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PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:46 pm 
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Come on did anyone actually watch all the Tv series, it really was poo.<br /><br />I mean imagine that everyone had forgotten about the war, thats like forgetting where I live.<br /><br />


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:31 pm 
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I have only seen the first 2 episodes<br /><br />I liked it because it was War Of The Worlds, but there were some dodgy parts in it, especially everyone forgetting the 1953 bit ..... mmmm!<br /><br />I would still like a DVD release of it though, to add to the collection and watch all the episodes....


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 12:00 am 
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I think its poo. Dunno if I could stretch to buying the dvd of it, if they released it.<br /><br />Although im sure you could down load it from a bit torrent site


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:19 am 
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The first episode was pretty good, it all went downhill from the unfortunately.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:21 pm 
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I religiously watched it. Of course I was sixteen and had no friends so staying up till 1am to video it was no big chore.<br /><br />For me it didn't hold up to repeat viewings, or repeated analysis.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:10 am 
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I love it, and if my new damn computer would properly play the VCDs, I could truthfully claim that I still watch it. I am obsessed with the first season. You had likable heroes, great villains, a unique method of storytelling by combining Biblical references, gore, black humour, along with real alien knowledge (such as a reference to a Hanger 18) with nods to other War of the Worlds incarnations. The series had the potential to be one of the greatest series, but Paramount had to be idiots about it, and lied so they could hand the reigns over to the son of the studio's headfor Season 2. Little Frankie Jr. was full of bright ideas, wasn't he? Yes, let's kill off the characters that were unarguably the fans' favourites (who, perhaps not coincidenly, were also people of colour) because they were "painted into a corner," but let's see nothing contradictive about doing a 180 on the Blackwood character! Oh, and let's ignore the fact that this show is called War of the Worlds by refraining from any references to Wells' story as well as the whole warfare aspect of the show. And we might as well make the aliens pretty much human and stuff the story with loads of pointless sci-fi cliches. You may also feel free to rewrite the backstory where you see fit. Continuity can't be that important, can it?<br /><br />I don't care if I am in the minority, I will defend the first season until the day I die... and on that day, you can be assured that my last words will be "To Life Immortal."<br /><br />I still think the first season is a very unique series in general. Billy Thorpe's music alone added an odd feeling to the show. The best example has got to be in "Goliath is my Name" which features those blues riffs as the Blues Brothers aliens are roaming through the undergound tunnels. I also found it fascinating that they took the film's use of the number three in reference to the aliens and greatly expanded on it. It gave the aliens in their mentality an extra dimension (since they seem to have been designed in everyway around 3, it would seem to give them this sense of perfection that would explain their denial of their own flaws).<br /><br />As for the thing about forgetting the war, you have to back up and approach the concept with a few elements:<br /><br />The first season dropped a few hints beyond the simple selective-amnesia theory. One theory is that there was a massive government cover-up. This is made evident in that we discover several cases in which the aliens' technology has been in the hands of the government. In fact, in the penultimate episode of the season, we discover that there is a project dedicated to alien research with sinister means. This Project 9 was even revealed to have their hand reached way back in the first episode as they were the ones who mothballed the three war machines that the aliens nearly got away with in reinstating their invasion efforts. A significant case of government cover-up lies in "Eye for an Eye" in which we find out that the Orson Welles broadcast was government-produced to wash over the memory of the aliens' small recon mission in Grover's Mill. I can't help but wonder if George Pal was contacted by these same government suits... This would certainly work on a larger scale, and might even explain why the aliens look somewhat different in the series. Another theory touched upon was that the aliens had something in their technology that could effect human memory. In "The Second Seal", Harrison and Suzanne find an alien crystal that warped their personalities to a complete polar opposite (Harrison turned into a macho man while Suzanne, um, loosened up). The only thing is that such a device wouldn't be intentional since the concept of being susceptible to defeat is pretty much tantamount to treason with the aliens. Then again, the crystal in "The Second Seal" seemed to serve more than one purpose, so it's entirely possible that someone got a hold of something that triggered an attack of amnesia. This backs up my small theory that the synths of Qar'To were scouts made by the aliens that went wrong a la Skynet in The Terminator. In "The Angel of Death", Q'Tara tells humans she comes across to "remember nothing!" Plus, you have to remember that not everyone actually forgot the war. Harrison and Norton remember. Poor Sylvia couldn't forget to save her sanity. And I'm sure there others scattered here and there, but I think this is like with what happened because of the 1938 radio show. The idea was to sweep a mass of the public into the fake-out, so that even if there were those who remember what really happened (like the remaining four veterans of the militia of 38), they would be in so small of a number that the public would simply laugh them off. The only reason UFO nuts are mocked is because the mass public doesn't believe them. But with that, you have to sit down and discuss the persuasion Welles' programme had on the public's collective mind, but I've gone long-winded enough as it is.<br /><br />Regardless of how it came about, you have to remember that the series picks up 35 years after the events of the invasion. This means that an entire generation or more grew to adulthood after the war, raised most likely by people who wanted to forget the horror they witnessed and managed to live through. This also allows the fact that however the world had recovered and fixed itself up, we don't know when the affects of this "selective-amnesia" took action. The series' premature death wiped out a lot of potential, but in regards to this, it left it a little stained. I think the show needed a while to get it all sorted out. Of course, suits are too impatient when it comes to these sort of things. I'm only surprised that the real series lasted one whole season in addition to a feature-length pilot. For this small period, I believe that the show got a lot accomplished: the premise was firmly established, the mythology was expanded several times, more key players in the war were introduced, the main characters all got at least one episode centred around them (some got more than one), and it had laid out enough material to keep the show going for, I figure, another four years at least because it was built in that the colonists from Mor-Tax were expected to arrive on Earth in less than five years.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:03 am 
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I would say there is a very good chance of the series getting another airing on the back of all the publicity surrounding the movies.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:14 am 
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You know, in all my cynicism, I had overlooked the possibility of some networks (like the Sci-Fi Channel, which used to play it and Friday the 13th: The Series constantly) might wish to air it. I certainly hope so, because I think the odds are a little better of such an event than that of Paramount releasing the series on DVD. I've been scheming to write them a letter to request that when their new film arrives on DVD, that they cross-promote it with a re-release of the 1953 version (with extras, including the pilot George Pal made way back) and that of the series (Season 2 being opitional). Such marketing is brilliant. And it is possible since, after all, Paramount finally caved in to make a Friday the 13th box-set for fan demand only after the success of Freddy vs. Jason. I'm convinced that if they don't wise-up and release it by then, they will never do so.<br /><br />But some television play would certainly be a suitable substitute. The only bad thing is the damned editing out for time and content, and those gore scenes are no doubt going to go (but I argue that the gore isn't any more awful that of what you see in an X-Files episode).


