh through all the destruction.

If you enjoyed the magicalness of Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban and if you enjoyed movies that are more about story than the budget of their effects, you will have a great time watching this movie.

Meg Graham

An enchanting movie in the gothic horror vein.

This movie took me by surprise. I was expecting a low budget version of the upcoming Cruise/Spielberg vehicle, but I got something entirely different.

The movie is unique. From it's slow confident build-up, to the Martian invasion, to its moody battles with the Martians and the Earth's fall to their dominance, the filmmaking is resplendent.

Created like an old newsreel movie on a hand driven camera, the very core of this movie is transcendent. It has a commanding sureness of its approach. I felt like I was there, living with the characters as they awakened from their sleepy world to realize there is more than humans at the top.

Director Timothy Hines seems to have bitten off alot as he is credited as editor, photographer and director, but he sustains a balance that is hard to achieve in a three hour drama. I remember the endless camel shots in Lawrence of Arabia and an abundance of marching in Sparticus, and this movie has similar scenes. But they are in the book. It is what Wells described and Hines captures them in a way that makes you feel how hard it was to get around back then.

Some modern viewers might be impatient with this as everything is handed to us quickly today. Buzzing from place to place while taking phone calls and checking in with the internet, I can see where it would be hard for some to understand a time when people did less in a day. When they took time to enjoy a cup of tea or read a newspaper. People mostly walked back then. The carriage was for long journeys and the fast transport was the train only.

If one can slow down enough to let the film take you, it will, and the ride will be worth it.

The special effects are not like effects you have seen. They don't try to hide that fact that they are effects. They are more like jewels skillfully attached to the story. Just enough to fill out Wells'es vision.

The actors did a fine job and were perfectly believable in the roles, save for British accents that came and went from time to time. But this was not a distraction as the characters attempts to grasp what was happening all too quickly to their world was right. Jamie Lynn Sease did a superb job as a pouty young girl trying to be a woman and take care of her sister-in-law who is falling apart under the pressure. Anthony Piana is subtle and very watchable. Susan Goforth does a fine job as a sheltered wife who wants more freedom to decide her own destiny.

The music blends nicely with the style, which in itself is a tribute to musical scores that were once fuller and allowed to support the film. The Martian theme is done with heavy brass and the humans theme is done with strings. The writer's theme is light at first then slowly transists to a darker more serious mood. The artilleryman has a drum theme and human death's are scored with an operatic scope.

This was a film like no other. A bold and masterful work that will absolutley not appeal to some of the post video game ultra stimulation needing crowd. This is not the Fast and the Furious. This movie unfolds like an enchanting dream that slips into a gothic nightmare.

I was fascinated to the end. This movie will live for many years to come.

Brian B.

Worth watching for sure.

Worth watching for sure.

A meteor falls in the woods and burns a big pit in the sand. The meteor is an empty cylinder with aliens inside. The aliens seem to need help, or so we just assume. All the tidy Victorians eagerly try to help or destroy the aliens. Then out comes the heat ray!

This is where everybody runs and the martians kick butt and make all the stuffy shirts and corseted waists go wiggly. Curious seeker "Writer" -- no name man -- dumps his wife off at cousin's pad and head back to see the military blow up the beasts. Boom! In your face, the martians are the superior being.

Super battles, soldiers blown to bits everywhere. Giant machines walking overhead. Crazy Writer man losing it, finding it, losing it again, and finally finding his head and his way home.

Best part: Writer man is stuck in a crushed house with an even more out of it dude and they fight over food. The other guy's hysterical. And Writer man gives it to him.

Satisfying. Not riveting all the time. Overall a worthwhile scifi/horror/fantasy movie.

Joseph Vance

A rambunctious and inspired ride.

This movie version of War of the Worlds is very much the book. The characters and plots are straight out of the book almost word for word. How exciting! I simply loved it. The Martians coming down from Mars and the cylinder firing is very accurate and one of the best sequences in the movie. The destruction of Horsell, Woking and Shepperton are superior.

Interestingly, a lot of the suspense and details Wells works depends on the absence of news. This is set up with the narrator asking for news from the paperboy and neighbor before the Martians reveal themselves to be hostile. Also, the narrator's brother is in London, not that far from Woking, and he has no idea that the aliens have invaded and destroyed so much. While we see the narrator fleeing, his brother is hearing that the telegraph lines are down and the trains aren't running. Very well done.

My favorite part is the narrator and curate in the collapsed house in a Martian pit. The deterioration of the curate and his need for food is very well done.

I think this is a good movie for all who love Wells and Martians, and you can tell the filmmakers very much respected the source material.

Ruth Williams

Fantasy art film odyssey.

I'm given this film a hand for attempting an enormous movie as a complete independent and making it to the finish line.

This film is a fantasy art flim. It's an odyssey of a man caught up in the devastating tragedy of war. Only this time the enemy is extraterrestrials who outpower the human race from the beginning.

The first act sets up the appearance of the Martians, disguised in a trojan meteorite, and their deployment.

The second act is the main character, the no-named "writer", discovering that the Martians are both dominating and unstoppable.

The third and final act is the main character hiding and surviving the holocaust that is being enforced by the Martians.

The chronicle of the collapse of civil society and the demise of hope and faith are interestingly presented. The emotional wattage between the characters is satisfying ninety percent of the time. The other ten it is either too reserved or too much. The colored filter sepia toned photography is sometimes stunning, sometimes baffling, and overall is beneficial to the film for looking unique.

This film has a quasi-poetic, lyrical tone that is flawed by poor, low-budget special effects. Sometimes you feel the green screen work, as if they used old fashioned rear projected images as the background. Some shots look silly like a cartoon. But the story maintains your attention and is worth seeing if you like the pacing of Mingella films and the style of old '50s docmentaries.

Tomas G.

MOVIE REVIEWS

"Their armoured bodies glittered in the sun as they swept swiftly forward upon the guns, growing rapidly larger as they drew nearer."