When it comes to alien invasions, there’s no escaping War of the Worlds. The science fiction classic penned by British writer HG Wells tells of hostile alienswho come from Mars and attack the earth with three-legged fighting machines – the so-called tripods.
The novel has been adapted several times over the years. A radio play by Orson Welles in 1938 was particularly influential. It was presented as a (fictitious) report and was therefore taken to be real by some listeners. The one so far scariest version however, the story is by Steven Spielberg.
Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds is a scary science fiction film with nightmare imagery
The American director knows the sci-fi genre very well. He shot masterpieces like AI – Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report. In the course of ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind he had brought aliens to earth even before his War of the Worlds film adaptation.
You can watch the trailer for War of the Worlds here:
War of the Worlds – Trailer (German) HD
The big difference: where the uncanny encounters of the third kind at Spielberg have so far been quite peaceful, War of the Worlds turns out to be disturbing mixture of horror and disaster film. Gradually, the earth turns into an absolute nightmare place, which is covered in blood fields.
For a mainstream blockbuster of this magnitude, Spielberg finds surprisingly somber images. He is also harsh on his characters. When protagonist Ray Ferrier, played by Tom Cruise, tries to save his family from death, one human abyss after another is revealed to him.
Sci-Fi Masterpiece: When is War of the Worlds on TV?
War of the Worlds is on tonight, July 8th, 2023 at 10:25 p.m. on Sat.1. The TV version of the film (105 minutes without credits) runs until 12:45 a.m. with commercial breaks. The repetition follows in the night from Sunday to Monday at 01:45 a.m. Alternatively, you can currently stream the film on Paramount+ with a subscription.
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