‘War of the Worlds’: Comparing 1953, 1988, 2008 Iterations
Comparing 3 different versions of War of the Worlds. They’re all a little bit different, but also share some common bonds.
Released in 2008, C. Thomas Howell’s War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave was all but totally destined to get plenty of hate, which it has. However, I’m not interested in piling on additional critiques of this film (produced by The Asylum, of Sharknado fame). Instead, I’m going to mildly compare and contrast it with certain elements from Byron Haskin’s 1953 film, as well as Greg Strangis’ 1988 War of the Worlds TV series.
Admittedly, I am not the foremost expert on The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and I haven’t seen many of the other films or TV adaptions (including the Tom Cruise movies). However, I am interested in many of the themes in the versions I have seen.
Common Ground Characters and Traits in The War of the Worlds
Basically, all of these War of the Worlds adaptations depict humans as semi-prepared at best, albeit often armed. Due to the advanced alien technology and the cruelty of the creatures, people quickly become refugees to their own cities. The aliens rarely show any mercy, assuring that, if they have their way, the earth will be wiped clean of people, and possibly also the buildings.
In War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, the main character is named George Herbert (Howell), which is a play on H. G. Wells’. Like Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) in the 1953 film, he represents human scientific knowledge and how it can be employed to undermine and destroy the alien menace.
In the TV series (which I’ve written about elsewhere), there’s an equally valiant science-minded team; quirky Astrophysicist Dr. Harrison Blackwood (Jared Martin), Microbiologist Dr. Suzanne McCullough (Lynda Mason Green), and computer genius Norton Drake (Philip Akin). Their efforts are augmented by teammate Lt. Col. Paul Ironhorse (Richard Chaves), who’s more interested in greeting an alien by shooting its legs off, rather than researching it or reaching a peaceful settlement (though, over the course of the first season, there are moments where he appreciates the scientific angle as much as the military one).
Interestingly, the TV series managed to get Ann Robinson to reprise her role as Sylvia van Buren, a character from the 1953 film. Her character is pretty strange, however, as she has some weird psychic powers and lives in some sort of mental hospital. Then again, it is an odd series, so it took a few unique turns here and there, including with the aliens themselves.
The Aliens Themselves
The War of the Worlds stories all have interesting variations on the aliens. The TV series and the 1953 film have the same kind of bad-ass alien attack ships, with stylish, swan-like necks that shoot out heat-rays that disintegrate anything they touch. However, it’s often suggested by fans that the film still hints at the ships being Tripods, rather than truly flying. The TV series makes it seem like they fly independently. War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave gives them an entirely different look, whether it’s appreciated or not by viewers. ‘
As one might expect, the TV series focuses more on the aliens themselves, whereas these movies only hint at the alien’s strange lives. In 1953, bacteria seemed to kill the aliens, suggesting humans might not have had a chance otherwise.
In 1988, they are still prone to getting sick but find ways around it, and Blackwood and crew spend considerable time tracking and subverting the alien’s efforts at conquering the populace (and, as it turns out, the more froglike aliens can also take over human bodies, which makes them even more creepy).
C. Thomas Howell’s effort works more like Independence Day, as the story seems to involve a base that controls the tripods. Of all of these depictions, the TV series is my favorite, as the aliens function almost as parasites that have started infecting the human race, taking over their bodies, and potentially making us suspect apparent survivors. It also focuses on the prolonged scientific efforts of a team of exobiologists who, ultimately, must also fight what they are studying.
Why “War of the Worlds” Will Keep Coming Back
Some versions of War of the Worlds are better than others, obviously. However, the overarching story is very fertile ground for remakes, reboots, and re-whatever. The sky’s the limit when it comes to future concepts. One could spend years studying the tripods, and the aliens, to know how to kill them. Even if the aliens are defeated, there can always be some crackpots believing that the aliens will return, warning us like “Crazy Ralph” from the original Friday the 13th.
Future installments might re-emphasize a body-snatcher angle, where frog-like Martians go around replacing people. Humans can be gravely wounded, in dwindling supply, or maybe we’ll end up totally kicking ass like Will Smith famously did. However, people envision it, War of the Worlds (and stories that rip it off) will follow us as we head into the next hundred years.
And yes, humans probably will make it another 100 years, at least. We might not have it all together, but we are stubborn as a whole. We might readily conquer and destroy ourselves, but will we happily let Martians in on that action? Hell no!
