War of the Worlds [BBC] [DVD] [2019]

Well intentioned video of War Of The World uniquely placing the action in the original time as in the book.

I have not read the book in years but enjoyed it as a teenager, plus loved the 1953 film adaption. This BBC production takes a different approach and I definitely appreciated it. Here are some thoughts:CONS:1. Yes the adaption is not completely faithful to the book. Characters are a bit mixed up; for example, George's brother sometimes takes the role of the crazy guy in the basement.2. Relationship drama. Not sure this was necessary, but in my opinion they didn't dwell on it too much.3. Victorian values, no fault divorce, out-of-wedlock pregnancy. At least it made sense for the era.4. The Martians were more like violent animals than an advanced civilization. How did creatures without fingers build space ships?PROS:1. Special effects were pretty good. I'm not so sure about the spinning sphere that shoots the heat ray, but the walking tripods were huge and terrifying, as they should be.2. Black smoke. Someone finally showed the black smoke!3. England fights back. Cannons are somewhat effective and the Martian's don't have force fields!4. Martian diet. To my surprise, this show did not pull punches in showing the brutality.5. George lectures his brother about how the English have conquered other cultures. As far as I know, this was the entire point of the book! However I didn't completely agree with George, who thinks this is England's punishment, when I thought (in the context of the Martian invasion) it was just England's turn to take a beating.6. The end of the invasion is handled better than any other adaption I've seen. Many people who don't know the story watched the movies and said "That's it?" In this BBC production, the cause of the Martian deaths is a mystery and a controversy.7. Rebuilding civilization, showing the human race trying to survive a partially terraformed earth.So if you have Amazon Prime Video, give it a try! Hope this review helps.

I had to watch it a few times to appreciate it. I liked the old battleships blowing the legs off the tripods. The movie had a dark and surreal feeling to it. Too bad they didn't add a few more chapters to it and stretch it out a bit.

Beginning with the second episode, much of this series is filmed through a dreary and irritating red filter, which is supposed to indicate that the Martian vermin have seeded Earth to make it more like their home planet. The overall effect is to make two thirds of the series downbeat and hopeless. I can't tell you whether it gets any better because I stopped watching midway (or thereabouts) of the third episode. I have seldom seen a series so thoroughly depressing.

This is a 3-part miniseries, billed as an H. G. Wells sci-fi thriller. But it is not a sci-fi movie. Rather, it is a horror film with no redeeming features or hope for the future. I tried to return the dvd to the UK seller but was told that it would cost more to send back than I paid in the first place. I appealed to the seller and was stone-walled. Now, my only recourse is to take it to a second hand store that buys and sells books and dvd's. The big problem with this is that it will bother my conscience for someone else to waste money and time on this quite poor BBC production. Very sad, because my wife and I both like the leading actors, including Eleanor Tomlinson and Robert Carlyle. What a waste of great acting talent. Shame on you, BBC.

Item arrived quickly and was as described ,great dvd series great price A+++

This show does not follow the HG Wells novel, nor any of the previous film versions, so don't expect that.With that out of the way, is it an interesting show? I thought it was. I wish the story had continued on into the aftermath of the invasion and the rebound of humanity (if that's supposed to happen); it ended rather abruptly with a sense of things left unfinished. I have read that a second series was planned but this first one didn't do that well and was quite expensive to produce.Anyway, I did like it. I found it very absorbing and I didn't hit the fast forward even once. But I don't think it's for everyone.Be aware that at present the only dvd versions available are Region 2 (UK/Europe) which can't be played in the US without a special all region dvd player or suitable computer software. It does stream in the US on Epix.

I'm not sure why all the negative reviews besides "it's not faithful to the books"... Neither was the Tom cruise movie, neither was the show from the 1980s, neither was the show set in ww1... it's set in the past, it has walking machines instead of flying machines (the 1953 movie), there are twists and turns and just when you pat yourself on the back for figuring it all out they throw in another twist...