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The War of the Worlds (1953)
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- 47 referencing feature instances
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This 1953 Science Fiction film is the first of several screen adaptations of H. G. Wells' seminal alien invasion novel, produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin. It stars Gene Barry as the scientist Dr. Clayton Forresternote Yes, this is where Mystery Science Theater 3000 got the name and Ann Robinson as Sylvia Van Buren, as they must survive a full-scale invasion of Earth by Martian forces.It is a Pragmatic Adaptation of the novel, taking only the premise and ending with little else from the source material. Nonetheless in an age of alien invasion films such as Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Invaders From Mars and The Thing from Another World this film is regarded as one of the best of that category.Many years later the film would get a sequel in the form of a television series. Due to Science Marches On, the series RetConned several aspects from the original film, namely the aliens coming from the planet Mor-Tax instead of Mars. Elements of the film would also inspire future science-fiction media, such as Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Iron Giant and Independence Day.For the 2005 Steven Spielberg film, see War of the Worlds (2005). | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_1439161f | type |
Heroic BSoD | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_1439161f | comment |
Heroic BSoD: Dr. Forrester suffers this after his truck is taken by rioters and he finds that Sylvia and the rest of his colleagues suffered the same fate. He is founded by a pair of MPs while the Martians destroy the city around them, ignoring their offer to flee in favor of finding Sylvia so that he won't die alone. | |
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Apocalypse Anarchy | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_1865f13a | comment |
Apocalypse Anarchy: While driving to a lab in the mountains, looters scamper aboard Dr. Forrester's truck, throw him out of the cabin, unload the research equipment and samples, and drives off with anyone able to hang on. When someone tries to bribe his way on board, he's thrown off while being told that his money's now worthless. | |
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Chekhov's Gun | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: When Dr. Forrester brings a Martian probe with blood samples to a group of scientists, they see that the blood is highly anemic. This foreshadows how they were eventually killed by terrestrial bacteria. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_23473ae7 | type |
Adaptation Expansion | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_23473ae7 | comment |
Adaptation Expansion: The movie gives a fairly decent look into the larger picture of the Martian invasion of Earth as we're shown glimpses and both some characters and the narrator mention of what's going on in other countries, whereas in the book the invasion was limited to Southeast England. | |
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Wave-Motion Gun | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_263bb4ec | comment |
Wave-Motion Gun: The secondary weapon of the war machines, in the form of a Disintegrator Ray - people, vehicles, even entire buildings vanish when they are hit by it, leaving no trace but an ashy silhouette. They still have their signature heat ray, which also qualifies. We never see anything survive being hit by either weapon. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_26ac510e | type |
Mythology Gag | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_26ac510e | comment |
Mythology Gag: The scene where the reporter's transmission is cut short during the plane observation by his equipment getting destroyed by the heat-ray is a deliberate reference to Carl Phillips' fate from the 1938 radio adaptation. The Martian war machines are still technically tripods, just using "legs" of electromagnetic force instead of mechanical legs. The three beams are quite visible in the first appearance of the machines, and the "ports" they emanate from are clearly depicted. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_26eb6287 | type |
Funny Background Event | |
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Funny Background Event: As a fire watcher phones in a report his companion peeks at his playing cards. | |
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Adapted Out | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: Both the red weed and the factor of the Martians drinking human blood is nowhere to be seen. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_3fca462c | type |
Deus ex Machina | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_3fca462c | comment |
Deus ex Machina: Like the book that inspired it, the Martians are defeated, not in a final battle against humanity, but by germs. | |
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Screaming Woman | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_48309ad4 | comment |
Screaming Woman: When Forrester and Sylvia encounter a Martian in the flesh, Sylvia at least waits until it's driven away to lose her composure. But when she does, her wailing is downright blood-curling. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_4856ac40 | type |
Stock Footage | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_4856ac40 | comment |
Stock Footage: The scenes of people listening to the radio, along with some of the destruction footage, were taken from Pal's previous film When Worlds Collide. Footage from World War II was also added in. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_5e01640d | type |
