I remember being in high school and hearing Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the Worlds, it blew me away, so much so that I started reading the H. G. Wells book and that has been a firm favourite of mine for many years and it still is.
Over the years we’ve had many adaptations of the classic alien invasion story, one of my favourite movie version is the 1953 adaptation starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, although the film was based in modern-day, it still had me glued and back in 2014 I finally got to see the classic on the big screen as part of the BFI Science Fiction weekend.
2005 saw another big-screen adaptation and this one starred action-man Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg’s take on H. G. Wells classic, although packed with some amazing special effects and sound editing, bringing the martian tripods to life, it still wasn’t what most of us were wanting, a version of Wells’ story.
Now this year, after waiting patiently after being teased by a few photos circulating from the BBC, we now have a version that has not only returned to London but also it is set during the Edwardian era, as the lead characters George (Rafe Spall) and Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson) attempt to start a life together but are interrupted by a Martian invasion of Earth.
This 3 part mini-series Robert Carlyle as Ogilvy and Jonathan Aris as Priest, it’s going to be interested to see the other changes that have been made to the story for the series that starts on BBC One on the 17th November. Personally I can’t wait to see it and I’m just hoping I’m not going to be disappointed.
Hang on didn’t I say there were two arriving at the same time?
I certainly did, along with the version that looks like it follows H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds come one that is starting in the UK on FOX (March 5th 2020).
When astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, it is definitive proof of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. The world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. They do not have to wait long. Within days, mankind is all but wiped out by a devastating attack; pockets of humanity are left in an eerily deserted world.
The FOX version is set in contemporary France, the Anglo-French reimagining of H. G. Wells’ classic in the style of Walking Dead follows pockets of survivors forced to team up after an apocalyptic extra-terrestrial strike.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this one plays out, I’m not 100% sold on this one, but I’ll give it a go, the show stars Léa Drucker, Gabriel Byrne, Elizabeth McGovern and Adel Bencherif, running over 8 episodes the show hasn’t had that many rave reviews from that that have already seen it, but let’s face it Sci-Fi TV series do get a bum rap sometimes when it comes to reviews. (UPDATE: FOX UK’s H.G. Wells adaptation War Of The Worlds will premiere on Thursday, March 5th at 9 pm with a double-bill)
So we have two versions of the H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds to choose from, I know which is going to be my first option and that one starts on BBC One on the 17th.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
