WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
Article #300 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 1-9-2002
Posting date: 5-26-2002

Martians invade the earth in unstoppable war machines.

I remember watching this movie on TV as a kid, and it had an enormous impact on me; I’ve never forgotten the scenes where the landing craft knocks over the farmhouse, the eye sneaks in and spies on the hero and heroine, and the wonderful moment at the end with the martian hand coming out of the downed saucer. Nowadays, I still love the movie, and it is far and away my favorite alien invasion movie. It’s also my favorite George Pal film, and even though religious themes have annoyed me in other movies, in this one I accept them; the only time I feel a little embarrassed by them is on the comment about it taking the same amount of time to destroy the earth as it did to create it. There’s lots of familiar faces (and voices) on hand, with Gene Barry, Les Tremayne, Paul Frees, Sir Cedric Hardwicke (narration), Russ Bender, and (I noticed him for the first time this time round) Paul Birch as the man with the white flag.