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:53 pm 
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Evilnerfherder wrote:
The first episode was pretty good, it all went downhill from the unfortunately.


I have to agree with Nerf. The pilot episode was excellent, and there were several fairly enjoyable episodes in the early part of the first season, but then the series went rapidly down the toilet.

That said, something about the show did keep me watching to the bitter end. I suspect it was Catherine Disher as Mana, who was just about the only good thing in the second season.

Despite my views, I've enjoyed reading Third's posts about the show. Every TV series, no matter how unloved or obscure, should have it's defenders.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:35 am 
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Yes, Catherine Disher was about the only good thing in Season 2, seeming to put a little more life in her character than what was in the script... but there's only so much you can do with inane writing. It's just a shame that she recieved such a backlash, when she was just doing her job as an actress. If anyone deserved to have their career harmed due to Season 2, it's Frank Mancuso Jr. It's hard to believe that his job is forever secure while a talent like Richard Chaves has all but disappeared. And the late Denis Forest was much better served as the grieving Martin Cole in the first season's "Vengeance is Mine" than as the pathetic Mazlor in the second season. <br /><br />I also like the opening sequence of the second season - with its imagery and music, it painted a very dark and chaotic world. It's just a shame that this design within the show's plot couldn't be carried out further than a simple idea. They clearly had no reason for doing it other than doing something different than that of the first season. The concept of aliens running loose in a run-down world reads like gold, but it was poor execution that made it seem like it was a pointless approach to the show.<br /><br />Then there was the fact that of 20 episodes, only three were watchable. The first episode was exciting, if not a bit sad and very inconsistent; "Time to Reap" was fun in that if-you-shut-your-brain-off sort of way; and "The True Believer" was a reasonably well executed and sincere episode. If the entire season was made up of episodes like that, then it wouldn't have been such a boring waste. It's a shame that they had to follow their best episode up and end the series with the poorest excuse for a finale that has ever been passed off as a wrap-up. Scientists on a research mission?!


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:25 am 
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My only quibble with the series was fogetting the original invasion ever occured. I could understand a certain lack of interest in it after nearly 40 years and maybe thats how they should have played it.<br /><br />Other wise there series (both of them) were very dark and moody. I remember when I was about 11 years old feeling very disturbed by the atmosphere of the series and loving it. To this day watching a few of the episodes I recorded off of scifi I still get the same feeling. Good awsome series, I liked them very much.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 5:25 pm 
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Felt it was about time to answer this question. <br /><br />No I didn't enjoy the TV Series. It was a terrible rape of a very beautiful and well thought out story. <br />The Series stunk more than an angry skunk in a skunkhouse full of bat excrement.<br />The whole idea was childish and stupid. The whole we'll have everyone suffer from mass amnesia and forget that they were invaded by members of the Red Planet which subsequently almost exterminated us right out of existence. Whole cities destroyed and millions dead. An atomic explosion somewhere in America, but everone can just forget it all ever happened, just so we can tell more stories.<br />What was the point in that? <br />There is nothoing worse than a villian who won't stay down. At the end of Dracula, Dracula is dead. Stoker didn't bring him back, other writers do. The Martians are dead, failed, that'a what we are building to all the time. So we can't have them, hybernaqting inseat ande popping out of tin cans to invade us all over again, albiet on a much smaller scale. They are great villians and as with all great and succesful stories there is a temptation to explore further and come up with a sequal. But some storys are standalone and to this rule War of the Worlds is no exception.<br />It's like doing a low budget TV series of Oliver, and bring Sykes back from the dead and have him team up with Fagen again!<br />All vestiges of this terrible peice of television at its worst should be jetisoned into space at once!!!


