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As the clock struck 8 p.m. in New York City on the night of October 30, 1938, Orson Welles stood on a podium inside a Madison Avenue radio studio. The baby-faced, 23-year-old theatrical star, who had graced the cover of Time magazine months earlier, prepared to direct 10 actors and a 27-piece orchestra for the Columbia Broadcasting System’s weekly “Mercury Theatre on the Air” program

PLEASE allow this thread to remain.I think the historical value is timely and apropos. The Untold Story and The Original Broadcast (remastered

The BBC's highly-anticipated sci-fi drama, The War Of The Worlds, has dropped it's first trailer. Veering away from the 2005 Hollywood version - which starred Tom Cruise, was helmed by Steven Spielberg and was set in the present day - the three-part series takes place in Edwardian England, harking more accurately back to the source text. The novel - written by H. G. Wells and published in 1897 - sees martians, in the form of giant, spindly-legged machines - attack Earth, on hunt for resources.

He was reading the script of a 1938 radio drama based on the novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, who died AUGUST 13, 1946. Herbert George Wells was from an impoverished lower middle class family. He failed as a draper and chemist assistant before going into literature. H.G. Wells wrote many best-selling science fiction novels, such as: The Time Machine, 1895; The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896; The Invisible Man, 1897; The War of the Worlds, 1898; The First Men in the Moon, 1901. H.G. Wells space novels inspired the imagination of Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945). Goddard...

WAR OF THE WORLDS JEFF WAYNE`S MUSICAL VERSION OF THIS SCIENCE FICTION CLASSIC FROM 1978.

Brazilian artist Henrique Alvim Corrêa’s career was cut short when he died at only 34 years old. But the illustrator left behind a small science-fiction legacy thanks to his 1906 artworks detailing the Martian invasion of London in H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds. Wells’ tale preyed upon turn-of-the-century fears about the apocalypse and other Victorian superstitions (and social prejudices) about the unknown. Corrêa’s fantastical, murky style is fitting of Wells’ dark themes. The Martian fighting machines resemble frightening legions of massive spiders. There were only 500 copies of the Belgian edition of Wells’ story with Corrêa’s...

The recent discovery of Gliese 581g, an alien planet in the habitable zone of another star, has been an exciting development for scientists probing the galaxy for signs of extraterrestrial life. At least one claim of a possible signal from the planet has already surfaced – and been met with harsh skepticism among the science community. Following the Sept. 29 announcement of the discovery of Gliese 581g, astronomer Ragbir Bhathal, a scientist at the University of Western Sydney, claimed to have detected a suspicious pulse of light nearly two years ago, that came from the same area of the galaxy...

A FAKE television news bulletin that Belgium was to split provoked outrage in both halves of the country yesterday."Irresponsible", "questionable" and "regrettable" were among the reactions from Belgium's political mainstream in both French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders after a fictional report that Flanders had declared independence. The prime minister Guy Verhofstadt's office described the bulletin as a "misplaced joke". A commission of the Francophone parliament was set to view RTBF's footage, which included a report that King Albert II had fled the country. Only much later during the broadcast did a subtitle reveal that the reports were fictional. The Francophone...

Hollywood's problems at the box office last year may come down not so much to quality (or the lack thereof), as many have supposed, but to taste. There are plenty of talented craftsman in Hollywood, but—and this will come as no surprise—the prevailing tastes in Hollywood may not match those of the general movie-going public. Just look at the films that people actually went to see last year, and compare that list to what Hollywood is now recognizing as 2005's best. The 15 top-grossing films released in 2005, in descending order, were: Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith; Harry...

“Oh, and, uh, Tom - you’re actually playing an Iraqi insurgent …” Honestly, folks, I don’t try to start these controversies - I merely report and analyze. But it does appear that something may be brewing (a la Star Wars ) with respect to how we are supposed to ‘interpret’ Steven Spielberg’s forthcoming War of the Worlds. I am very much looking forward to this film, but I’m also growing frustrated with what I’m seeing in the press. One of our intrepid LIBERTAS readers, ‘Kevin,’ recently posted (in the comments section) some remarks from War screenwriter David Koepp to the...

In a July 18 article, columnist John Leo describes how David Koepp, screenplay writer for Stephen Spielberg’s recently released “War of the Worlds,” revealed his intent to draw a parallel between the U.S. military in Iraq, and the movie’s villains, an army of hideous space aliens. Based on a late nineteenth-century science fiction novel by British author H.G. Wells, the original story involved an attack from inhabitants of the planet Mars, whose aim it was to conquer and inhabit the Earth. Transposing the storyline from 1898 London to modern day New York, while still retaining a faithful portrayal of the...

