BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (1963)

BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (1963)

Tagline: A hostile planet...from outer space hurtles toward Earth on a collision course!

(Sci-Fi, Drama, Flying Saucers) [G]

Note: This movie did not get an MPAA rating. I think it would have landed a G. The movie comes out of Italy and was released in just a few theaters in 1963 in the United States. In 1986 the VHS version was sold and the popularity of the movie increased. 

One would say, ladies and gentlemen, that you are disappointed to learn that the end of the world has been postponed!

In this one, a giant asteroid is hurling towards the earth and one scientist Prof. Benson is convinced that it will miss by thousands of miles. The rest of the scientific community isn’t so convinced. As it turns out everyone is wrong and the asteroid dubbed “The Outsider”, actually starts to orbit the earth. Earth decides to send an exploratory mission to the asteroid and their rocket is promptly attacked by a squadron of flying saucers. Baffled as to what they should do next, Prof. Benson determines that the earth has exactly 80 days before the apocalypse. 

One thing I noticed in this flick is that most of the space battle scenes have a reddish tint. I am not sure why the filmmakers thought this was necessary, but it’s more annoying than effective. I think the rocket designs are cool and the space suits are fine for the era, but a lot like in ASSIGNMENT OUTER SPACE, the way the rockets land is just really janky looking. I think the story is actually pretty rad, it comes across as something that would have happened if WAR OF THE WORLDS had a “let’s get in rockets” and attack the mother ship element. 

Performance wise Claude Rains who plays Prof. Benson steals every scene he is in. In fact, this is my favorite effort from an actor of all the 60’s flicks I have watched so far. He is a cantankerous old madman who happens to be right a lot. The rest of the cast is solid, but no one comes close to Rains in this flick. We also get a solid performance out of  Umberto Orsini as Dr. Fred Steele. Orsini is mostly known for his roles in Bible-based films, but more recently as a co-host for a cooking show. I was not crazy about Maya Brent’s role as “Eve”. I guess not too many other people were down with it either because this was the only movie or TV show she was ever in. Jacqueline Derval is solid as Kathy which I think the film really needed for balance. This ended up being her final film. 

The effects and models are just okay, but the final explosion is ridiculously weak. They would have been better off just showing a sparkler and filming that. Pacing wise the movie is pretty good, but I don’t really understand Benson’s going mad or really what the whole point of that plotline was about. 

When it comes to the script this is top cheese and some of the opening sequences have lines that are so comically bad, I actually started laughing out loud at what was supposed to be a few heartfelt moments. This is not to say there isn’t some decent writing in this. I also wanted to note that I watched the dubbed version and all the voice actors do a great job overall. The score is solid and overall I thought this was a pretty entertaining movie. It should be noted that this is more of a straight-up sci-fi movie void of aliens or monsters, so if you want that, stick with WAR OF THE WORLDS. 

I give this movie a 4 out of 7. Just Claude Rain's performance is worth watching this entire movie for. 

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