War of the Worlds
Book Review: War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
The classic Sci-Fi, aliens attack novel. I found it online at Project Gutenberg where anyone can read it for free... legally even. At under 100 pages it is a short read and required reading for any sci-fi geeks. I was impressed by all the scientific data within the story. It was quite educational. In this novel the attacking aliens are clearly Martians and the story ends with their threat not quite ended, as they seem to be colonizing Venus as well. Unlike the latest Hollywood movie, these aliens are not as tough. A few of them are destroyed by the British army during their onslaught. It's a fun read.
Audio Review: War of the Worlds - as performed by Orson Welles & the Mercury Theatre on the Air
I also found this available online in mp3 format. It's easy to see how many of the original listeners might have thought this was a real news cast at the time. It's presented as such, beginning as a series of interruptions to a live music concert. Unlike the original novel though this alien landing takes place in the Eastern United States. It is also told from the point of view of several characters as they are one by one silenced by the aliens. Old radio dramas are very fun and I'd like to find more to listen to.
Movie Review: War of the Worlds (2005)
Rewatched this after reading and listening to the older versions. I won't review it again but I will mention some interesting differences I noticed. Firstly, these aliens are never identified as Martians. This is probably because modern science has basically discounted the existence of higher life forms on the red planet. The strangest change is that the aliens in this movie seem to come down to earth in lightning bolts. Everything points to the fact that there vehicles had been buried in the earth thousands of years ago, if not earlier. The original novel and radio drama had the aliens and their vehicles come to earth in giant tubes. It doesn't really make sense that they would have planted their war machines so much earlier. Why would they want to use such old equipment? If humans had to use equipment even 100 years old it would seem ridiculous.
The classic Sci-Fi, aliens attack novel. I found it online at Project Gutenberg where anyone can read it for free... legally even. At under 100 pages it is a short read and required reading for any sci-fi geeks. I was impressed by all the scientific data within the story. It was quite educational. In this novel the attacking aliens are clearly Martians and the story ends with their threat not quite ended, as they seem to be colonizing Venus as well. Unlike the latest Hollywood movie, these aliens are not as tough. A few of them are destroyed by the British army during their onslaught. It's a fun read.Audio Review: War of the Worlds - as performed by Orson Welles & the Mercury Theatre on the Air
I also found this available online in mp3 format. It's easy to see how many of the original listeners might have thought this was a real news cast at the time. It's presented as such, beginning as a series of interruptions to a live music concert. Unlike the original novel though this alien landing takes place in the Eastern United States. It is also told from the point of view of several characters as they are one by one silenced by the aliens. Old radio dramas are very fun and I'd like to find more to listen to.Movie Review: War of the Worlds (2005)
Rewatched this after reading and listening to the older versions. I won't review it again but I will mention some interesting differences I noticed. Firstly, these aliens are never identified as Martians. This is probably because modern science has basically discounted the existence of higher life forms on the red planet. The strangest change is that the aliens in this movie seem to come down to earth in lightning bolts. Everything points to the fact that there vehicles had been buried in the earth thousands of years ago, if not earlier. The original novel and radio drama had the aliens and their vehicles come to earth in giant tubes. It doesn't really make sense that they would have planted their war machines so much earlier. Why would they want to use such old equipment? If humans had to use equipment even 100 years old it would seem ridiculous.
posted by Jason at 11:48 PM
2 Comments:
Do you have a link for the audio performance?
| The original novel and radio drama had the aliens and their vehicles come to earth in giant tubes.
Internet tubes?!!?
Thanks for the comment Piyo. You can find the 'War of the Worlds' radio drama, as well as many other Mercury Theatre productions, at http://www.mercurytheatre.info/
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