The War of the Worlds
December 2005 Reviewed by: Josh Barber Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

When a meteor lands in a California forest, vacationing scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) decides to see it for himself. While waiting for the impact site to cool off, he meets librarian Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson) and they soon learn that the meteor is no rock, but rather the landing craft of an invading alien force that marches across Earth, seemingly impervious to any human defense. This is The War of the Worlds, the version of the film from the mid-‘50s, the heyday of science-fiction movies. It was previously released on DVD in 1999, an offering that was, like many discs from those early days of the format, little better than a VHS copy. The picture quality was bad, the sound was only available in mono, and there were no extras.

With that as the only competition, Paramount could have released even a simple disc and it would have been seen as an improvement. That they released such a good edition is a welcome treat. Picture quality has been vastly improved. The War of the Worlds was a true Technicolor movie, meaning it was shot onto three separate strips of film, so any degradation in any of the three strips would mean a 33% blurrier image. However, this release presents everything with wonderful clarity -- even the wires holding those big ships up in the air.

The mono track returns on this disc, but this time it is accompanied by a healthy stereo version. Apparently, the stereo audio from the film's original release was lost some years ago, but wherever this re-creation came from, it suits the movie well. The War of the Worlds was nominated for an Academy Award for its sound effects, and the constant barrage of weird alien sounds will leave you as uneasy as it left '50s audiences.

The extras are great. To begin with, the entirety of Orson Welles' infamous 1939 Mercury Theatre radio broadcast is here, accompanied by a slideshow of Welles in his radio days. Today we look back and laugh that a simple radio play could possibly have caused a panic, but nearly seven decades later it's still entertaining and a good selling point.

There are two feature-length commentaries, one with actors Ann Robinson and Gene Barry, the other with modern director Joe Dante, historian Bob Burns and author Bill Warren. The actors talk about the film and their careers in general, while the trio of film fans does a great job of discussing the origins and implications of the movie.

"The Sky Is Falling" is half making-of, half retrospective, giving us new interviews with the film's assistant director, taped comments from the designer and appearances by the stars. "H.G. Wells: The Father of Science Fiction" is a really nice look at his work as a futurist author, ignoring some of the shadier parts of his career and offering some rare newsreel footage of the man.

There's no question that this Special Collector's Edition was released to capitalize on the recent Spielberg version of the movie, but if that's what it takes for us to get a worthy version of this great film, then so be it. It is a shame, however, that this release is likely to be overshadowed by its flashier younger brother.

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