X-Ray Sparks | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_5e01640d | comment |
X-Ray Sparks: The Marine commander gets hit by a Martian Disintegrator Ray right in front of the camera. As the ray takes effect, his skeleton shows through his glowing silhouette before he vanishes into nothingness. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_603f1a80 | type |
Pragmatic Adaptation | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_603f1a80 | comment |
Pragmatic Adaptation: The original novel took place in late 1800s England and the aliens piloted towering tripod walkers. This film takes place in 1950s California, and the aliens pilot hovering manta-ray/scorpion spacecraft. Originally the spacecrafts were meant to be tripods, but since a tripod effect was difficult to achieve, the film instead states that the spacecraft hover via invisible tripod "stilts". In a few shots you can see vague outlines of the "stilts" along with sparks on the ground. In the novel, the fighting machines were NOT Immune to Bullets, they were just too fast and agile for contemporary artillery to hit before being overwhelmed (in fact, at least two of the tripods are destroyed in the book - one by a lucky artillery shot, the other by a ship that manages to close the distance before opening fire). This had to be changed to keep it believable that the 1950s army doesn't mop the floor with them immediately. The novel also featured three different forms of spacecraft as opposed to just one. Besides the Tripod, the novel also featured a "Handling Machine", as well as a flying spacecraft of its own. | |
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Hell Is That Noise | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_61a503a7 | comment |
Hell Is That Noise: The sounds of the Martian fighting machines moving and the sound of the heat ray firing-a sound that is now oft-copied as a generic "energy weapon" noise in homage. | |
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Deflector Shields | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_61ff365d | comment |
Deflector Shields: The Martian war machines have these, and they're powerful enough to be Immune to Bullets as well as artillery and explosives, including the latest model of atomic bomb. | |
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Audio Adaptation | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_6a993504 | comment |
Audio Adaptation: Believe it or not, there was one done by Lux Radio Theater starring Dana Andrews as Forrester. Can be heard here | |
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A Wizard Did It | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_6bfc52a3 | comment |
A Wizard Did It: Rather well put in-universe, actually. Dr. Forrester acknowledges that it doesn't matter if it should be possible or not if it's happening right in front of you. | |
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Idiot Ball | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_7286e96d | comment |
Idiot Ball: Uncle Matthew approaches the war machines in a misguided attempt to parley with them. He says that no real attempt has been made to communicate with the Martians, even though they've fired unprovoked on people who come near the cylinder and there are reports of them leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Although, in fairness, Uncle Matthew is well aware that they could easily decide to kill him. He recites Psalm 23 as he approaches the Martian War Machines. | |
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Adaptational Badass | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_736d791f | comment |
Adaptational Badass: Subverted. While the Martians themselves die the same way as in the novel, their war machines are a significant upgrade compared to the Tripods in the book due to having a protective shield allowing them to No-Sell everything Humanity throws at them including a nuclear bomb. | |
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Admiring the Abomination | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_77538ed4 | comment |
Admiring the Abomination: Dr. Forrester can't help but be fascinated by the Martians and their technology. Even when Sylvia tells him that she spotted one of the creatures nearby, he says that he needs to get a good look at them before they escape. | |
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Belief Makes You Stupid | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_79b5677 | comment |
Belief Makes You Stupid: Averted in a strange way. The source material (at least the second half) is a firm criticism of religion, and there are religious characters who eventually turn out unhinged and dangerous in the wake of the invasion. The film is almost the complete opposite - the main religious character is kind and righteous and is given a meaningful death (one that shows that the Martians are incapable of being approached in any peaceful fashion), and the closing narration comments on how the smallest creatures of God's kingdom defeated the invaders. Even in the original, despite his experience with the lunatic curate, the protagonist gives a prayer of gratitude for deliverance. And although it's far more leaning into the nature of a divine miracle in this story, the following is direct from the original story and is echoed in the movie's ending: | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_7a8546d6 | type |
Exposition Intuition | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_7a8546d6 | comment |
