View source for War of the Worlds (1953 film)

[[File:Warofworlds 1953film.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Martian war-machines glide over the countryside in ''War of the Worlds (1953 film)''...]]

''War of the Worlds'' (1953); there were also numerous remakes and unofficial sequels (see ''[[War of the Worlds (1988 series)]]'' for an example)

==Summary==
<!-- 
(Short, Spoiler-Free Summary; tag-line or elevator pitch.)
-->

"Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!"  A small town in California is attacked by Martians. 

==Details==
<!--
This list of details is partly intended for those films produced by
film-makers, performers, producers/studios, etc. that tend to make
"Lovecraftian" films, for ease of finding related or similar films.
This list is also partly intended to make it easier to identify a
specific film out of many with the same name, to make them easier to
tell apart - some stories have been adapted numerous times by different
amateur short film makers!  Some films have a "TVTropes" page, which
will often detail obscure "Lovecraftian" elements of a film that this
wiki misses, and, if a TVTropes page exists, it can be a useful
resource.  Feel free to remove any sections that are irrelevant, 
unknown, or unnecessary.
-->
* Release Date:  1953
* Country/Language:  US, English
* Genres/Technical:  Science Fiction (alien invasion), Horror
* Setting:  [[1950s]] [[California]]
* Runtime:  1 hr 25 min  
* Starring:  Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne
* Director:  Byron Haskin
* Writer:  [[H.G. Wells]] (novel), Barré Lyndon (screenplay) 
* Producer/Production Co:  Cecil B. DeMille, [[George Pal]],  Paramount Pictures
* View Trailer: ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9T9f3UbGuo link])
* Test Footage for an unproduced 1940s version of ''War of the Worlds'' that [[Ray Harryhausen]] wanted to make:  ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa2OCI_M4zo link])
* TVTropes: ([http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds link])
* IMDB Page:  ([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534/ link])

==Ratings==
===[http://www.mpaa.org/film-ratings/ MPAA Ratings]===
<!--
I've been including this information for those of us who like to watch
Lovecraft movies with family, including younger children, and want to
avoid any awkwardness.
E.G., "Rated: R (Violence, Nudity, Language....)" 
-->
* Rated:  approved (equivalent to a PG for mild Violence)


===Tentacle Ratings===
<!--
(Use one of the following lines, and edit it as appropriate.  Follow it with an
explanation/description of how it qualifies as "Lovecraftian", such as any
name-dropping of Lovecraft's creations, whether it's based on a Lovecraft story
and if so which one, whether it's simply "feels" kind of Lovecraftian, etc.)
Some examples:  one tentacle only if the mood and atmosphere are right but it's 
not based on a Lovecraft story and contains no specific Lovecraftian elements even
in spirit; one tentacle only if it mentions specifically Lovecraftian elements but
isn't based on Lovecraft story and doesn't have the right mood; one tentacle only 
if it has some tentacle monsters but the mood isn't very Lovecraftian and specific
Lovecraft creations aren't mentioned by name; if the film is based on a recognizable
Lovecraft story it automatically gets two tentacles, and may get a third or more
depending on if Lovecraftian monsters are present, the mood and atmosphere are
suitably Lovecraftian in tone, and if the work is particularly accurate and true to
the spirit of the original story.
* S____ (One Tentacle:  Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
* SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; vaguely similar in tone, could be a very loose adaptation)
* SSS__ (Three Tentacles: Lovecraftian, was probably written by Lovecraft himself.)
* SSSS_ (Four Tentacles: Unusually Lovecraftian; written by Lovecraft, a remarkably faithful adaptation)
* SSSSS (Five Tentacles: definitively Lovecraftian; everything you'd expect from a Lovecraft adaptation and more)
-->
A rough [[Tentacle Ratings|measure]] of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
* S____ (One Tentacle:  Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)

Not very "Lovecraftian", aside from being based on one of Lovecraft's many sources of inspiration, and containing some cool monsters and a few interesting and suggestive bits of narration ("No one would have believed in the middle of the 20th Century that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than Man's. Yet, across the gulf of space on the planet Mars, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our Earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely joined their plans against us. Mars is more than 140 million miles from the sun, and for centuries has been in the last status of exhaustion. At night, temperatures drop far below zero even at its equator. Inhabitants of this dying planet looked across space with instruments and intelligences that which we have scarcely dreamed, searching for another world to which they could migrate.")  Bits of this story could easily be adapted to a CoC RPG scenario.

''Note:  This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of 
how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.''

===Reviews===
<!--
(A list of reviews for the work, along with the review's rating (for example, "4/5 Stars") 
* Author_andor_Location, ([URL link]) - RATING 
* (review needed)
-->
Review Links:
* (review needed)


==Synopsis (SPOILERS)==
<!-- 
(Should be an objective, unbiased, detailed synopsis of film's plot and themes.
The following optional spoiler code apparently works badly on smart phones.) 
{{spoiler|plot}}
-->
{{spoiler|
Martians invade Earth in giant bullets fired from vast interplanetary cannon, unleashing their levitating tripod war-machines and heat-rays on an unsuspecting population in a small town in California, as well as well-known monuments from around the world in a series of nice 1950s special effects.  The invaders are relentless and their machines shielded even against the effects of atomic bombs, but ultimately "the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth...":  the Martians are vulnerable to Earth's bacteria, lending the film a "happy" ending. 
}}

