The War of the Worlds (1953). Cloudy with a Chance of Martians. 

Great sci-if classic. I saw it as a young kid back in the 80s and I’ve loved it ever since. Plus that ship design is so iconic - and awesome!

There's a real vibe to this movie. Pacing, imagery and sound. Not Victorian England but still good.

1:26 "..but then they said the same thing about Essex..." Oh man, that cracked me up more than it probably should.. 🤣🤣

I love the aesthetic of this movie. I first saw it as a kid in the 90s - scared the hell out of me. I don't think I slept solid for a week after. Of course now I can enjoy it all the more. 1950s sci-fi is on a pretty epic level, the special effects of Forbidden Planet also come to mind as standing the test of time.

This comes to 4k next month 🥹

Take a moment to recognize the power lines in the street vaporizing on contact with the heat ray. That was some serious attention to detail by the effects crew. 10:30

Someone all the way from Australia slagging off Essex - some how makes it SOOOO much worse!😂

One of the best sci fi movies of the 20th century imo 👍. Superior to the later Tom Cruise version in many respects. Unlike many lesser sci fi movies they don’t just show the aliens as super beings but instead give us brief views of creatures that are inferior physically to humans but are superior in their technology. This and the day the Earth stood still (another example of a film where the later remake is inferior with the Keanu Reeves version being a poor attempt) are both stand outs of their time. They reflect the fears and uncertainty of the 50s and the Red scares of the time. Thanks for this video I’ve been waiting for you to cover it for a while.

So it could be renamed as Bacteria to the future.

Mad to think this story was written in 1895 and was already 58 years old when this was done

Now you gotta do George Pal's THE TIME MACHINE. Pleeeeeease?

No one will ever top this all time classic SCI-FI movie. I never get tired watching this over and over.😀🛸

I must have watched this film dozens of times over the years and it only just dawned on me watching this that the alien war machines are supported by three rays, just like the three legs of the originals. It's little details like this that make this the great film that it is.

While it's unsurprising for the 1950s, it is a shame that this version almost entirely loses the anti-colonialism theme of the original novel, and simply presents it as a sci-fi action story. (And that's the one thing I thought the 2005 version really got right.) The 50s version is fun, but this isn't really a story that was intended to be fun. It was more of a metaphorical warning.

It is the best movie version of the story! The series was good!

I still recommend this masterpiece…Oscar for Special Effects and the sound effects were Oscar worthy 🎉❤😊

Stam Fine your wit is hilarious and you combine it with a script that gives people all they need to know about the film or tv series your video is about.

Love the shoutout to Jeff Wayne's rock opera.

It's funny how every church though shelled nearby all kept standing to where the first building to be destroyed by Steven Spielberg in 2005 is a church 😮😂

Gene Barry & Ann Robinson played the grandparents of the kids in the 2005 version

I'm surprised that you didn't mention the 80's short run TV series 'Tripods' that was made by the BBC and the Australian Seven Network. Peace All

I never made the connection about the Martian's until seeing them overlaid with Stam describing the complicated Technicolor Film Process. That film process actually factored into the design of the Aliens and their machines. How they saw the world. Their eyes were the Technicolor Cameras.

Its still a solid movie and given how many people have tried to make a War of the Worlds and probably shouldn't have. That either makes it brilliant or somewhat tragic that it hadn't been done well since.

Till this day the batte scene with the US military and the Martian's for a 1950s film has to be one if not the best scenes in history

Probably my favourite film as a kid, along with Forbidden Planet, Them, and The Earth vs the Flying Saucers.

This is an absolute masterpiece. The scene where the machine emerges from the fog from the bomb is chilling. I don't think any kid the late 60s/early 70s can deny that some of the lamps of that era ALWAYS brought the movie to mind LOL It has humour, chills, great F/X, and a human STORY. Our kids are teens and they've had friends over for movie night & shown this - a lot of the kids fall in love with it ("Wow, that's an olde tymee movie? It's really good!"). Love watching it... though I am forever in the hunt for such magnificent, perfect fried eggs *sigh*

The BBC produced a decent 3 part War of the Worlds miniseries in 2019. Although it doesn't follow the book's narrative, it does follow other fictional characters from the original storyline. Highly recommend! Available on RU-vid.

I saw this movie when it opened in 1953 as a 10-year old, and I loved it ever since. Probably paid 25¢ to see it. Featuring the coolest alien war machines--ever!

The Martian ships still look awesome, even by today's standards.