What are your thoughts on War of the Worlds? Let us know in the comments!
Episode two of Wheel of Time felt like the beginning of a long journey. Stories are unfolding, lives are changing, and blood is spilling.
Let’s discuss.
The story
We begin this episode in the past with Elayne’s mother, Queen Morgase. It turns out her rise to the throne was a bit, shall we say, cutthroat. So when she shows up at the White Tower, Siuan is concerned.
She might have reason to be, too.
Meanwhile, Rand, Egwene, Moiraine, Lan and Aviendha are in the Spine of The World. As they travel through some of the most breathtaking lands I have ever seen on a TV show, Egwene is plagued with nightmares. We think at first that’s just her trauma working itself through her system. But we soon find out that it might not be that straightforward.
Finally, Perrin returns home to heal after his hand is almost cut in half. But when he gets there he finds the town has been infested by Children of The Light. And they’re looking for him.
What worked
There was something heartwarming in this episode about political espionage and choking religious persecution. And that is Elayne’s relationship with her family.
I have consumed a lot of fantasy content with royal families. And I have never once heard a princess call her mother ‘Mum’. I’ve never seen royal siblings get along. And I have sure as hell never seen a princess have a good relationship with her step-parent.
This was refreshing. Even though Queen Morgase is kind of a horrible person she seems like a good mother. And that’s an unexpected delight.
Of course, this is just one storyline among many. And while this can sometimes be overwhelming, in this case it wasn’t.
I’ll be honest, some of these storylines are going to drag for me. I know this because I’ve read some of the Wheel of Time books and I have an idea that not all the characters exactly pique my interest.
No one likes all the characters. No one likes all the storylines. While I am here for the political espionage between Queen Morgase and Siuan, not everyone likes it. While others might be fascinated with Selene trying to win Rand back, I couldn’t care less.
Having multiple storylines keeps everyone’s attention better. So long as things don’t get out of hand. Things can easily get out of hand. But this seems to be managed well.
So far.
What didn’t work
As I mentioned above, I’m not thrilled with Rand’s story at this point. And while it’s fine to not like a storyline when there are this many to choose from, it’s not fantastic that the one I like the least is the one involving our two main characters. And anytime we were with the team at the Spine of The World, the only thing that brought me joy was Moirain’s hat. It reminded me of Stockard Channing’s hat in Practical Magic.
The problem is that Rand is Charlie Brown with controversial magical powers. He is boring, serious, and pessimistic.
And yes, I understand that he has a heavy emotional burden and he’s the Dragon Reborn and that’s quite taxing and all. But let’s be fair, there isn’t a single person in this show that doesn’t have a heavy burden. And most of them manage to be fun occasionally.
All that being said, this episode of Wheel of Time did exactly what it needed to do. It set up conflicts at each of the three locations. It established emotional ties between the characters and the events. And it established goals for everyone.
This was, in short, a solid episode. Not groundbreaking, not mind-blowing or life changing. It was simply good. It was entertaining and moved the plot forward.
Well done.
(3.5 / 5)
Wheel of Time is back for season three. There are mixed feelings regarding this. Last season, there were some serious pacing issues. And some serious sticking to the book’s storyline issues. But we’re two seasons in, and we don’t give up so easily. So let’s dive into episode one, To Race the Shadow.
By the way, I highly recommend watching this episode with the subtitles on. You’ll see why.
The story
We begin this episode with Liandrin facing a trial of sorts for her rampant betrayal. She does her best to gaslight her Aes Sedai sisters into thinking that Siuan Sanche is the real traitor.
When that doesn’t work, she reveals how many Black Aes Sedai have actually infiltrated the tower.
Spoiler, it’s a lot.
In the aftermath, our whole team gathers to drink and enjoy one night of relaxation before they head out to the Tear to form an army for Rand. All is going well until they’re attacked by myriad creatures and a sentient axe.
What worked
This episode was long. It had a run time of an hour and eleven minutes. And a lot of that run time was spent in heavy dialog scenes.
Fortunately, these were well-done scenes.
If you’re going to have a lot of talking scenes, there are good ways and bad ways to do it. Last season, we saw lots of examples of the bad way to do it. But this episode did it well. For one thing, other things were going on while conversations were taking place. The characters are drinking, playing games, walking through an interesting city. And the scenes themselves didn’t stretch out. They weren’t repetitive. We heard what the character had to say, then we moved on.
