STACK #191 Sep 2020

FILM & TV FEATURE

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“No one would have believed, in the middle of the 20th century, that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s. Yet, across the gulf of space on the planet Mars, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our Earth with envious eyes, slowly and surely drawing their plans against us.”

ATTACKS! MARS

For over a century, H.G.Wells’s classic tale of a Martian invasion of Earth, TheWar of theWorlds , has captured the imagination of readers, filmmakers, audiences and musicians.With an all-newTV series arriving on DVD this month, STACK takes a look at the various adaptations to date. Words Scott Hocking

AT THE MOVIES

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953) Produced by George Pal ( Destination Moon , When Worlds Collide ), Paramount Pictures’ ambitious adaptation remains one of the true classics of 1950s science fiction and one of the very best screen versions of The War of the Worlds . The film makes some significant changes fromWells’s novel, shifting the action from Victorian England to ‘50s California and changing the design of the alien war machines from towering tripods to sleek, swan- like flying killers. The latter decision was made after movement of the tripod models proved problematic. Pal had also originally conceived the climactic attack on Los Angeles as a 3D sequence, which was abandoned prior to production. The film received an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, and its sound design is just as impactful, from the sinister hissing and ticking of the Martian machines to the blast of their heat rays – an effect created using three electric guitars played backwards.

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) Steven Spielberg’s big budget adaptation focuses on Tom Cruise and his estranged offspring as they attempt to flee New Jersey following the sudden emergence of the aliens’ tripod war machines. Key sequences from the novel are marvelously staged – the insidious red weed, the boat attack, the reveal of the aliens in the cellar, and the horrific nature of humanity’s potential fate. Spielberg’s version actually has more in common with Schindler’s List than the 1953 film, with some scenes evoking parallels to the Holocaust in this extermination of humankind. It’s also a cracking alien invasion flick that trades the clichés and spectacle of Hollywood disaster movies for a more realistic approach, with DOP Janusz Kaminski’s gritty cinematography allowing the CGI to blend in unobtrusively. Moreover, it’s the first Spielberg movie to feature malevolent aliens!

16 SEPTEMBER 2020

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