The most enduring legacy of this film is Dr. Clayton Forrester serving as the namesake for the evil mad scientist of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I saw this film way back on Ted Turner’s TBS SuperStation program “Super Scary Saturday” featuring Al “Grandpa” Lewis (I tuned in mainly for the Godzilla flicks) and really liked it. I saw it just before the syndicated series mentioned here and I was obsessed with that show, despite being 8 years old and the show being quite violent for 80s television. Looking forward to seeing it featured in a future episode! 😉😂

I liked your quip about the Stanley Cup finals. It reminded me about the old joke; I went to a fight last night and a hockey game broke out.

Ahhh, three strip technicolor. So much more pleasing than today's norm, orange and teal. Ugh.

Thanks, Stam. It is amazing that this film is 70 years old (like me) and the special effects are better than movies from the '80s and '90s. Were the fishing scientists fission scientists?

Love the pianola version of Jeff Wayne's Martian Invasion theme! Has there been a steampunk version of War of the Worlds yet? That would be cool; maybe even done as a Georges Méliès ersatz silent era style melodrama (like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow).

This movie devastated me as a child and made me believe this world could end. It was even more effective because I saw it around the Cuban missile crisis.

I had no idea they deleted the legs for budget reasons. I always assumed they just thought flying saucers were cooler. Also I will mention Triple J for no reason.

The resolution and the color quality is just stunning ! I suppose it's the Blu-ray version, maybe a 4k that you show us? A really good scanning for sure, there is so much details, really a great job from the studio 👍. And your review is great as usual 😉

Remember seeing this at the movies in 1953, still watch!

I love Friday mornings. You're the best. Request: Please do Sid & Marty Krofts "Land of the Lost"

Film looks good. Can’t be worse than the Spielberg flick

I just discovered your channel. And I really enjoyed your review! Great combination of facts and humor. Also loved seeing info on the sequel TV series from 1988 and the clip of Gene Barry and Ann Robinson in the Spielberg version of this story. Thanks!

Dr. Clayton Forrester on MST3K is named after Dr. Clayton Forrester from the 1953 War of the Worlds movie.

Love this film. The rattling, rasping sound the ships make still gives me chills.

I remember seeing this as 8-year old on TV alone at night when the family was sleeping in the 1970's.... So scary.

The music for the silent-film intertitle - oh man, that was the mother of all Easter eggs.

I love the old timey War of the Worlds music for the silent pictures..

My second favorite sci-fi movie. The Tom Cruise movie was also very very well done, but I'll still take the original version over it. My favorite sci-fi movie is Forbidden Planet.

9:28 could be the inspiration for Mr. Nezu's death scene in AKIRA, where he dies of heart attack trying to stuff bonds & money into a briefcase after shooting Ryu.

one of the many films that put me on a path towards a career in moviemaking.

Saw for the first time this year. Top-tier stuff, but the characters could do with a little work.

Lol I loved that jaunty Eve of the War piano mix in there.

The newest War of the Worlds movies don't come close to how great this one was. Some episodes of the series that continues this was a bit promising as well, but still not as good as the movie.

The War of the World move with Gene Barry is way better than the remake with Tom Cruise

Love the radio broadcast version 👍

Good video. I have to say that I did look twice because I wondered if it would have been about the 80s TV series. Right, got to cover the movie first, what was I thinking.

Barre Lyndon had co-written DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (best picture Oscar winner) and might have suggested him to Pal as the perfect writer for updating The War of the Worlds. Lyndon was a fan of novel and his script also set a template for future invasion films. Did you mention him in your review?

Didnt it win an Academy award for special effects back then?

While this is a great film, my heart will always belong to the Justin Hayward musical version with Richard Burton.

I rewatched thus movie a few weeks ago... it holds up. It's still good and well worth watching. Which is not something I could say about other movies from that era.

This is a really well made movie.

All Spielberg had to do was modernize the special effects but basically follow the same story as the original movie, bgive or take a few thing for a modern audience.I never felt the dread I did in the original.

that's why the series didn't make sense how in less than 40 YEARS did the whole world forget about what happened in 1953 ? was there an ORANGE CLOWN screaming : " HOAX " for almost 40 years

When I was 13 in Hamilton, Ontario at the end of 1981 we had a snow storm in the middle of the day and they sent us all home. My buddy and I went back to my place we got into all the snacks and this movie was on. We had a blast watching it. The movie was essentially 30 years old even then and he and I were of the Star Wars generation and we were astonished any movie from the 1950s was both in colour and had special effects that stood up so well. I'm still impressed by them even forty years after that!

1.28 as a resident of Essex I am outraged, OUTRAGED I tell you, that you only were able to include one insult of this awful county. (everyone's seen TOWIE, right?)

that subtitle CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MARTIANS 😂

I enjoy this version of "War of the Worlds" quite a bit.. On the other hand, I really hate Spielberg's version, that damn screaming kid is enough to drive anyone bonkers. Something I can't figure out, is why Hollywood thinks they can tell a better story than Wells. What I would truly love to see is a big budget movie that is faithful to the time, place, and plot of the original book. Damnit, I want to see the Thunderchild.