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:00 am 
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I have to admit the first time I saw the series was maybe when I was about 10 or 12 years old then later on seeing it in reruns on scifi and it was only recently when I got it on DVD and watched the whole series from beginning to end that I really enjoyed it.

It was clear the writers were intending to do a second season because they had set up so many situations and characters to be paid off later. As much as I liked the 2nd wave it would have been better to continue with the original story but alas.

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:03 pm 
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Hi all,
just wanted to say that I thought the tv show was enjoyable, because it came out when I was 16, and had been into WOTW for about 7 years.

The first series was certainly dodgy in places, especially the MacGyvered weapons and tools that the now aliens (and not Martians) created.
However, it was certainly dark and in some places a wee bit disturbing. Very enjoyable. And the Colonel even grew on me (to the point that I felt raped at the start of the second series!!!).

The second series though, was utter s**t. 'Nuff said.

](*,)

Stu


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 6:59 pm 
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stu73 wrote:
Hi all,
just wanted to say that I thought the tv show was enjoyable, because it came out when I was 16, and had been into WOTW for about 7 years.

The first series was certainly dodgy in places, especially the MacGyvered weapons and tools that the now aliens (and not Martians) created.
However, it was certainly dark and in some places a wee bit disturbing. Very enjoyable. And the Colonel even grew on me (to the point that I felt raped at the start of the second series!!!).

The second series though, was utter s**t. 'Nuff said.

](*,)

Stu


Hi Stu

Welcome to the forum!

I must confess, I have only watched a couple of episodes. But the general opinion seems to be it wasn't the greatest series in the world! :a037:


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:33 am 
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This is the first time I've ever been on this TV series bit...I thought it was total crap...end of story.
Now I've got that of my chest I won't be coming back to this bit again . :(


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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2006 10:20 pm 
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I have only seen the 1st season and I liked it.

As for the public forgetting the 1953 invasion, there were some hints thrown in but never a fully developed explanation.

Dr Blackwood and several others seemed to remember while Iron Horse seem to have no knowledge until the later episodes.

I has happy to see Sylvia Vanburen brought back for a few episodes but the series never told what happened to Dr Forester.


I have no idea what Ill be in for on the 2nd season.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:40 pm 
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Me neither but how do you get the second season, I heard it was cancelled and theres no sign of it on DVD?


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 12:22 am 
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Count yourself lucky, the only good thing I remember about the second season was you got to see one of the Martians close up, everything else was crap, the scripts, the acting and the special effects where awful, what we would call a Pendragon job these days. :a009:


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:57 pm 
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I was 15 when this was shown in the UK and never missed an episode. I suppose the fact that a modern production team was actually acknowledging the original film by staying faithful to the design of the Fighting Machines in particular, made me forget about the joke that was the acting and storyline.
I recently bought Series 1 from the States (Along with the 'Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition' :a049: ) and have to say, I still really enjoyed it.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:06 pm 
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I bet you can't find series two though. 8)


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:13 am 
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You're right, strangely I can't actually remember season 2 either. I think it's probably what psychologists call 'Repression' :lol:


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:00 pm 
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I remember one ludicrous episode, I think it was from season two, where the humans were building a laser reflector dish to shoot down one of the FMs and you saw the beam of light bouncing of the reflective surfaces of the reflector at about walking pace, it must have been the slowest laser in the world :lol:


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:31 pm 
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If that's the one I'm thinking of, it's a Season 1 episode on the DVD set. Whenever they attemped any kind of SFX (lasers, explosions, etc) the result was shockingly bad.
I think it's generally the SFX that 'ages' most SF series/films though. I remember reading an article in the 90's about George Lucas's motivations behind the original Star Wars 'updates' and it mentioned "The destruction of the Death Star now looks like an exploding space station, and less like a banger going off." :lol:
I wonder actually whether we've hit a critical point with SFX & CGI. Considering the quality of many 'CGI heavy' films of the last decade Matrix, Lord Of The Rings (Gollum!), etc. Do you think the rate at which we percieve the deterioration of the effects will decrease. Eg. Will the Matrix still hold it's own against the big SF films in another 20 years?


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 3:31 pm 
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:shock: I was talking about this the other day at work :shock:
I used to watch 'Babylon 5' back in the 90s and I thought at the time "They can't possibly improve on CGI like this" but now when I watch it I think "Oh yes they can" :lol: it amazing how quickly it becomes dated.
So will they ever reach a point where they can't get any better? I don't know, I would have thought yes but I've been wrong before. :D
Already the CGI blends in perfectly with the normal film footage, the only thing I can imagine them improving is the fluidity of the CGI movement.


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