The War of the Worlds

Video
2005
Unrated
2h 59m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

In one of the most faithful adaptations of HG Wells' science fiction masterpiece, Martians launch a ruthless assault on an unsuspecting Victorian England, in an attempt to escape their dying... Read allIn one of the most faithful adaptations of HG Wells' science fiction masterpiece, Martians launch a ruthless assault on an unsuspecting Victorian England, in an attempt to escape their dying planet.In one of the most faithful adaptations of HG Wells' science fiction masterpiece, Martians launch a ruthless assault on an unsuspecting Victorian England, in an attempt to escape their dying planet.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

2.7/10

2.3K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
According to the website owned by one of the the providers of the horses used in the film, the portion of the production involving their horses was shot on a horse ranch outside of Seattle. Other horses and carriages were shot at other ranches with large green-screen setups over eight weeks.

Goofs
After the narrator flees the pit after the Martians' first attack, the train that passes in the background is a late 20th century Americal diesel model rather than a British steam locomotive.

Crazy credits
The Copyright date is given as "MMDCCLVIII", which is the year 2758.

Alternate versions
In response to the criticisms over the 3-hour running time, a Director's Cut released that excises approximately 45 minutes of the original version.

Connections
Version of The War of the Worlds (1953)

User reviews126

Review

Featured review

2/10

Like Lord of the Rings - only with more walking. A LOT more walking. And then some.

I must admit I burst out laughing when I saw one reviewer compare this to LOTR. Well yes, if you exclude the dwarfs, the cast of thousands, the great special effects, the big battles, the strong characterization, the decent plot, the good acting, the classy direction and everything else. Which leaves you with the walking. And boy, does this film do walking! If Mr Piano had his way, this would probably be an uninterrupted three hours of hardcore walking through the Wisconsin countryside, but every 40 minutes or so these pesky Martians pop up for a few seconds to interrupt him before he goes for another bit of a ramble. You've never seen so much walking in a movie. If this really had a $20m budget, most of it must have gone on Mr Piano's shoes, because he had to get through plenty of pairs with all the walking he does. Which explains why there's no money left for decent effects, a decent video camera or proper actors. Honestly, it's like watching some bizarre fetish video for people with a thing about going for long walks in period costumes. Even on fast-forward, this is a looonnnggg walk.

As for the sci-fi stuff, I think it was a mistake to put Martians in the film: they only get in the way of the walking, which is clearly much more interesting to the director than the story.

I wonder how much Mr Piano charges to walk dogs?