| The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Byron Haskin
Actors: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite, Sandro Giglio
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.98
Buy Used: $3.44
You Save: $9.54 (73%)
New (55) Used (34) from $3.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  263 reviews
Sales Rank: 1012
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Special Edition, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 85
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.5 x 0.6
MPN: PARD026394D
ISBN: 1415711666
UPC: 097360263947
EAN: 9781415711668
ASIN: B000AOEMWS
Theatrical Release Date: August 26, 1953
Release Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: This item is in Very Good condition. May show signs of light wear.
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/22/2006
Amazon.com essential video
After the success of 1950's Destination Moon and 1951's When Worlds Collide, visionary producer George Pal brought the classic H.G. Wells story of a Martian invasion to the big screen, and it instantly became a science fiction classic and winner of the 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It's a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. As formations of alien ships continue to wreak destruction around the globe, the military is helpless to stop this enemy while scientists race to find an effective weapon. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the hero and heroine roles that were de rigueur for movies like this in the '50s, and their encounter with one of the Martians is as creepy today as it was in '53. It finally takes an unseen threat--simple Earth bacteria--to conquer the alien invaders, but not before War of the Worlds has provided a dazzling display of impressive special effects. As memorable for its sound effects as for its spectacular visions of destruction, this is a movie for the ages--the kind of spectacular that inspired little kids such as Steven Spielberg (not to mention Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, whose Independence Day cribs liberally from the plot) and still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 258 more reviews...
 The Vaporizers December 4, 2008
Worth watching again and again, The War of the Worlds was a big budget SF thriller based on H.G Wells' work of the same name that had more than a few people fainting during its first run. The story though is pretty much linear and quite short (85 min). Comets hit earth, scientists examine them, aliens emerge and start attacking cities and people everywhere vaporizing them, scientist meets gal and they fall in love, they eventually see an alien in a house while the military is counting its losses against the invader before eventually a natural turn of events save the day. It is shot quite interestingly and the old Kodak color look makes you think that you wouldn't want to see it any other way.
 War of The Worlds a Classic November 26, 2008
This Movie is a must for any science fiction Lovers ...The Transfer, Restoration and Color Saturation is Pristine The Clarity is Perfect.
Confusion Over Aspect Ratios November 17, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
George Pal was the leading producer of sci-fi films of the 1950's and "The War of the Worlds" is probably his finest effort. I watched it as a new film in a local theatre in 1953 when I was 13. The scene in the abandoned farm house is still one of the best examples of building suspense in a film scene that I can recall. You could have heard a pin drop from an audience full of kids! The special effects are still impressive although a bit dated due to the state of the technology of the day. The "Special Collector's Edition" does the film justice with the cleaned-up picture and especially the remixed soundtrack.
Some of the customer reviews I've read criticize this DVD release as not being in the original wide-screen aspect ratio. To clear this up: The original screen aspect ratio determined in 1943 for American television was 4 units wide by 3 units high or 1.33:1. This was based on 35 millimeter theatrical films being about 1.4:1 until 1954. The difficulty of manufacturing a rectangular TV picture tube at that time probably resulted in the compromise of 1.33:1. The 1953 film of War of the Worlds was never released as a wide screen picture. However, CinemaScope (about 2.3:1) was introduced in 1953 to compete with the increasing popularity of TV. Some local theatres of the time, equipped with wide screens, adopted the idiotic practice of cropping standard motion pictures made before 1954 to fit the new screens. Even "Gone With the Wind" was cropped to fit the Cinerama screen with the result of severely cutting off the top and bottom of the picture. This type of mentality later resulted in the colorizing of black and white films to make them more acceptable to television viewers.
The War of the Worlds was originally printed in the three-strip Technicolor process resulting in a slightly soft-focus image. It was thought at the time that this effect would sufficiently "blur out" the support wires used in some of special effects scenes. The movie was later printed in Eastman color and the increased clarity made them more visible. I hope this helps to correct some of the criticisms of the new DVD release of this fine film.
 Beware November 3, 2008
This item is listed as a Special Collector's Edition, but I find nothing special about this edition. It is not the standard theatrical release one would expect of a "collector's edition", but the chopped up made for TV version. Save your money if you really want a collector's edition until the wide screen version is available.
George Pal's Classic 1950s Masterpiece lives on! November 1, 2008
While I am not in the habit os writing reviews of any kind, here goes: I must say thatI think that George Pal's "The War Of The Worlds" Collector's Edition DVD is a true classic and a "must have" for anyone who would consider themselves a Sci-Fi Fan. the DVD has a virtually flawless and glitch-free Video Transfer with brilliant colors, and razor-sharp clarity. Pal's remarkable and pioneering Special Effects have witthstood the test of time, and remain impressive, especially for a 50+ year-old Movie. The DVD's Special Features also provide some interesting backgrounds and insights into the stories and legends behind this Classic, thus making it even more enjoyable and entetaining.
In a word: Outstanding!
The Bottom Line: in my humble opinion, this is a thoroughly entertaining DVD which is well worth it's modest price. Enjoy!
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