Eve Of The War
http://www.focusgaming.co.uk/eveofthewar/

The Original And Best
http://www.focusgaming.co.uk/eveofthewar/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=788
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Author:  Leper Messiah [ Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:30 am ]
Post subject:  The Original And Best

Well WOTW being rife at the moment and all, it had to happen that I picked up the book again for my second read through of the year and I have to say that after all the speculation and build up and analysis of Paramount and Pendragon and the general ambigous nature and that kind of calm patience that says "this is and will be cool" of the Jeff Wayne production, even after all that and the previous WOTW productions in their various formats this book is still the best version of War Of The Worlds there is. I'm not saying that the other versions are without merit, far from it. I remember much being made of the new Paramount film bringing the story up to date and making it more relevant to todays audience (although really much was made of it because of my loud, long and lets face it, invincible counter arguments \:D/ ) but that just didn't happen because the book still rules supreme, and not just because its the original story. It has just the right sense of scale, suspense, horror, realism and the all important messages of the story that in one way or another every WOTW production since has failed to accomplish. For instance the radio play was heavy on realism but light on the meaning of the story, the first Paramount film was heavy on message but pretty light on horror which really took away from the scare factor of the aliens. The musical is a strange adaptation in many ways because it kind of does its own thing whilst following the story and whilst the musical is blessed with the "cool" factor it doesnt have the simple power of the book. The new Paramount film and the Pendragon film as has been documented by various people including myself have failed to surpass the book. Pendragon seems to have done so because of shoddy presentation more so than anything else and Paramount because well, a lot of the time it just wasn't in the spirit of things for want of a better term.

So there we have it, over a century later and the book still rules supreme and in my opinion, it always will.

Author:  Loz [ Thu Jul 14, 2005 11:57 am ]
Post subject: 

Well i don't think any of us here expected any film of WOTW to suppass the book. A film being better than the book is a very rare thing indeed. Usually its a bad book to begin with , which gets cooked up into a great film. so I think its a little absurd to have a go at the films because they are not as good as the book How many films can you name that are better than the book they are based on?

Books and films are completely different genres. The book uses your imagination to give life to that which you read. A film uses the imagination of the Producers and Directors to take you on a trip, for a couple of hours or so.

bit of a poor argument that Lepper.

Author:  oever532 [ Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:49 pm ]
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At least the musical version made id very good to almost equal the book, I think... :-k

Author:  Lonesome Crow [ Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:20 pm ]
Post subject: 

I agree with 'Leper' here to a large extent. I have never really liked the Paramount 53 version very much, I read the book before I saw the film and was very disappointed, so much of the original story and characters was lost, it's jaded my opinion ever since, I don't even own a copy of this film, the Pendragon version I wish I could just forget and intend never to buy a copy. The Paramount 05 version I enjoyed enormously and will be buying it on DVD when it comes out, But its still no where near as good as the book. =D> Jeff's musical version is of course great and will always take second place IMHO.

Author:  Leper Messiah [ Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:18 am ]
Post subject: 

Loz wrote:
Well i don't think any of us here expected any film of WOTW to suppass the book. A film being better than the book is a very rare thing indeed. Usually its a bad book to begin with , which gets cooked up into a great film. so I think its a little absurd to have a go at the films because they are not as good as the book How many films can you name that are better than the book they are based on?

Books and films are completely different genres. The book uses your imagination to give life to that which you read. A film uses the imagination of the Producers and Directors to take you on a trip, for a couple of hours or so.

bit of a poor argument that Lepper.


I wasn't having a go at the various productions I was pointing out that they don't have what the book has for one reason or another. Indeed it would be some accomplishment for a film to surpass this particular piece of literature but I don't think that it would be impossible. Strangely enough it was the new Paramount film that convinced me that a film could live up to the book, even though this one fell short of the mark because where it did follow elements of the original story it was really quite enjoyable (in my review I singled out the ruined house segment for particular praise) perhaps even to the level that I enjoyed some bits of the book.

Yes, books and films are completely different genres of storytelling and CD's are yet another but nether the less it is quite possible to compare them, and the most obvious way in which to do so is how much you enjoy each version, and my point is that the book is still the most enjoyable version around.

oh and its 'Leper' not 'Lepper' :a019: \:D/

Author:  Loz [ Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:42 pm ]
Post subject: 

Leper Messiah wrote:
oh and its 'Leper' not 'Lepper' :a019: \:D/


Everyone knows I'm an iliterate literate. :mrgreen:

Author:  Lonesome Crow [ Sat Jul 16, 2005 4:31 pm ]
Post subject: 

Loz wrote:

Everyone knows I'm an iliterate literate. :mrgreen:


:shock: Really!?, I can't say I've noticed :lol:

Author:  Loz [ Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:46 pm ]
Post subject: 

yadf golm reet bathkl.

Author:  Lonesome Crow [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:09 am ]
Post subject: 

Oh' yes I remember now :lol:

Author:  oever532 [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:32 am ]
Post subject: 

Loz wrote:
yadf golm reet bathkl.


What does it mean? :-s

Author:  Loz [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:42 am ]
Post subject: 

It means I sometimes put two Ps where there should only be onw. 8)

Author:  Leper Messiah [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:45 am ]
Post subject: 

antelope

Author:  Loz [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:53 am ]
Post subject: 

Aaadvaaark

Author:  oever532 [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:59 pm ]
Post subject: 

:a037: :mrgreen: :a037:

Author:  Lonesome Crow [ Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:41 pm ]
Post subject: 

Or Skeleton :roll:

Author:  Leper Messiah [ Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:30 am ]
Post subject: 

this threads gone a bit Timothy Hines...

Author:  oever532 [ Fri Jul 22, 2005 10:24 am ]
Post subject: 

:-s :-k :-s :-k :-s What do you mean by that?

Author:  Lonesome Crow [ Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:34 pm ]
Post subject: 

:-k I think he means it's full of crap, like a Timothy Hines film :-s and I think he's right. #-o

Author:  oever532 [ Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:42 pm ]
Post subject: 

That's right.

Author:  Leper Messiah [ Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:39 am ]
Post subject: 

Lonesome Crow wrote:
:-k I think he means it's full of crap, like a Timothy Hines film :-s and I think he's right. #-o


bang on the money :D

Author:  oever532 [ Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:26 am ]
Post subject: 

How much did it cost then?

Author:  Leper Messiah [ Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:24 am ]
Post subject: 

a sum equal to Pendragon's entire budget. A postal order sufficed for payment.

Author:  oever532 [ Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:44 am ]
Post subject: 

I bet Pendragon haven't had enough money to create the additional effects for the movie to be good... :-k

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