There have been a *lot* of movies based on H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” And for good reason: it’s not just the first modern “alien invasion” story, it’s still one of the best. Scientifically it’s laughable, and the Martian war machines would be, frankly, easy meat for the SAS if they showed up in today’s Britain. And yet it remains a downright spooky and downright clever.
Most of the WotW adaptations were set in the era in which they were made. The 1950’s movie was set in the 50’s; the 2000’s movie was set in the 2000’s. Both of those were set in the US rather than Britain. There was a low-budget adaptation in 2005 that faithfully placed the action in 1897 Britain… but it was just *awful.*
Now it looks like a big-budget version will be set in the right place and time:
The thing I wonder about, though: it looks like a major role is being played by a red-haired woman. How did the B.B. Cone Network let that slip through? There was a *distinct* lack of diversity shown in this trailer.
The trailer was one of those fast-cuts and short-clips types, so you never get a really good look at anything. However, there is a *hint* that the tripods will “hoot” like they did in the book, something that the 2005 Spielberg adaptation did *really* well. Both the book and movie made my hair stand up on end and try to flee for the far corners when the war machines stood and, essentially, yelled real loud. It’s just a brass tootin’-horn of some kind… but still, dayum.
Don;t run, Britlanders! These migrants will only enrich your culture!
