This is one of the few times when I've been glad that Hollywood decided to remake a "classic" movie. It's not that I thought this one was bad. It did, however, come across as very typical of the 1950's, and therefore very dated. It's a good story, and so it did need an update.
Standing on its own, this movie had both strengths and weaknesses. On the negative side first, the acting didn't come across as particularly noteworthy. Neither of the leads - Gene Barry as Dr. Forrester and Ann Robinson as Sylvia - really took command of this in my view. The story also had a few too many "cornball" moments. Just a couple: the happy coincidence that a group of scientists just happened to be fishing in the same area where the first Martian spacecraft landed, and the decision of Dr. Forrester to head off with Sylvia to a square dance shortly after. I was also disappointed that the movie didn't open with one of the better parts of the H.G. Wells story: the sighting of strange explosions on the surface of Mars that leads to suspense right off the top. Going right into the Martian landings (even though they were thought at first to be perhaps asteroids) seemed to be jumping into things too fast. On the scientific side of things, as the movie opened with a survey of the planets in our solar system and why only Earth was hospitable for the Martians, it became clear that someone should have checked some simple facts: it's declared that Jupiter is the closest planet to Mars when Earth is actually a lot closer to Mars than Jupiter.
On the positive side, the Martian ships are wonderfully portrayed, and I appreciated that this never became a "monster" movie. There are only a couple of very brief glimpses of the Martians themselves, which increased the sense of mystery about them. The movie establishes a real sense of hopelessness. After absolutely everything has been thrown at the Martians they're still going, and if you didn't know how the story ends, you'd wonder how they're possibly going to be stopped. As an adjunct to that, there are some very believable scenes of panic and looting as the Martian onslaught continues.
It's a decent 50's sci-fi effort, but it's also a very 50's sci-fi effort.
Standing on its own, this movie had both strengths and weaknesses. On the negative side first, the acting didn't come across as particularly noteworthy. Neither of the leads - Gene Barry as Dr. Forrester and Ann Robinson as Sylvia - really took command of this in my view. The story also had a few too many "cornball" moments. Just a couple: the happy coincidence that a group of scientists just happened to be fishing in the same area where the first Martian spacecraft landed, and the decision of Dr. Forrester to head off with Sylvia to a square dance shortly after. I was also disappointed that the movie didn't open with one of the better parts of the H.G. Wells story: the sighting of strange explosions on the surface of Mars that leads to suspense right off the top. Going right into the Martian landings (even though they were thought at first to be perhaps asteroids) seemed to be jumping into things too fast. On the scientific side of things, as the movie opened with a survey of the planets in our solar system and why only Earth was hospitable for the Martians, it became clear that someone should have checked some simple facts: it's declared that Jupiter is the closest planet to Mars when Earth is actually a lot closer to Mars than Jupiter.
On the positive side, the Martian ships are wonderfully portrayed, and I appreciated that this never became a "monster" movie. There are only a couple of very brief glimpses of the Martians themselves, which increased the sense of mystery about them. The movie establishes a real sense of hopelessness. After absolutely everything has been thrown at the Martians they're still going, and if you didn't know how the story ends, you'd wonder how they're possibly going to be stopped. As an adjunct to that, there are some very believable scenes of panic and looting as the Martian onslaught continues.
It's a decent 50's sci-fi effort, but it's also a very 50's sci-fi effort.