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H.G. Wells brought this science fiction novel to us a long time ago but the story still remains fresh. Space exploration has barely scratched the surface of our own solar system and people are still left wondering if there really is life out there somewhere in the universe.

The radio version of War of the Worlds caused mass hysteria in the early part of the twentieth century. Science fiction was not nearly as popular then as it has become now. People were inclined to believe that an invasion from space was possible. Hearing it on the radio made it seem all the more real.

The original movie version had lots of the same things. It was made early enough that it preceded most of the big science fiction stories to come. Orson Wells was a well known personality by then and hearing his voice in the movie gave much the same effect to the viewers as the radio program had done.

The more recent version starring Tom Cruise, however, came far too late for any of that. Certainly by the time this film came out viewers were far more aware of their universe than people were back when the original came out. The fear factor was far lower as a result. The special effects were certainly better than what was available for the original film. That is to be expected given the fifty or so year difference between the two releases.

The basic story remained the same. Invaders from outer space suddenly and without warning drop from the sky. At first they appear to be just meteorites striking the planet. But something comes out of each of the impacts and it turns out they are super tanks filled with aliens bent on destruction of the human race. Ultimately both versions of the story end the same way as the book did. As abruptly as they began their conquest their demise strikes them down. Biological organisms eventually stop the aliens in their tracks. Of all of the possible outcomes this one is the most profound for H.G. Wells to have come up with. In reality it is the most likely thing in the world. If you meet some other form of life isn't it likely that some kind of disease would kill one of you? It seems so obvious now but for Wells to have thought of this back when he wrote the story seems rather mind-boggling.

The one major deviation in this version of the story that I could see was the episode at the house of the crazy guy hiding in his basement. This was not in the original film nor did it really add all that much but time filler to this version.

Tom cruise and his co-star seemed to do an adequate job of conveying the fear and the shock of the invasion. The special effects were very good. Overall though I still consider remakes to be cheap. If a remake doesn't really add something to a story then it is really just Hollywood making an extra buck or two off of a retread. There are plenty of fresh stories and scripts for Hollywood to make movies from. They do not need to rehash every old movie that has been made in the past.

Learn more about this author, Joseph Mohr.
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