The War Of The Worlds (1953)

Which version Haskin or Spielberg? A meteor lands in the hills of a small town. Unknown of its origin or contents, Dr Clayton Forrester is called in to investigate.

Machine like beings then begin to wreak havoc on not only the town but all the cities around the world with only one thing on their mind...world domination!

The army do everything in there power to stop the onslaught but who will come out on top in the end?

This is for me the definitive version, with the remake being somewhat of a disappointment.

This is not my favorite 50's science fiction film but is still considered by most as one of the best of its kind.

Film Quality 10/10; Picture Quality 9/10

Although this is an americanised version of the War of the World's. It sticks far closer to the novel than Spielburg does. The Invaders come from Mars, they land in cylindrical space ships, they open and fire a heat ray as there main weapon, and no matter what weapons we use (Including the H-bomb) They keep coming, some of the book at the time could not be imagined, such as tripods (They are slow moving hovering swan like space ships), the red weed and the heat ray disintegrating people.

The stunning opening battle on the common between 2 of the invaders machines and the American military is awesome. The shields of the Machines glowing... And obviously real American vehicles firing real weapons is great to watch, the rocket launching vehicles stick in my mind

In 1953, this is a monumental and ground breaking achievement in cinema. It focuses on scale and the War, unlike again the remake. This film is a piece of Cinema History and you can feel the post second world war fear. Real H bomb footage is used.

A brilliant piece of film making which would make a great gift for Dad or for movie lovers. Just make sure you don't get the flu.