I expected to see a worded version of the 1953 movie with Dr. Clayton Forrester, a single man who thwarts the Martians, meets a girl and finds God. Boy, that movie bore a scant resemblance to the book.
I'll give the film credit in that it portrayed the Martians in a semi-accurate way. It captured the terror, the thrill, the imminent danger that Wells described with great clarity. The book surprised me in how it kept me on the edge of my seat, pulse racing, more than I care to admit.
Over halfway through the book, it dawned on me that maybe only small portions of the book was used as the latter half was bogged down and downright boring in parts. All events take place around London, where Wells took great pains to describe each and every town and city, much to my lackadaisical bent.
I recently watched the first season of the 2019 TV series, War of the Worlds. While the episodes were well-written, somewhat plausible and entertaining, I found nothing but a few, small morsels that resembled the original book. Granted, there are going to be large discrepancies due to the passage of time. A book written in 1897 can hardly be transformed to 1953 or 2019 without major elements radically change shape.
I tried watching the 2005 movie version with C. Thomas Howell but that only lasted for less than thirty minutes. The opening nudity followed by the woman's proclamation that the alien ship "smelled like a**" prompted me to put an early end to that low-end, highly deviating from the book, film. Nope. I do not recommend that one.
I have been trying to locate a free version of the Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning film. Judging from the trailer, it is my best hope of finding a movie that accurately portrays the spirit of the book.
Regarding the book, the ending is plausible and the final paragraph, my favorite.
If you've read the book, let me know what you think.
