From its 1898 publishing, H.G. Wells’ The War
of the Worlds had been a best selling novel but also a forerunner to
the pulp and science fiction stories and movies to come. After a 1938
successful radio theater adaption by Orson Welles followed by George
Pal’s 1953 Hollywood extravaganza, the story about Martians invading
Earth had become part of the fabric of the culture of not only the
United Kingdom but the entire world. With heat rays, tripods and
hovercrafts, Martians invaded London, New Jersey, and Los Angeles.
With the success of science fiction on
television including such shows as Star Trek and the X Files, a new
adaption of H.G. Wells’ story by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Cruise went
into development which resulted in the 2005 War of the Worlds, a new
interpretation of the famous novel where the alien ships were brought to
life as described in the novel; a three legged 100’ tripod machine with
a heat ray that disintegrated its victims. As in the novel, people
were collected as food and livestock that brought a horrific and
somewhat overlooked element included in the source material.
Dark Discussions wraps up their three
episode arc of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds by discussing one of
the most underappreciated science fiction horror movies in the last ten
years. With fantastic special effects, with a roaring soundtrack by the
great John Williams, with direction by one of the greatest directors of
all time, while starring a top leading man, 2005’s War of the Worlds is
a film that should be enjoyed by all horror and science fiction fans
alike.
Lastly, author Mark Allan Gunnells is interviewed about his new novel, Sequel, which was released mid-May.
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