IMDb RATING
7.1/10
34K
YOUR RATING
A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
34K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- H.G. Wells(based on the novel by)
- Barré Lyndon(screenplay by)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- H.G. Wells(based on the novel by)
- Barré Lyndon(screenplay by)
- Stars
- Won 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 2 nominations total
Videos1
Houseley Stevenson Jr.
- Gen. Mann's Aideas Gen. Mann's Aide
- (as Housely Stevenson Jr.)
William Phipps
- Wash Perryas Wash Perry
- (as Bill Phipps)
Cedric Hardwicke
- Commentaryas Commentary
- (voice)
- (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Eric Alden
- Manas Man
- (uncredited)
Hugh Allen
- Brigadier Generalas Brigadier General
- (uncredited)
Ruth Barnell
- Motheras Mother
- (uncredited)
Edgar Barrier
- Prof. McPhersonas Prof. McPherson
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- H.G. Wells(based on the novel by)
- Barré Lyndon(screenplay by)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
H.G. Wells' classic novel is brought to life in this tale of alien invasion. The residents of a small town in California are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills. Their joy is tempered somewhat when they discover that it has passengers who are not very friendly. —KC Hunt <khunt@eng.morgan.edu>
- Taglines
- Amazing! terrifying! The most savage spectacle of all time!
- Genres
- Certificate
- K-16
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe estate of H.G. Wells was so pleased with the final production that it offered George Pal his choice of any other of Wells' properties. Pal chose The Time Machine (1960).
- GoofsModern viewers often complain that the wires used to suspend the Martian war machines are plainly visible throughout the film. The film was originally shot in three strip Technicolor, with prints made using a dye transfer process that resulted in very saturated colors, but with a slight reduction in overall resolution. This reduction in resolution "fuzzed out" the wires in original prints, making them effectively invisible. Later prints were made in Eastman Color, which uses a photographic process and yields sharper prints, but here had the side effect of making the support and electric wires plainly visible - the models had electrical wires as the side pods of the machines really lit up green and the "cobra heads" lit up as well. It is common practice in the film industry to take into account what details will be visible when a print is projected so as not to waste production time and money on details that will never actually be visible to a viewing audience, especially in the areas of effects and matte paintings. Thus, the filmmakers never thought the wires would be visible and in fact they weren't until the first Eastman Color prints of the film were struck in the late 1960s, and they had become even more visible on modern video releases as there is no dye sublimation resolution loss when making video masters from the original negatives. In the 2018 restoration this was resolved using digital technology.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Commentary: [voiceover] The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere to which we have long since become immune. Once they had breathed our air, germs, which no longer affect us, began to kill them. The end came swiftly. All over the world, their machines began to stop and fall. After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth.
- Alternate versionsFor the 2018 restoration Ben Burtt created a new 5.1 surround sound mix with replacements for many of the film's original sound effects, with the jarring result that the sound effects have fidelity far above that of surrounding dialogue in the film. The 2020 Criterion Collection release features this new sound mix as well as the original mono track.
- ConnectionsEdited from Maailman sortuessa (1951)
Top review
Good Adaptation
Even though this is not a literal translation of the H.G. Welles classic, this is still a good film. I especially loved how it was updated to the 20th century and that all our modern weapons, including the atom bomb, couldn't destroy the Martians. George Pal is definitely one of the most underrated directors of science fiction and this film along his When Worlds Collide and The Time Machine stand out among the great science fiction films of all time.
helpful•3720
- Sargebri
- Mar 12, 2003
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 25min
- Color
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