My biggest question about the 1953 movie, is why the martians are not wearing some kind of survival suit? They are essentially naked, and even an advanced civiliization would realize that the enviroment of earth would be radically different from their own. I realize the entire premise relies on a 19th century understanding of Mars. (Very little actually) and the theories of Percival Lowell would no doubt have influenced Well's novel.
Very good series. Needless to say I am also one of millions who love the 1953 version. I am not however, a fan of the TV series. Honestly, I tried to get into it, but it just couldn't hold my interest The whole idea that earth suffered from mass amnesia erasing their memories of the invasion, was just stupid. One point you made was the fearful sound the heat rays made when firing reminded of the sirens used bythe Stuka dive bombers of world war 2. A psychological weapon, as well as practical.
In terms of a decent adaptation it’s really not difficult, given that the script is already there and has been for over a century. All the nessecary dialogue is already written, the settings, the action, the beats for each scene. As someone who comes from a background in the film industry, with enough of a budget and the book itself as the script, it couldn’t fail. Why every single time a company makes a movie they change/omit things just baffles me. It would be very very easy to do TWOTW well with a decent director, no alterior BBC bullshit (they try to turn everything into a woke Victorian melodrama) and following the script that has been right there for a long time, there will one day be a decent adaptation. Don’t mention Pendragon, I said faithful and DECENT
An interesting thought - I hadn't seen any of these drawings until recently and at first thought them quite ridiculous. The problem is that we view by hindsight, with the influence of later artists - like the commentator who likened the eyes to gas masks. The original audience would have no such associations. Correa actually makes them look fragile, ultimately vulnerable with their spindly legs and coolie hats, almost implying that these are NOT the invincible killers they first appear to be.
I'd say the Sly Cooper series does something similar with the music, there are typically 3 versions of a level theme: 1. Calm/Exploring 2. Sneaking 3. Spotted/Combat And some game remakes have been making variations the same theme for the situations of calm/tension/loud, which is welcome to see for variety.
NO AUTOMATIC SALVATION OBEY ACTS 2 38!! REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED EVERYONE OF YOU IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS AND YE SHALL RECIEVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST!!!!!!!!!!!! AND NO SINNERS PRAYER SAVES ANY SOUL!! JOHN 8:24 BELIEVE YE NOT THAT I AM GOD AND YE WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS!! HOLY JESUS IS GOD!!!! REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED EVERYONE OF YOU IN THE NAME OF THE LORD GOD JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS AND YE SHALL RECIEVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST!! ACTS 2 38!!!! For God was in Christ, and reconciled the world to himself, not imputing their sins unto them, and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2ND CORINTHIANS 5:19
I've always held the belief on two things about the oddworld quintology, the frist: is that they made the fatal mistake of switching from PlayStation to Xbox, for all the reasons in the world even too who it might have seemed like a good idea at the time, it was their inadvertent downfall, it hit them harder than they could believe, choosing to executively make your game to a console that has barely come into existence was ballsy. and the second: as much as I understood the direction and premises of Strangers Wrath, it flopped. I believe because the oddworld franchise did not follow its original plan for Munch's exoddus, they had established a pattern and completely broke it, don't get me wrong im not suggesting that a change of direction or a curveball is bad in video games but rather, it going away from the main face of the character we so love and adore, Abe. Abe is and will always be the recognisable face of the oddworld franchise, it should have been solely around him, strangers warmth would have done so much better with Abe and maybe even Munch in it., but I digress I do hope oddworld will continue to come out with more games, I look to the future.
What bugs me are the technical oversights in regard to the " magnetic blisters", or force fields. Things they didn't understand in the early 50's. On one side, electromagnetic light waves were said in the old days as not being able to interfere with each other. That was to say, one can't stop another. Then dropping an atomic bomb of maybe 1 megaton or so nominal yield at that point in time. They didn't stop to think that the force field generator itself could be over-loaded and destroyed in it's attempt to maintain power to the shields. Like Star Trek, etc, powered by our ever-advancing knowledge of such things. Technology is not completely infallible. That is the error of thought in those days. But it's still so bloody awesome! I also remember the TV series, where the craft were powered by these elongated green crystals, not unlike Superman used to power things in his Fortress of Solitude. In the first Superman movie. But the TV show also goes on to explain, albeit briefly, that the Martian's mental abilities were focused by the crystals to run things in the war machines? I always thought of the stalk weapons as particle beams that were heat rays of a sort. But could neutralize Masons like the wing tip weapons. Those green pulses were most like what we now know as " energized plasma". We now understand that lightening, for example, is energized plasma. So, in light of these things, we truly had to beat THEM...
I believe the reason why Wells was enamored by his work was due to how surreal the artwork is. The “eyes” of the fighting machines - though looking goofy - also convey with it something psychotic. The Martians - being cold, callous, alien beings - give off an err of psychotic evil; as if they relish in the torture and pain of extinguishing humanity from existence. Another way to describe them is they are to us what humans would look to ants; they loom over everyone and everything, destroying humanity with impunity. It conveys through it how the Martians view us; mere animals, if not vermin deserving only extermination and exploitation.
As a kid with Xmas money I went out to spend and came across and bought Illustrated Classics War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. 70 years on I wish I had a time machine so that I could go back and buy them a again for they are now lost forever. All I would need is 39 cents.
Alternatively there are other options: 1.They planned the invasion earlier, and launched the tripods, but then encountered some sudden and unexpected problem with launching, transporting and safely landing the crews, and it was so serious that it took them long time to solve it. For example the problem of food 2.They were launching tripods in capsules to multiple planets in advance, expoliting them one after another then
Funnily enough, my Grandfather was alive when this broadcast was played. He told me that he remembered - and his father relayed to him - that they continually stated over the radio that the broadcast was fictional. Unfortunately, he passed away a little over a year ago, so I can’t ask him further on any details, but it was always something that caught my attention and something I distinctly recall him telling me whenever this broadcast was brought up.
Funnily enough, what introduced me to this Tripod was - ironically enough - a History Channel documentary about The War of the Worlds, which featured Jeff Wayne and this design of the Fighting Machine to me. I became enamored by the story itself and came to do as much research on it as I could, eventually finding the gem that was Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds.
Vykkers kinda like AM from I have no mouth and i must scream. Except he only doing torture for fun. At least the Vykkers most of the times do it for money. :(