==Notes==

===Comments, Trivia, Dedication===
<!-- 
(Optional; describe anything known or reported by experts about the 
origin of the story or inspiration for elements of it; list dedication, 
trivia, images, anything else of note 
-->
* Sequels and re-adaptations include: 
** ''The War of the Worlds'' (infamous 1938 radio adaptation by Orson Wells)
** ''The War of the Worlds'' (1953, set in the 1950s US)
** ''[[War of the Worlds (1988 series)]]'' (an inventive sequel to both the radio show and the 1953 film which pretends the radio program was a real news report, and the film part of a disinformation campaign to cover up the invasion)
** ''The War of the Worlds: Next Century'' (1981, Polish, set in the 1980s Poland)
** ''[[Independence Day (1996 franchise)]]'' (a thinly-disguised adaptation which substitutes a computer virus for bacteria)
** ''Signs'' (2002 film directed by [[M. Night Shyamalan]], a thinly-disguised adaptation which substitutes water for bacteria)
** ''War of the Worlds'' (2005 film directed by [[Steven Spielberg]] and starring Tom Cruise, set in Modern US)
** ''H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds'' (2005 film directed by Timothy Hines, set in Gaslight England)
** ''H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds'' (2005 film directed by [[David Michael Latt]], AKA ''Invasion'' and ''The Worlds in War''), and its sequel ''War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave'' (2008 film directed by C. Thomas Howell) (both films set in Modern US)
** ''Alien Dawn'' (2012 loose Nicktoons adaptation set in Modern US?)
** ''War of the Worlds:  Goliath'' (2012 animated sequel to the original novel, set in Gaslight England)
** ''War of the Worlds - The True Story'' (2012 mockumentary pretending the Orson Wells radio program was real)
** ''The Great Martian War 1913-1917'' (2013 History Channel mockumentary)
 

===Associated Mythos Elements===
<!--
(A list of notable Lovecraftian creatures, tomes, Great Old Ones, characters, 
etc. that appear in the film/show/etc.  It helps to specify if it just takes
the form of general "name-dropping" (someone mentions "Yog-Sothoth!", but 
Yog-Sothoth doesn't actually appear; a random creepy tome in the background
is labeled ''Necronomicon'' but never actually appears, a character is wearing
a Miskatonic University sweatshirt but the school never makes an appearance...)
Remove any sections that do not apply.  Note that some unnamed monsters may be
considered "stand-ins" that are effectively the same as specific Lovecraftian
monsters, though the film never makes that explicitly clear - for example, a
standard-issue Gill-Man from "Creature from the Black Lagoon" might be labeled
a "Deep One" for the purposes of this Wiki, even though any resemblance is
probably unintentional.  Vaguely/generically "Lovecraftian" elements might 
include [[Human Cultist]]s, [[Tentacle Monster]]s, ''[[Necronomicon Ex-Mortis]]'',
and the mysterious outer/astral dimension we might call the [[Other Side]]....)
-->
* fiction:  [[H.G. Wells]]' ''War of the Worlds''
* race:  [[Martian (Uliri)]]
* location:  [[Grover's Mill]], [[New Jersey]]
* location:  [[Mars]]


===Keeper Notes===
<!-- 
(Optional.  Notes to Keepers on using this for film for scenario ideas.  
Heresies and Controversies:  this is also a good place to include non-canon 
and controversial aspects of the film's mythos.  Suggested Alternative Theories 
include:  Derleth's elemental scheme; pseudo-science interpretation; "fanon" 
interpretations; unofficial humorous or eccentric versions; identification with 
"Real Life" mythological, religious, folklore, natural, and historical phenomena; 
rumor and speculation contribute some flexibility and ambiguity to the mythos. 
* Alternative_theory.  ([[source]])  
This section is more commonly used on YSDC Wiki pages for suggesting ways to
adapt the film to use as a Call of Cthulhu scenario; the Keeper Notes section 
might include multiple such suggested adaptations.
* (One/two sentence story inspired by the film, starring investigators.)
TIP:  Film plots are often difficult to adapt into RPG scenarios; try having
the investigators arrive after the events from the movie have started happening
or have already happened to NPCs, and leave the investigators to piece together
the clues to find out what happened.  Adaptations of film plots to RPG scenarios 
almost always benefit from changing cosmetic details around until the exact story
is no longer easily recognizable, by changing the setting, descriptions of monsters,
character names, and that sort of thing.
-->
* For a fan-made setting loosely based on the apocalyptic dying/dead Mars of the original story and related literature, see [[Mars]] and its [[Barsoom|Dreamlands]]....

<!--
(Add any of the following categories that apply to the end of the page; 
the first (DEFAULTSORT) is used to sort the film by something other than 
a leading The/A/An so that it alphabetizes correctly.  A "Short" is 
less than an hour long (perhaps an episode of a TV anthology program, music
video, or short-subject amateur film); "Film" is a longer feature-length movie
(longer than an hour), "Series_or_Serial" may include TV programs, serials, 
and mini-series; "Franchise" is a series of Films, perhaps including feature-
length Films, Short films, TV Series/Serials/Programs, and other media.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unsorted, The}}
-->
[[Category:Film:General]]
[[Category:Film:Film]]
[[Category:Film:InfluenceAdaptation]]
[[Category:Film:ScienceFiction]]
[[Category:Film:One-Tentacle Media]]
[[Category:Mars|Film: War of the Worlds (1953 film)]]

__NOTOC__