Exposition Intuition: Doctor Forrester is able to deduce how the Martian heat ray works, how the war machines levitate, and even determines based on nothing more than seeing what we do that an alien weapon which causes its victims to light up with X-Ray Sparks then fade to nothing works by "cutting across the lines of electromagnetic force" that holds matter together. | |
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Dawn Attack | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_8145e321 | comment |
Dawn Attack: During the night before the big Marines/Martian battle, General Mann says "They'll probably move at dawn." He turns out to be correct: the Martian war machines start to move out as the light of dawn appears in the east. | |
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Nuclear Candle | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_8b3ab1ce | comment |
Nuclear Candle: When the lights go out at the square dance, a candle is lit - lighting the room far brighter than a candle should. | |
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Behind the Black | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_9600368d | comment |
Behind the Black: When the police and Dr. Forrester arrive at the landing site to find the deputies have been vaporized, they fail to notice the eye stalk looming over them, which should have been in full view. | |
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Defiant to the End | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_966da803 | comment |
Defiant to the End: General Mann declares that the army will establish a defensive line and fight the Martians for as long as they can while civilians are evacuated to the mountains, even after it's clear humanity's entire arsenal is useless. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_99db72ee | type |
Immune to Bullets | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_99db72ee | comment |
In the novel, the fighting machines were NOT Immune to Bullets, they were just too fast and agile for contemporary artillery to hit before being overwhelmed (in fact, at least two of the tripods are destroyed in the book - one by a lucky artillery shot, the other by a ship that manages to close the distance before opening fire). This had to be changed to keep it believable that the 1950s army doesn't mop the floor with them immediately. | |
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| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_a6cda066 | type |
Rule of Three | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_a6cda066 | comment |
Rule of Three The Martian cylinders come down in groups of three. Each cylinder carries the components for three war machines. Once deployed, the machines operate in groups of three. When searching for Sylvia, Forrester enters three churches, finding her in the third. The Martians eye has 3 pupils and their probe have 3 lenses, presumably because their natural eyes do. Lampshaded by Forrester. They also have 3 fingers. The Martians' grouping of 3 is Lampshaded by Bilderbeck. The Martian war machines have three beam shooters (the heat ray on the "eye stalk", and two disintegrators), and projects three hovering beams underneath (in place of the novel's three legs). | |
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First Contact | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_a7caa5b5 | comment |
First Contact: The three men who see the meteor open up quickly realize they'll become famous for being the first to make contact with the Martians, only to be vaporized in response. | |
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Nuke 'em | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_ac320c0e | comment |
Nuke 'em: The military tries to kill one of the tripods using a nuke, when all other weapons have been exhausted. When the shields of the Martians turns that into a No-Sell, Forrester says that attacking the machines is of no use, and they need to focus on trying to kill the Martians themselves (through biological warfare). | |
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Biological Weapons Solve Everything | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_ad3962c1 | comment |
Biological Weapons Solve Everything: Zig-Zagged Trope. The film maintains the original ending where the Martians die from regular Earth germs that humanity is immune to, but the emphasis here is that it's regular Earth germs. When nuking them does nothing, the military asks the scientist at Cal Tech to figure out a bio-warfare method to kill the Martians out of desperation... and the trucks carrying the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos trying to evacuate, destroying all of the equipment (in Forrester's words, "they sliced their own throats!"). The implication being that the bio-warfare attack would have worked, had the story not decided to stick to the original's ending and letting God do the job. | |
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Watch the World Die | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_b52416b5 | comment |
Watch the World Die: When it's clear nothing can stop the Martians from destroying the cities, a lot of people can be seen camping out in the hills just outside Los Angeles. | |
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Too Dumb to Live | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_b58b4e3c | comment |
Too Dumb to Live: Yes, it's a noble thing Matthew did, but he apparently forgot three other people had already approached the machines with peaceful intentions and been summarily erased. Why exactly did he think it'd go any different for him? Faith, apparently. | |
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Omnidisciplinary Scientist | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_b72ae7 | comment |