You hear that, Essex? YOU'VE BEEN STAM FINED, BRUH!

Was the electronic Simon game of the 1970s influenced by the faces of the aliens?

Is anyone else getting a Jeff Goldblum vibe from Gene Barry's character?

Being from Maryland, the Essex comment takes on an equally hilarious meaning.

Nice one. Cheers Stam. One of my all-time favourite films from childhood. Classic 50s Sci-Fi at it's finest. I am so looking forward to the Stam Fine treatment. "If they are mortal, they must have mortal weaknesses" a line refined better for Arnie. "If it bleeds we can kill it". I am going to enjoy this trip.

Sorry, prefer the Steven Spielberg version. This one is just too funny today cant take it seriously. Also, no legs on the walkers?

How do we know that the aliens were actually from Mars? Other than the great opening narration by Sir Cedric Hardwicke there is nothing to suggest where they came from. One person guarding the fallen meteor suggests that since Mars is close to the Earth at the time, well they must be from there. With that kind of logic you could say they were from downtown Burbank, which was a hell of a lot closer.

You have to warn about spoilers on a movie that is 70 years old??? Dude, if you haven’t seen this by now… you’re going to get spoiled.

Am I the only one who thinks the aliens faces look like those Light-Up Memory Games, like where the colors light up and you have to remember the order

The best version of war of the worlds.. except the book.. it will live forever just like the Orson Welles radio play

Athearn Trains got wiped out by the martians, NOOOOOO!

Sadly, Dr. Forrester went insane and blasted young men into space to show them bad movies.

"Do you have a pocket compass?' (actually does in his suit jacket)

One of my favorite that holds up exceptionally well in 2023. Best scene is the priest getting roasted by the machine because he wasn't wearing asbestos underwear or a god shield.

Forester! Forester! Dr Clayton Forester! and tv's frank...

Can we take a moment to appreciate the actor's skill @8:08 at drawing excellent arcs and straight lines with chalk? That is not easy

You are getting warmer -"The day of the triffids" next...

The heat ray sound effects, perfect. BJUJUJU!

The talcum powder bomb line was hilarious.

The only new adaptation I want is a film version of the Jeff Wayne musical.

As a massive wotw is great in any format, but Jeff double LP will never be beaten .

Your re cap was nothing less than brilliant!! I loved the film as a kid. I still have a Video cassette of it. it's still a good watch. In one episode of the 1st series of Bourke's Law Gene Barry is in a shop of curios were he spots a theatre poster of the movie with his picture on it and buys it because " it's the only thing worth buying in the shop" LOL I'll try and relocate the episode and send it on to you. Mate, Independence Day was a straight up theft.

Another great review. Love you sense of humour coupled with your honesty. :)

They thought horse medicine would protect them.

It was fortunate for the humans that the aliens were anti-vaxers.

Great video, and really funny commentary.

The heavens declare the glory of the Bomb, and the firmament showeth Its handiwork. Glory be to the Bomb, and to the Holy Fallout. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. May the Blessings of the Bomb Almighty, and the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, descend upon us all. This day and forever more. Amen.

Hard to imagine now just how original the 'no resistance to germs' idea was. I saw the film for the first time back in the 60's, people were not as aware of the 'immune system' or germs as they are now, except for 'kill 99% of household germs' claims for household cleaning products. Certainly the idea of the common cold virus potentially being fatal to aliens was a totally novel one, unless you were familiar with HGW's novel

Incredible movie. Incredibly dark towards the end as L A is destroyed. Its almost as there is no hope. Design of Alien ships is just incredible

The Martian is the best alien lifeform in movie history. Human brains are programmed to recognise anything roughly human shaped as human, which is useful in a social species like ours. The problem when designing an alien for a movie is that therefore anything with a head and four limbs can't help looking to the audience like a man in a rubber suit. However the Martian is almost, but not quite, completely non-human. It has arms, but no head, although the 3-coloured 'eye' suggests a sort of face. Brilliant!

Brilliant movie. Don’t suppose you’ve done or plan to do a video about a tv show called Otherworld? Loved it as a kid in the 80s

Love all your videos. Your steve1989 reference a while ago was genius. Thanks for the weekly dose

To me this is the definitive version of the film. I dont know why they have to remake old films that were fine just as they were. I have heard the original radio version too (it's on youtube somewhere), never read the book though.

The TV series a based on this movie that came out in the late 80s had it that the Martians were using mars is a launchpoint The TV series a based on this movie that came out in the late 80s had it that the Martians were using mars is a launchpoint for their attack but was not their planet of origin