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Along with other low-budget syndicated fare like "Friday the 13th" and "Freddie's Nightmares", the "War of the Worlds" series was one of those seemingly long forgotten TV cult classics for many in the Gen X crowd who spent their formidable years in the 80's. I was thus thrilled to hear the better half of this only 2 season long show was now available on DVD. A sort-of sequel to the 1953 movie, the show follows the exploits of a diverse team who must battle the accidently resurrected aliens who almost destroyed Earth in the film and now have the ability to take over human bodies to blend in. The fact very few Earthlings can remember the previous invasion causes what is no doubt the biggest continuous plot gap of the series. Watching the series again 20 years later I remembered what made it so great was the interplay between the lead characters as well as the subversive atttempts the Mor-Taxan aliens used to try to conquer Earth. With many instances of the human host aliens dissolving in bubbling pools of goo when killed and mutilating thier human captives I was surprised at the level of gore and violence that passed on broadcast TV back in the day compared the censorship today though it is still mild compared to many of the popular "torture" movies of the current generation. While one should be grateful that fans can now relive the show, the DVD set has some drawbacks compared to the average box set. One is a complete lack of any extras what so ever as well as only full screen and one can tell based upon the clarity throughout that transfer was directly from the broadcast tapes without remastering to bring it up to today's digital and big screen TV standards. Also missing for some unexplained reason is the alien hand encircling Earth animation and eerie sound into that proceeded each episode and what made it so memorable. While maybe someday Paramount will release a more complete edition along with the 2nd season, even a bare-bones set such as this is worth the price to experience one of the lesser known aspects of the War of the Worlds franchise again.Read full review
None of the movies adapted from the great H.G. Wells sci-fi classic have been faithful to the book. This series is based on the first popular movie made by George Pal in 1953 starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. The series takes off where the movie ends. After the aliens are defeated, 20 years later after being contained in tanks, they are accidentally released by terrorists to take over the world. The connection between the original movie and the series are: The same spaceships are used, the aliens appearance, and Jared Martin as Dr. Blackwood portrays the adopted son of Gene Barry. Ann Robinson as Sylvia Van Buren, appears in two of the episodes. She has been placed in a mental institution (it is assumed Barry is dead) and now possesses powers including psychic links with the alien movement. This is an interesting series and is updated--now the aliens are surviving by possessing human bodies and a scientific team including Martin and Richard Chavez are in hot pursuit. One of the episodes involves the infamous 1938 Orson Wells broadcast which the series leads you to believe was not a hoax and the team return to Grover's Mill when the aliens come to retrieve their hibernating brethren. It's interesting to note the latest movie outing with Tom Cruise depicts the Martian war machine remarkably similiar to the way Wells described it in his book. A lesser known made-for-TV movies descripes the aliens as Wells envisioned them. There is to date, no movie or series that follows the famous novel accurately--just the few little exceptions mentioned above. The series adheres faithfully to the 1953 movie as it premise. This series is not that easy to obtain. But if you are a WAR OF THE WORLD fan, this 23 episode set (including the pilot movie) should be of interest, as long as you are not a stickler to the famous novel. Maybe one of of these days, Hollywood will stop taking scenes and portions of the novel and changing time and place then release a version that is wholly accurate to Well's apocalyptic thriller.Read full review
I am an avid fan of the "War Of The Worlds" in just about all it's incarnations. I saw the original George Pal movie as a kid then tried to read the novel (gave up after a few chapters - I was only in 3rd grade). I have since read the book several times as well as a couple of the sequels written by others since. When I was still in grade school, I managed to find a then-hard to find copy of Orson Welles' radio broadcast & read Howard Koch's book about that. I also read the Classics Illustrated comic, the Marvel Classics adaptation &, of course, the regular series that ran for a few years in Amazing Adventures. So, when I saw a show coming on that was a direct sequel to the original Pal movie, I was very excited. And to find it was created by one of the people who worked with Roddenberry to relaunch the Star Trek franchise, I was hopeful of a good series. Overall it was. And it still holds up well - given the difference in time as the show was set in 1988 in the 1st season. The characters were all pretty well defined - even if Phil Akin played his character a little over the top & Richard Chavez was almost stereotypical as the ram-rod straight Army Ranger. My only real complaint is that they wanted this in the real world & had to have the '53 invasion almost forgotten by even the people who fought the Martians. And then taking Sylvia Van Buren & making her crazy from the war. That particular plot device didn't sit well with me. The ep that stuck in my head was an interesting 50th anniversary episode that took place in Grovers Mill where the Mercury Theater broadcast was the real thing but played off as a radio show. I'm hopeful that they'll release the 2nd season soon. Many have disparaged that but I kinda liked the dark, end-of-civilization feel that season had. If you're a WOTW fan, this show is a good followup.Read full review
The Original War of the Worlds movie is a Classic...one of the greats. Of course, I had to see what they came up with as a series. I never saw it on TV and I can see why it didn't last (2 seasons, but one 1 on DVD that I could find). But, I am a Sci-Fi fan and I love even the campy B rated stuff. And this is it! This is true Science Fiction. Aliens from another world trying to take over the Earth. These aliens are from the Original War of the Worlds invasion (in this version, the 1950's Orson Wells radio show was real! and the aliens didn't die, they were just is some deep hybernation until something killed off the germs that supposedly killed them. The story line is great, even it a little contrived in order to make this an ongoing story. The dialog is a little stilted in places but I didn't find the plot lines to be overly predictable and I really was looking forward to seeing how the story developed. I've watched only a portion of the series, a little less than half, because I didn't want to finish it too quickly, especially when I couldn't find the second season in DVD. I did enjoy it and I am looking forward to finishing it. I couldn't decide if I should rate it "average" or "good". I went with "good" because I don't think I would have recommended it at all if it was only average or below. I think it is worthy of the die-hard sci-fi collection.Read full review
It a TV series that I hadn't seen for awhile. I decided to buy it because I could get it new at such a good price on EBAY/Half price. It of of good quality and it was an intersting series that reminded me of "The Invaders" as no one else would believe them but they have more resources than David Vincent! I bought it new cheaper than I could get it used! Really nice DVD set.