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Sort of; it's more of an omnidisciplinary lab group: Forrester, an astrophysicist, is not only in the same department but actually shares the same lab space with an electrical engineer and a biochemist. | |
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Sensory Tentacles | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_b87e9bc7 | comment |
Sensory Tentacles: A viewing device attached to a long cable was inserted into the farmhouse where Professor Forrester and Sylvia van Buren were hiding. Professor Forrester manages to sever the device with a crowbar and escape with it. | |
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Money Is Not Power | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_bfb5f597 | comment |
Money Is Not Power: As Los Angeles is being evacuated, people are rioting in the streets. One guy tries to buy his way onto a truck, only to be thrown off while being told "Money's no good anymore!" | |
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America Saves the Day | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_c515d358 | comment |
America Saves the Day: Downplayed in that God himself is the one that truly "saves the day", but America is the nation that spearheads the fight against the Martians, including being the ones leading the research and using the (strangely untouched) city of Washington D.C. as the location where all information regarding the Martians from around the world is pooled to try to determine the best strategy. | |
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Citywide Evacuation | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_ca7e95f6 | comment |
Citywide Evacuation: When the Martian war machines approach the city of Los Angeles, the population is evacuated to the nearby San Gabriel hills. The announcement is made via loudspeakers mounted on trucks. | |
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Reasonable Authority Figure | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_dca70c44 | comment |
Reasonable Authority Figure: General Mann is deeply concerned for the safety of civilians in the face of the Martian onslaught, wanting Los Angeles to be ready to evacuate on a moment's notice. He also tells Dr. Forrester that his science team is now humanity's last hope. | |
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Monumental Damage | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_dddbdc26 | comment |
Monumental Damage: The Eiffel Tower gets its upper half torn off as seen in photos during the debriefing in Washington and is later shown fully burnt by the end in the ruins of Paris, and the Taj Mahal ends up destroyed as well. Likewise in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Hall gets destroyed during the climatic raid. note Since it was the only landmark the city had back in The '50s, as the Hollywood Sign and the US Bank Tower wouldn't be built until decades later. Oddly enough Washington went untouched. | |
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Artistic License – Space | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_e6558beb | comment |
Artistic License – Space: Apparently whoever revised the opening narration just plumb forgot the existence of Venus when specifying why all other planets in the solar system except Earth are unsuitable for the Martians to migrate to. The Narrator's description of Jupiter actually fits Venus. note The omission of Venus is ironic as the novel implied that the Martians went there next, and succeeded in conquering it. The narrator also describes Jupiter as being Mars' closest neighbor, even though Earth is far closer. | |
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Worthless Currency | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_ede69913 | comment |
Worthless Currency: Near the end of the film, a group of refugees starts looting a truck. When one of them offers another a generous amount of money in exchange for the goods, he is told that money is worth nothing anymore and thrown off the vehicle. | |
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Hover Tank | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_f37bf401 | comment |
Hover Tank: The book's Tripods are changed here to what is more a style of tank that floats above the grounds on a trio of beams instead of legs. | |
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Darkest Hour | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_f91d1d4f | comment |
Darkest Hour: The film's final act is among the darkest and bleakest acts ever put into a 50's alien invasion film. There's absolutely no hope left for humanity, and the protagonist's only goal is to spend the remaining minutes of his life with his loved one. Fortunately, like in the book, things take a turn for the better at the very end, if through no effort of humanity's own. | |
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Washington D.C. Invasion | |
| The War of the Worlds (1953) / int_fa5699d9 | comment |
Washington D.C. Invasion: Averted and even lampshaded: the Martians never mobilize towards the city, for some odd reason, and so this provides the opportunity to utilize it as the headquarters for the world-wide effort to fight the Martians. | |
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The War Room | |
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The War Room: We're treated to a war room in the Pentagon, including a map of the world with small black triangles indicating areas that have been wiped out by the Martians. | |
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The War of the Worlds (1953) |
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