Apostrophe S

I know I’ve been posting about movies a lot lately, but I saw another one. Steven Spielberg’s take on the classic H.G. Welles story of Martians invading an unsuspecting Earth. Let’s be serious. Some of us have been expecting this. The Martian invasion, that is. Not the Spielberg remake. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the movie. It was an excellent summer blockbuster perfect to eat popcorn with. I didn’t have an popcorn, though. Gives me heartburn.

It’s been years since I’ve seen the original 1953 version, and even longer since I’ve read the book. Recently I did come across a copy of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre radio show version. That’s a lot of fun. All that is to say my frame of reference may be a little fuzzy.

The basic story is intact: Jealous Martians attack Earth with intentions of taking over and living here instead of us. But they don’t ask. They just take. And they’re downright mean about it. Also, through a not-so-ironic-the-second-time-around twist, the Martians fail.

I liked that Morgan Freeman’s voice intro and outro were basically lifted from the original film verbatim. It lended a little of the wonder and feel of the original to this flashy kabashy remake. But other than that, the surrounding substory is totally different. We follow Tom Cruise and his two kids as they try to make it from the New York suburbs to Boston to reach the kids’ mother, all the while giant machines reminiscent of The Matrix’s giant People Farmers are chasing people down and dustifying them.

I think the definitive scene of the original film is the one pictured above, where the diseased hand of the Martian reaches out of the capsule door, dying. It’s iconic. It’s quite possibly THE scifi moment on film of the 20th Century. Followed closely by (at least for me) the phantom footprints from Forbidden Planet. Or maybe it’s Roy Batty shouting “Kinship!” as he saves Deckard from a fall to his death. Or the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Or maybe … I digress.

Anyway, that scene is hurried and fake-looking in the remake, and instead of leaving it at the arm, they have to show the face of the dying Martian. It reveals too much. It puts this movie on the same special effects-laden level as Dreamcatcher, another not-terrible movie that just didn’t have what all those old sci-fi movies I love have: Impact. Maybe it’s just that every story’s been told. That could explain why they keep remaking the old greats.

Let me be clear: War of the Worlds 2005 is a pretty good movie. It was well directed, well acted, well shot, well special effectified and well edited. But my Martian war machine loyalties already lie with another movie, this one made over 50 years ago.