Too bad about the wooden cast, the tackily conventional romance, and a draggy religious message; but at least, given the time it was made, it isn't imbued with Cold War hysteria.
Comment
01/26/06
The War of the Worlds (1953)
84
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:21
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Though it's dated in spots, The War of the Worlds retains an unnerving power, updating H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi tale to the Cold War era and featuring some of the best special effects of any 1950s film.
Runtime: 88 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: H. G. Wells' sci-fi classic about the invasion of Planet Earth by aggressive creatures from Mars. Arriving in green-glowing spaceships shaped like metallic stingrays, the Martians blast their... [More]
Starring: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Jack Kruschen
Director: Byron Haskin
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Reviews for The War of the Worlds
...a so-called "classic" that couldn't possibly be more overrated.
11/26/05
The acting was wooden, the romance was blah, and the religious messages tacked on were pathetic.
09/06/01
Incredibly overrated version of the Wells novel.
05/29/03
Though it's bogged down by a stiff cast, a yawn-inspiring conventional romance, and a sappy religiosity, it remains a landmark in the history of special effects.
06/08/07
Mind those heat rays!
10/31/06
Well, it's not called a classic for nothing.
03/18/03
No review available.
05/14/04
This is vintage Cold War-era sci-fi, and one of the best films in the genre.
01/25/05
No review available.
10/06/05
As the perfect crystallization of 50s ideology the film would be fascinating enough, but the special effects in this 1953 George Pal production also achieve a kind of dark, burnished apocalyptic beauty.
06/08/07
Top CriticA half-century after its creation, the film's best moments are still so enjoyably unnerving that they easily carry a viewer through the necessary but inevitably dated exposition.
12/06/05
Top CriticA classic that should be seen by anyone who really likes genre of science fiction in the cinema.
01/01/00
No review available.
07/23/05
This is an imminently watchable film -- better than many other B-grade science fiction films with similar themes of alien invasion.
01/01/00
This version has more soul than the remake.
12/02/05
No review available.
07/26/02
For a movie that already succeeded in scaring the Grape Nehi out of every ten-year-old in the audience, how disquieting it must have been for the Cold War-agitated grownups to witness U.S. might, tanks and A-bombs alike, brushed away helpless...
04/05/06
No review available.
04/30/03
A great Cold War re-imagining of Welles' classic tale.
10/03/02
Latest News for The War of the Worlds
July 03, 2006:
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