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 Post subject: War of the Worlds - The Complete First Season
PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:19 pm 
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Martian War Lord

Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:01 pm
Posts: 1259
Location: UK
DVD Review by Raul Burriel
Published: October 31, 2005

Just in time for the release of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruises's "War of the Worlds" feature film on DVD come this little gem in the rough. The War of the Worlds television series is a strange beast. We've seen many feature films remade into television shows, but rarely does a television show act as a sequel to a feature film. What makes this series even more rare is that it acts as a sequel to a film that first hit screens 30 years earlier and has been regarded as little more than a b-movie ever since. War of the Worlds, the television series, is a sequel to the 1953 film of the same name starring Gene Barry, which itself was a remake of the Orson Welles radio broadcast, which of course was based on the novel by H.G. Wells.

The premise is compelling. 30 years after the attempted invasion of Earth by aliens (as depicted in the movie), radical environmentalists raid a toxic waste depot, unknowingly awakening the dormant alien survivors of the invasion. The aliens - as anyone who's read the novel, heard the radio play, or seen the movie(s) knows - fell victim to bacteria on Earth. But by taking over the bodies of the radical environmentalists, the aliens now have found a way to protect themselves from the bacteria. It's essentially "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" all over again. There's a catch. Nobody on Earth remembers the original 1953 invasion. So the government undertakes a covert mission to find the renegade aliens and stop them before they can launch a second invasion. Heading up the task force is quirky scientist Harrison Blackwood. His group includes no-nonsense scientist Sylvia Van Buren, computer expert Norton Drake, and army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Ironhorse.

The series itself was a strange creature. First aired in 1988, it was syndicated as part of a late night horror block from Paramount Television that included the better remembered "Friday the 13th" series. It lasted two seasons and built a small cult following that all but disappeared after the series was canceled.

In terms of production value, the show's bad (in a seriously campy way). The acting's bad. The special effects are bad. The writing's bad. But as bad as the show was, the serialization was compelling and featured story elements that would later appear in other shows such as The X-Files and, more recently, CBS's Threshold.

Bonus Features

Given the series' small following (most people won't even remember it), it's no surprise that the DVD is barebones. We get a few previews (MacGyver, Charmed, The Brady Bunch, and Star Trek: Enterprise on DVD) and I like the introductory Paramount menu that gives us the option of viewing either the show or the trailers before we even get the FBI warning. But that's it. We don't even get chapter select for each episode (particularly frustrating for the premiere episode which is double-length - stop in the middle and you've got a lot of fast-fowarding ahead of you).

I vividly remember staying up late at night (or trying to) to watch this series. I also remember the fan outcry at the events of the season finale (which I won't spoil for you here). But in retrospect, I wonder what the fuss was all about. I suppose that at the time, this was the height of horror/sci-fi television. Today it's production value is comparable to that of a low budget Sci-Fi Channel movie (which I suppose is credit to the series). It's worth watching once, if only to say you're familiar with the series, but you'll likely not need to ever watch it a second time.

FROM: http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=3757


Lee
Eve Of The War Webmaster
http://www.eveofthewar.co.uk
"The War Of The Worlds Website"

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:44 pm 
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Tripod King

Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 3:42 pm
Posts: 294
Location: Derbyshire, England
It's pretty cheap. I aim to pick it up next week or the week after...well order it off the internet.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:57 pm 
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Martian War Lord

Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 10:00 pm
Posts: 2870
Location: Liverpool, UK
exodus2310 wrote:
It's pretty cheap. I aim to pick it up next week or the week after...well order it off the internet.


I didn't know you were a masacist. :mrgreen:


Bah bah black sheap April diamond spheres, Rigsby, Rigsby, Eight sided Pears.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:43 pm 
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Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:37 pm
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Dunno if it has been posted but here are the covers to the series DVD's
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and there are more photo's here http://www.waroftheworldsmovies.info/photogallery/thumbnails.php?album=28 :shock: 8)


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:00 pm 
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Martian War Lord

Joined: Sun May 29, 2005 5:02 pm
Posts: 3114
Location: Ridderkerk, the Netherlands
Nice, but you posted that somewhere else, too. :D :?


The Tempest is an advanced assault vehicle, which carries two heavy Heat-Rays and a Canister Launcher.
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