The War of the Worlds (1953 film)
| The War of the Worlds | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Produced by | George Pal |
| Screenplay by | Barré Lyndon |
| Based on |
The War of the Worlds 1898 novel by H. G. Wells |
| Starring |
Gene Barry Ann Robinson |
| Narrated by | Sir Cedric Hardwicke |
| Music by | Leith Stevens |
| Cinematography | George Barnes |
| Edited by | Everett Douglas |
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Production
company |
Paramount Pictures
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2 million |
| Box office | $2,000,000 (US rentals) |
The War of the Worlds (also known in promotional material as H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds) is a 1953 American Technicolor science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal, directed by Byron Haskin, that stars Gene Barry and Ann Robinson.
The film is a loose adaptation of novel of the same name by H. G. Wells, the first of five film adaptations. It is a modern retelling of the 1897 novel, changing the setting from Victorian Era England to 1953 southern California, while also being a commentary on the then-ongoing Cold War and the nuclear arms race. Earth is suddenly and unexpectedly invaded by Martians and American scientist Clayton Forrester searches for any weakness that can stop them.
The War of the Worlds won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and went on to influence other science fiction films. A 1988 sequel was produced as a television series of the same name. In 2011, it was selected for preservation in the United States' National Film Registry in the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In southern California, Dr. Clayton Forrester, a scientist who had worked on the Manhattan Project, is fishing with colleagues when a large object crashes near the town of Linda Rosa. At the impact site, he meets Sylvia Van Buren and her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins. Later that day, the "cylinder" opens and the inhabitants of the ship kill a welcoming party, simultaneously shutting down all technology in the town with an electromagnetic pulse. The United States military surround the crash site in battle formation as reports pour in of identical objects landing all over the world and destroying cities. Collins attempts to make peace with the Martians before being killed himself. The Martian war machines effortlessly defeat the military with a "Heat-Ray".
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