The War of the Worlds

"Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!"

1953 1h 25m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 738●78Metacritic★7IMDB · 41,138

Science FictionAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

“Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!”

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Cast

Gene Barry
Clayton Forrester
Ann Robinson
Sylvia Van Buren
Lewis Martin
Matthew Collins
Les Tremayne
General Mann
Frank Kreig
Fiddler Hawkins (uncredited)
Vernon Rich
Ralph Heffner
Sandro Giglio
Dr. Bilderbeck
Ann Codee
Dr. Duprey (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Byron Haskin
Writers: Barré Lyndon
Languages: Hindi, German, Italian, English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

73 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Hindi, German, Italian, English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Byron Haskin, shot by George Barnes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Leith Stevens. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Everett Douglas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gene Barry and Ann Robinson and Lewis Martin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Byron Haskin directs. George Barnes behind the camera. Leith Stevens scores. Everett Douglas cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Hindi, German, Italian, English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
373 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Hindi, German, Italian, English, Spanish.
5Directed by Byron Haskin, shot by George Barnes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Leith Stevens. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Everett Douglas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Gene Barry and Ann Robinson and Lewis Martin carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!".
10IMDB entry: tt0046534 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 20 themes, including "laser gun", "based on novel or book", "dystopia", "mountain village".
12Released under 28 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: George Barnes
Original score: Leith Stevens
Editing: Everett Douglas
Costume design: Edith Head
Makeup / hair: Wally Westmore
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Box office: $2,000,000
Return: 100% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The War of the Worlds (1953)
Metacritic: 78/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 41,138 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 2 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Special Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Byron Haskin

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-06
★ 7/10
Smashing sci-fi film that is a landmark for special effects. Martians invade Earth with total destructive powers, seemingly unstoppable, mankind must find a way to beat them before all is Lost. In spite of the uproar and considerable success of Orson Welles' 1938 radio adaptation of the H.G Wells novel, War Of The Worlds was a topic that directors were staying well away from. Such high esteemed men like as Cecil B. DeMille & Alfred Hitchcock were mooted to be interested but it always came down to a worry that the special effects needed for the story were too much of a headache. Enter producer George Pal, noted for puppetoon shorts, he managed to sway the big wigs at Paramount that it could indeed be done, and thus the chain of big colour spaceships blasting, sci-fi creatures lurking and blockbuster bums on seats movies began. Directed by Byron Haskin, this version of the source moves the location from Edwardian England to 20th Century America, and this works a treat because the watching American public were genuinely unnerved at the sight of contemporary America being reduced to rubble by an invading force. The makers further our sense of dread by only letting us glimpse the aliens once in a wonderful scene (respectfully homaged in Stephen Spielberg's 2005 version of the source), other than that scene we are subjected to attack after attack from shiny flying saucers, slick and ground breaking effects working their magic on an impressionable audience. Outside of those known to hardcore sci-fi fans, the cast doesn't contain any stars of note, probably due to all the money being used on the effects? And for sure many of them come across as wooden beyond compare (though the lovely Ann Robinson lights up every scene she is in), while if I'm to be over critical: then the romantic thread in the film is tiresome and the religious overtone is tardily done. But War Of The Worlds 1953 still stands proud as a brave and hugely enjoyable picture thats importance has never been (nor should it be) understated, and even allowing for nostalgic fervour from this particular viewer, I heartily recommend this film to anyone interested in template movies for the sci-fi genre. 7/10
Wuchak2020-05-26
★ 8/10
Clark Kent & Lois Lane face an invasion of Martians! A flaming meteor lands near a small town in rural California, yet it turns out it’s not really a meteor, but rather the beginning of an extraterrestrial invasion! “The War of the Worlds” (1953) loosely interprets H.G. Wells' classic 1898 novel and moves the events up to the mid-20th century wherein Earthlings have modern weapons at their disposal, including the atomic bomb. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the protagonists, who are seriously reminicent of Clark Kent & Lois Lane. The movie wisely focuses on the alien invasion as seen through their eyes, which naturally gives the story human interest. The Martian vessels are superbly depicted and very threatening. Even better, the flick doesn’t skimp on showing the aliens up-close-and-personal and they’re even better than those in the 2005 reimagining (the one with Tom Cruise). While the first two acts are compelling sci-fi cinema of the highest order (in its quaint early 50’s way), the story somewhat loses it’s captivating power in the last act when the story switches to Earth vs. the Martians and Clark, I mean Dr. Forrester, stumbling around post-apocalyptic Los Angeles desperately searching for Lois, I mean Sylvia. The film runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Southern Cal & Arizona. GRADE: A-/B+
JPV8522022-09-21
★ 6/10
Not great in terms of the script, acting or the abrupt ending, the practical effects were impressive and a lot of fun with the Martian ships flying and causing mayhem and destruction. I can imagine this wowed audiences back in '53. 3.0/5