From Page To Screen (36)The War Of The Worlds

For this weeks From Page To Screen, I have decided to cover The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells.

First let's discuss the book. Below is the cover.

Now for a bit of back story in case some of you aren't familiar with the novel. The War Of The Worlds is a novel written by Author H.G. Wells. The book was released originally back in 1898 by William Heinemann. The War Of The Worlds is one of the first books written that shows a conflict between Earth and an Extraterrestrial force. The War Of The Worlds takes place in and around Woking in Surrey. If you visit the town today you will find a 23 foot high sculpture based on the The Martian in the book. It was designed and constructed by artist Michael Condron and stands in Crown Passage, close to the local railway station.

Let's take a look at some of the characters now, shall we.

The Narrator- A Philosopher by trade, the narrator is a passionate writer but emotionally unattached in his normal life. He is the first to discover the martians and while he makes it through the invasion he also loses his mind for a time because of it.

Artilleryman- A strong man who winds up being saved by the narrator. He is very cautious and resourceful and takes great care in avoiding the cylinders. Eventually he rejoins his unit and his fate is unknown.

Curate- An emotional man by nature who becomes quite unhinged after seeing his church destroyed by the martians. The narrator and him do not see eye to eye when it comes to survival and he pays the ultimate price because of this.

Brother- A medical student who is trying to flee London. He is a logical man with a good sense of right and wrong.

In case some of you aren't familiar with the movie, here is a bit of back story. The War Of The Worlds was directed by Steven Spielberg and was released June 29,2005 by Paramount Pictures. The War Of The Worlds cost $132 million to make and over 6 sound stages were needed to complete the film. The War Of The Worlds went on to gross over $584 million worldwide and was regarded as a success. Fun Fact: The Plane wreckage seen in the film was kept for the Universal Studios back-lot tour.

Major Differences Between The Book and The Film

Book	Film
In the book the Martians are incapable of coping with the bacteria and diseases found in Human blood, and begin to die out.	In the Film, since the Martians are never seen drinking human blood it is assumed airborne pathogens cause them to die out.
In the book the Martians drain human bodies of their blood by stabbing them with their tentacles.	In the Film, the tripods drain blood from humans and then spray it over the weeds as fertilizer.
In the book the Martians use bombs that release black smoke. The smoke kills anything living it touches.	In the Film this is omitted.
In the book the story takes place in 19th Century England.	In the Film, the story takes place in The United States during the 21st Century.
In the book the Martians are described as having long tentacles and being oblong shaped.	In the Film, the creatures are more humanoid in appearance.
In the book the Martians are first spotted as big balls of luminous gasses hurtling towards Earth.	In the Film, the Martians arrive during a lightning storm but this fact isn't revealed until much later.
In the book the tripods are encased in the cylinders the Martians arrive in.	In the Film, the Martians arrive in pods but the tripods were already waiting for them, letting the viewer know they've been planning this invasion for a good long time.
In the book the narrator is the one recalling the events that happened.	In the Film, the narrator is omitted and instead we see the story unfold on screen.
In the book the tripods while formidable can be defeated by conventional weapons.	In the Film, the tripods have a shield making it nearly impossible to bring down by weapons alone.
In the book the narrator meets two characters Artilleryman and the Curate.	In the Film, those characters are omitted however aspects of them do show up in Tim Robbin's character Harlan Ogilvy.
In the book the Martians are from Mars.	In the Film, nobody knows where the Martians came from.
In the book the narrator has a wife he is worried about and brother, whose story is shown.	In the Film, Ray is divorced and has two kids. He does have a brother but he is not shown.

The above mentioned are the major differences I noticed when the book was translated From Page To Screen.  Which however do I prefer? Actually, I'm calling this a draw. I love the book but it can be a bit tiresome to read the narrators commentary at times. Dakota Fanning aside, I really love the movie as well. I mean I love,love, love that Tom Cruise instead of his usual action hero role instead just plays a concerned Father trying to save his kids from horrible death by alien. Plus visually the movie is stunning. If you haven't read the book, I suggest doing so at least once. The same of course goes for the movie.

Want to see for yourself? Check out the Movie trailer below!

_____________________________________________ Well that about wraps up this weeks From Page To Screen. Have a recommendation for an upcoming From Page To Screen, let me know in the comments below! Have you read the book or watched the film? Which did you like better? Why? What is your favorite quote from The Princess Bride?

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