Science fiction classic, loosely based on the H. G. Wells novel, about an invasion of Earth from Mars plays better in the memory than on the screen, where we can hack it down to the select few scenes that are its bread and butter. Most of these scenes occur during the first third, when the action is localized to a small California town and the characters still seem to matter. Haskin, however, taking the title too literally, wants to tell a much broader story, evidently believing that mankind's peril will be ours. Of course, it doesn't really work that way, and as the images dance between Washington, D.C., and stock footage of calamity around the world, our titular heroes are reduced to searching for each other in churches throughout Los Angeles. But those early scenes, menacing and mysterious, are indeed good, and the Martian ships never lose their appeal: it’s fun watching them blast humanity to smithereens. With Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, and Lewis Martin as a pastor who doesn't quite make it through the valley of death. Wells' book was also adapted by Steven Spielberg in 2005.
++1/2
Science fiction classic, loosely based on the H. G. Wells novel, about an invasion of Earth from Mars plays better in the memory than on the screen, where we can hack it down to the select few scenes that are its bread and butter. Most of these scenes occur during the first third, when the action is localized to a small California town and the characters still seem to matter. Haskin, however, taking the title too literally, wants to tell a much broader story, evidently believing that mankind's peril will be ours. Of course, it doesn't really work that way, and as the images dance between Washington, D.C., and stock footage of calamity around the world, our titular heroes are reduced to searching for each other in churches throughout Los Angeles. But those early scenes, menacing and mysterious, are indeed good, and the Martian ships never lose their appeal: it’s fun watching them blast humanity to smithereens. With Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, and Lewis Martin as a pastor who doesn't quite make it through the valley of death. Wells' book was also adapted by Steven Spielberg in 2005.
3 Comments
bookstooge
11/22/2016 04:34:05 pm
Have you seen the "new" one with Cruise? I've seen that one and wonder how this compares.
Reply
Brian
11/23/2016 07:11:08 am
It's been awhile, but I've seen the Cruise version a couple of times, and now I'm going to have to watch it again for review. The first time I saw it, I agreed with you; the second time it was better, no doubt because my expectations were so low. I might end up giving it a decent review; we'll see. And I'm also going to have to re-read the book (I hate it when I get behind and have to post "out of order"), but yeah I recall the book being better all around, though it's been forever since I've read it. (I've also now got recorded a couple versions of The Island of Dr. Moreau, and I've never even read that, so that's another Wells I've got to do.)
Reply
Bookstooge
11/23/2016 07:38:56 pm
I'd look forward to a review of Dr Moreau. The book weirded me out... Leave a Reply. |
KinoLivresBooks. Movies. Mostly. Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|