It's time for your regular Hollywood update — in which people who earn and lose and gross hundreds of millions of dollars figure out ways to trash America, democracy and freedom.... Yes, well, God forbid anyone should question the motives of the terrorists. Not while Hollywood is so busy questioning the motives of the United States.... The actress Maggie Gyllenhaal... believed America was in "some way responsible" for the 9/11 attacks. She said this during interviews for a film she made called "The Great New Wonderful," which dealt with 9/11. Her shocking views were certainly less shocking to those who...

Writer says attacks in his film represent slaughter of IraqisA screenwriter for the blockbuster film "War of the Worlds" says the malevolent Martian attackers represent the American military randomly slaughtering Iraqi civilians. Dave Koepp voiced his controversial explanation of the movie script to an obscure Canadian horror magazine titled Rue Morgue, "apparently thinking no one would notice," writes U.S. News columnist John Leo. Meanwhile, the screenwriter gave the same jarring analysis to USA Weekend, noting that "the Martians in our movie represent American military forces invading the Iraqis, and the futility of the occupation of a faraway land is again...

Article published: Jun 28, 2005http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050628/REVIEWS/50606007/1023 http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050628/REVIEWS/50606007/1023&template=printart War of the WorldsCreaking Havoc Release Date: 2005 Ebert Rating: **    By Roger Ebert / Jun 29, 2005 "War of the Worlds" is a big, clunky movie containing some sensational sights but lacking the zest and joyous energy we expect from Steven Spielberg. It proceeds with the lead-footed deliberation of its 1950s predecessors to give us an alien invasion that is malevolent, destructive and, from the alien point of view, pointless. They've "been planning this for a million years" and have gone to a lot of trouble to invade Earth for no...

War of the Worlds screenwriter David Koepp admits political propaganda in movie KABC talk show host Larry Elder said today that David Koepp, one of the two War of the Worlds screenwriters, stated in a recent interview for a Canadian publication that the Martians slaughtering the humans are a metaphor for the adventurism of the American military forces, i.e., for the Bush Administration's war on terrorism, and the human civilians are a metaphor for the Iraqi people. He stated that this is going back to the original H. G. Wells book upon which the movie is loosely based. However, the...

Hollywood tiptoes around terror David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay for "War of the Worlds," says the Martian attackers in the film represent the American military, while the Americans being slaughtered at random represent Iraqi civilians. I see it differently. I think the Martians symbolize normal Americans, while those being attacked are the numbskulls who run Hollywood. Perhaps the normals went a bit too far in this easy-to-understand allegory, but think of the provocation. Koepp made the "there-is-no-Internet" mistake, carefully masking his analysis in U.S. interviews, but saying it flat-out in Rue Morgue, an obscure Canadian horror magazine, which he...

David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay for War of the Worlds, says the Martian attackers in the film represent the American military, while the Americans being slaughtered at random represent Iraqi civilians. I see it differently. I think the Martians symbolize normal Americans, while those being attacked are the numbskulls who run Hollywood. Perhaps the normals went a bit too far in this easy-to-understand allegory, but think of the provocation. Among other things, Koepp made the "thereisnoInternet" mistake, carefully masking his analysis in U.S. interviews, but saying it flat-out in Rue Morgue, an obscure Canadian horror magazine, apparently thinking nobody...

I was watching "The War of the Worlds" at my local theater, but thoughts of the London bombings kept crowding out the pictures on the screen. And those were remarkable pictures up there. Steven Spielberg spared no detail in showing a bloody rampage of space creatures across the American landscape. Yet the vivid gore of the movie did not overpower the awful images out of London. Why was that?

Snore of the Worlds(Make Snore, Not War) Don't Forget Your NoDoz! War of the Worlds or Snore of the Worlds? By Michael D. Robbins, FraudFactor.com By producing a re-make of the War of the Worlds movie, the pacifist anti-war Hollywood elitists have contributed yet another cure for insomnia, as well as a "war" movie where the Americans fight but cannot kill the enemy. Instead, the Americans suffer heavy civilian casualties and significant property damage. Then, in an anti-climax ending, the alien enemy is killed off by an acceptable "nonviolent" means - disease due to lack of immunity to the...

NOTE: This is a vastly expanded and updated version of a prior review from this group, which includes a host of quotes from those behind the film. It came via the group’s e-mail list, where the site itself appears to be down for the moment. WAR OF THE WORLDS: Steven Spielberg and H.G. Wells on Occupations, Empires, and "Current Relevance" Updated Final, SPOILERS New Republican Archive. Movie Reviews. July 11, 2005. (Contact: newrepublicanarchive@juno.com). War of the Worlds is not only a tense portrayal of the terror and horror of war, particularly for those on the losing side of a modern...