Regular Price $14.98

Starring: Gene Barry,  Ann Robinson,  Les Tremayne,  Robert Cornthwaite,  Sandro Giglio, 
Directed By: Byron Haskin, 
Rated: G (General Audience)
Release Date: 1953-08-26
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Format: Closed-captioned,  Color,  Dolby,  DVD-Video,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about The War of the Worlds

Amazon.com essential video
After the success of 1950's Destination Moon and 1951's When Worlds Collide, visionary producer George Pal brought the classic H.G. Wells story of a Martian invasion to the big screen, and it instantly became a science fiction classic and winner of the 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It's a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. As formations of alien ships continue to wreak destruction around the globe, the military is helpless to stop this enemy while scientists race to find an effective weapon. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the hero and heroine roles that were de rigueur for movies like this in the '50s, and their encounter with one of the Martians is as creepy today as it was in '53. It finally takes an unseen threat--simple Earth bacteria--to conquer the alien invaders, but not before War of the Worlds has provided a dazzling display of impressive special effects. As memorable for its sound effects as for its spectacular visions of destruction, this is a movie for the ages--the kind of spectacular that inspired little kids such as Steven Spielberg (not to mention Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, whose Independence Day cribs liberally from the plot) and still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews for The War of the Worlds

Excellent DVD, a must have in your private collection!!!
Excellent DVD, a must have in your private collection!!!
You can really see the wires holding the invaders ships. This is acting the way it should be done today.The War of the Worlds

Powerful, Imaginative, Menacing, and Thrilling
Having recently rewatched this film in the new edition, I must confess I was unprepared for the power and seriousness of this classic adaptation of the HG Wells story. In particular, the presence of religion, both as a bridge to peace and a comfort against the unknown, is very powerfully rendered in striking images -- of the pastor holding the Bible and reciting the Lord's Prayer as he seeks peace with the aliens, or the congregation praying for redemption in Los Angeles as the shadow of the aliens destroying the city comes into view through the stained glass.

Many images are simply unforgettable. New dimensions, perhaps aided by time and my own development, also come into view -- for example, there is an element of man and human intellect over machine and might, in that the US military is completely powerless despite high-tech bombs and planes, while the scientists through observation and deduction latch onto a simple biological line of attack before they are foiled by looting, marauding, panicked civilians.

This one gets better with age and certainly make the Tom Cruise remake suffer by comparison.The War of the Worlds

A Disgrace to Paramount and an insult to the Public
This movie was not made in a 1.33 format. This was a Technacolar 2.33 formate when I saw it at the Theatere in the 50's... Who ever released this movie as a 1.33 formate is a MORON. A waste of my money to buy it. These MORONs who are releasing all these movies in a 1.33 formate should stop and find another job if they cant do their job correctly by releasing the movies as they were made. As my wife says "You only see half the Movie" That is correct. Even the New Movies made 50 years after this one was made do not have the colar saturation and depth as this movie did with ASA 80 Technicolar film.. People release anything for themselves to make a buck. Gregory P. Dolgoff. I am not a Hollywood MoronThe War of the Worlds

My First Nightmare!!!
I first saw this movie at a Loew's Movie Theatre on Main Street in White Plains, New York in 1953. It scared the **** out of me. In fact, it gave me the first nightmares of my life that I remember...I was six at the time.

When I watch it now, it still has a similar effect on me. The acting is terrific...and the special effects way ahead of their time for 1953. George Pal was a master at using special effects to create the atmosphere of terror and fright. He used it to advance science fiction with "The Conquest of Space" in 1955 and other movies throughout the fifties and sixties.

But this one is the one that, if you're six years old, can still scare the **** out of you!!!The War of the Worlds

DVD
I bought this after we say the new version. This one is still my favorate. Good price and fast service. Will shop again and would recommend to anyone.The War of the Worlds

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