The War of the Worlds - TV Adaptation on the Way

[Raven]

Eleanor Tomlinson's Amy probably is the most interesting character, which is mildly annoying as she wasn't in the book! (coincidently, there is a shot very early on when they do a close up of her smiling and it's been annoying me since I saw it who she reminded me of, but it's just clicked! Karen Gillian playing Amy Pond in Doctor Who has a very similar close up in her first story).

[Raven]

Well, two episodes in and I think I'm beginning to spot a trend - they seem to be avoiding effects shots as much as they can get away with, which makes me think they may have had a limited budget. 

 

This is supposition on my part of course, but the replacing of the Martian in the first episode with a spinning black orb and the lack of the Thunderchild in the second (amongst other scenes that are missing) makes me think His Dark Materials got all of the BBC's effects wonga.

 

And next week it looks as though we'll be getting turn of the [last] century Alien.

 

*Sigh*

[~Andrea~]

On 26/11/2019 at 7:58 PM, Raven said:

This is supposition on my part of course, but the replacing of the Martian in the first episode with a spinning black orb and the lack of the Thunderchild in the second (amongst other scenes that are missing) makes me think His Dark Materials got all of the BBC's effects wonga.

 

Don't forget there's an election coming up.They need a big budget for all the silly graphics they show before the votes start coming in.

[Raven]

On 08/05/2017 at 10:16 AM, Madeleine said:

Let's hope it's better than the abysmal version of Day of The Triffids which they did a few years ago.

 

On 12/05/2017 at 6:58 PM, Raven said:

It's a period piece by the same people who did Strange and Norrell, I'll be very disappointed if this is another Triffids. 

 

Having re-watched Triffids this weekend (because I found I could for free on Amazon Prime) I would have to say that now I have seen the whole thing, War of the Worlds (WotW) was the poorer of the two adaptations.

 

Where Triffids was a frenetic mess with a botched ending, it did largely stick to the plot of the book.  WotW, for the most part, took elements of the book and worked it into another - inferior - story.

 

I've no idea what the flash-forwards were in the series for, except to add a topical climate change sub-plot, but all they did for me was to remove any tension from the story - they actually managed to make a dull alien invasion story out of one of the best!

 

One of the first comments I read from Peter Harness about the series was about how the story was being reimagined for a contemporary audience (or words to that effect). I had an uneasy feeling about how that was going to play out at the time, but I never expected the level of butchery managed here.  At the end of the day I don't think they had the budget to do the story properly and they did what they could with what they had to work with, but overall I wish they hadn't bothered.

[Madeleine]

I agree about the flash forwards - there were so many that it was fairly obvious how it was going to end, so hardly any suspense, and the climate change references weren't exactly subtle were  they?  Nor was George's speech, asking if it was punishment for the English for invading so many other countries - so was England the only country affected?  And if so, was it only London and Surrey?  I haven't read the book so don't know how closely the original story was followed (not very closely judging by your comments!).  And the aliens were a bit disappointing it has to be said.

 

I also has misgivings when I read that period pieces are being updated for a modern audience - if they're going to update it then why not just do something new instead?

[Raven]

1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

I also has misgivings when I read that period pieces are being updated for a modern audience - if they're going to update it then why not just do something new instead?

 

Precisely.  I would go as far as to ask how arrogant does a screen writer have to be to completely re-write a story that has been in print and selling well for over a century? 

 

In the novel, the invasion is limited to Surrey, London and the surrounding area - there are no cylinders in other countries or other parts of the UK.  The book does deal with Man being deposed as the dominate species and the way it is written it is clearly a parallel for the imperial expansion that happened under the British Empire (that wasn't added political correctness, despite what some commenters on social media may have thought).  Climate change isn't a theme in the novel, however, and in my opinion it wasn't a good fit for this story (there are other science fiction stories that do climate change much better - The Kraken Wakes, by John Wyndham or The Drowned World, by JG Ballard, for example).

 

If you have not read The War of the Worlds, do so, it is a very well written book!

 

[Madeleine]

Thanks for the background info, still think it was handled rather clumsily though despite it being in referred to in the original book.

[Raven]

6 hours ago, Madeleine said:

Thanks for the background info, still think it was handled rather clumsily though despite it being in referred to in the original book.

 

Oh, it was, but it wasn't an invented part of the story.