War of the Worlds......ULLLLAAAAHHHH!

The original book has been changed into films, radio plays, Hollywood blockbusters, comics, video games the whole spectrum of different media forms. The setting has changed from Victorian era England to modern day USA and France. The form of the aliens and there machinery have changed, but the core of the story has stayed the same since H.G.Wells first wrote it in 1898. For once I've actually done some research, ok I read the wikipedia article about it and the list of adaptations staggered even me, and that didn't include all the parodies that have been influenced by the original.

The book on the surface is hard work to read, it's written in a style that isn't easy for a reader to sink there teeth into, Wells, who had trained as a science teacher, draws on his scientific knowledge as he pushes themes in a very analytical manner, often forgetting the casual reader doesn't have his knowledge levels. He also is very geographically focused and draws on the area that he lives in. If you can get beyond those little idiosyncrasies then the story is a fast paced mostly first person account of the Martian invasion by an unnamed reporter with a side story of what happens to his brother along the way. It deals with the authors descent into madness and how he tries to fight his way back to his wife, going through periods of self doubt, meeting up with strange characters, delving into what it means to be human.vI recommend that you should try reading it at least once in your lifetime, trust me it took me several attempts to get through it! 

Possibly the most famous retelling the story, or at least the most controversial one, is the Orson Welles led radio broadcast from the 1930's which took the form of news broadcasts that people thought were real to begin with. It received so many complaints it went down in radio folklore, and spawned many copies. It's a brilliant piece of work by the genius of Welles, and it stands up today. It's been copied numerous times in different styles but the first one is the must listen to version. 

There have been two major Hollywood films with cinema releases, made in 1953 and  2005. Both products of there respective time. The more modern one obviously has the better special effects, acting etc but the 50's one will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember watching it as a young kid when it come on TV on a Sunday afternoon. The American 50's trope has a certain charm, the over acting, the whole kitchness to it makes it a worthwhile watch. Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg gave it a good shot in the modern Hollywood remake, the special effects are out of this world (yes deliberate pun intended there!) but I found the addition of the bad father storyline un-needed. There have also been a couple of recent TV adaptions that I feel a need to mention, the first, a B.B.C. production, kept the story in the Victorian time period but it felt off. There was a much unnecessary love plot that really took away from the actual alien invasion, the acting wasn't great, surprising me considering that Rafe Spall, Eleanor Tomlinson and Robert Carlyle were involved and we all know what good actors / actresses they are.

Now while all of these incantations of the story are good, my personal favourite is Jeff Wayne's musical version. With the narration from the legendary Richard Burton, and in later incantations Liam Neeson, music from The Black Smoke Band, singing provided by so many big names in music from the years including David Essex, Jason Donavan, Ricky Wilson, Newton Faulkner, Joss Stone and musical theatre royalty in Carrie Hope-Fletcher. It combines brilliant music with the story of the book, although it does combine the two brothers stories into one, they give a name to the wife and the parson but on the whole the story is the same as the book, in fact the dialogue takes huge chunks of the original text and with Burton's vocal talents on full display, it makes a magical combination. The songs really hit home, Forever Autumn is one the most beautiful pieces of music that I've ever listened to. 

I've had the album on tape, CD and now download. I was lucky enough to be able to see it on tour with Jeff Wayne conducting the band and some amazing performances. In a previous post on this blog I've said about days covered in glow this was certainly one of mine. It fulfilled a life long dream and I was bouncing off the ceiling at the conclusion of the performance. 

This lead me into the immersive experience that I did recently, based in London, it takes the Jeff Wayne's musical version and builds it into a brilliant live action story with you at the heart of it. Your taken through it all, the start of the invasion, the Martians taken over and their ultimate demise. The actors play there roles superbly and really give a sense of gravitas to the story. The musical numbers we all know and love are still in there, remixed a little bit. Virtual reality is used in an amazing way, you take a boat down the river Thames and see the destruction of the Houses of Parliament by the tripods, going out into a very choppy North Sea seeing the valiant Thunderchild being sunk. The special effects were epic, the actors were brilliant adding a whole new dimension to the story. 

Two things I have to mention that I was a little bit thrown by, they gave the journalist a name, which hadn't been done in either the book or the previous musical versions. A small detail but one that stuck in my head. The second thing was the final sequence in the hot air balloon. Yes it was amazing special effect and the thought that was put into it was brilliant, however in all the versions of the story there isn't this show of joyfulness, this euphoria. It's a feeling of fragility, how we aren't alone and about the people we have lost, I found it a little jarring.

So this is a post about something I absolutely love, I hate to think of how many hours I've spent listening to the music, how much money I've spent on limited edition artwork or experiences. It takes what is a simple premise in todays society and not only entertains the audience but makes them think. I've read studies that Welles was taking in themes such as colonialism and natural selection. It has also been said that it was an attack on religion, with the mad pastor being seen as a comment of what Welles thought of the church with bacteria being the saviour it's been commented that he saw science as the way forward. If you take nothing else away from this post go and listen to the musical! You won't regret it!