It was also nice that the point of these scenes wasn’t just info dumps. We had character development. We had romantic interactions. We had plot development and foreshadowing.
Overall, this episode felt like what it was. A moment of calm before a storm.
Taking a step back, I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the fight scene at the start of the episode. Because it was epic.
The magic looked amazing. The martial arts that went along with it looked fantastic. The costumes were beautiful. It was just incredibly fun to watch.
More than that, it was emotional. We lost some characters in that fight that were important. And it was clearly emotionally shattering for many of our characters, who found themselves betrayed by people they trusted.
So many of them.
It was a great way to open the season.
What didn’t work
Despite that, this episode wasn’t without its flaws.
First off, there were a lot of dialog scenes. And they were good scenes, as I’ve already discussed. But it was one after another after another. And when your episode is, again, an hour and eleven minutes, it’s maybe a little much to have so much chit-chat. Couldn’t some of these conversations, important as they were, have been moved to maybe another episode?
Finally, I want to talk about Egwene’s travel through the arches.
I feel like maybe there were some deleted scenes here. Because there must have been more to that visit than what we saw, right?
We could have seen Egwene battle Rand. That would have been badass and emotionally devastating. We could have seen her with a quiet life with Rand back home at the Two Rivers. We could have seen anything except for the quick clip of Rand in a bloody river, followed by Egwene being shoved back out in a bloody shift.
Bad job. But at least it wasn’t an extended scene of Moiraine collecting bathwater, and then taking a bath while looking sad. If we’d started this season with another scene like that, it might have broken my brain.
Amazon dropped the first three episodes at once. So we’ll be back soon to talk about episode two. See you then.
(4 / 5)
Early 2000s is a special era for the industry. It accepts the cheesiness and corniness of movie making, in turn producing some gems in their own right. Eight Legged Freaks starring David Arquette and young Scarlet Johanson is a horror comedy about giant spiders who overtake a small town. As crazy as that premise sounds, the movie surprisingly has a ton of heart and is super entertaining. Let’s review, shall we?
Plot
We start Eight Legged Freaks with a shot of toxic waste spilling into the water supply of Joshua, a spider farm owner. He is friends with Mike, one of our protagonists, who is a science geek and a spider enthusiast. Mike notices something quite right upon visiting Joshua, but no one takes him seriously. We are then introduced to the rest of the crew. Mike’s mother Samantha, the town sheriff, is too busy chasing Ashley, his sister, who is dating the town mayor’s son Bret (something Samantha does not approve of). We also have Chris, who returns to the town to save his father’s legacy in the town mines. He has opposition from Wade, Bret’s father, who wants to use the mines for his business ventures. Lots of drama going on that will only get juicier once the spiders get loose.
The creepy crawlies quickly dispose of Joshua and make their grand appearance after Ashley rejects Bret’s advances, abandoning him in the middle of a desert. A glorious chase sequence ensues as the spiders make their way towards the town, wreaking havoc on its residents. In a true horror fashion (which the movie acknowledges), it takes some convincing from Mike and then from Samantha for the town to take the threat seriously. The tongue-in-cheek style of narrative adds the comedy aspect to a movie that would otherwise burn out fairly quickly.
The remaining characters hide out in a shopping mall as it’s the only somewhat sturdy building in the area. This doesn’t last long as the spiders break in, forcing them to run through the mines. Their resources to fight the creepy crawlies off are limited as the methane gas doesn’t allow them to use firearms. Such conditions require resourceful thinking from Chris, who uses perfume to fend off the leader of the spider group and save himself during the climax of the movie.
Character dynamics are not forgotten once the action kicks in. We have Chris confessing his long-term feelings for Samantha which she knew all along, which provided some comedic relief. Bret also reunites with Ashley and apologises for being an asshole. Mike finally gets the appreciation he deserves as his knowledge saves the townsfolk more than once during the whole ordeal.
We end the movie with the town’s radio show person telling the story as an urban legend during his segment. This brings it into question – how much of it happened the way he said it did? We can only guess…
Overall thoughts
Eight Legged Freaks is a fun creature feature with some self-aware commentary on genre tropes that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The acting is good, the pacing fitting and the characters are likeable enough for you to want them to make it through. Definitely a must watch, if you don’t suffer from arachnophobia, that is.
(5 / 5)