The War of the Worlds

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have For Antique Collectors
Review: Halloween, 1938. It did'nt seem to dawn on people listening to this radio broadcast that it was only a phony hoax and Halloween prank being pulled on everyone. Why ? In the wake of World War 2, the most convincing form of communication and media was not television, but radio. Over the radio, an elaborate and powerfully charged broadcast like this could easily fool hundreds. And it did. Orson Welles, a familiar icon of cinema, narrated the events, in nearly journalistic fashion. His voice and his attention to details of the alien invasion frightened people and assured them that indeed they were being invaded by flying saucers.

This radio broadcast was inspired by the H.G. Well's novel "War of the Worlds", which was the first science fiction novel to consider the possibility or theory or idea of aliens. War of the Worlds also became a highly successful film in the 50's, one of the many drive-through films in which people enjoyed to see special effects at the time and full of camp horror. For antique collectors and fans of the genre, this is a must have. War of the Worlds in its original contents on the radio broadcast, Orson Welles as narrator, is heaven for fans.

Rating:
Summary: How's the quality
Review: This is not a review, but a question. I have heard the radio show on rather bad quality recordings, and my only hints of how it must have sounded are the snippets from the movie "The Night That Panicked America". If it sounded that good on the radio, then the impact can certainly be understood. It was well-produced. A Peruvian radio station also tried presenting War of the Worlds, and the angry people burned the station to the ground.

Is this CD a good buy in terms of restored audio quality? Can you actually hear the sound effects before the reporter calls attention to them?

If your first experience of WOTW is seeing the George Pal movie, then the plot of this radio play may seem confusing, but what's neat is that the radio play is more like the original story, with walking alien machines instead of ones that use a magnetic flux to fly.

And, I would say that the powers that be should release "The Night That Panicked America" on DVD. It would make a really nice four-pak: the original Wells novel, the Orson Welles radio play (with all the static and recording noise removed for the kind of quality you'd get a mile from the WCBS transmitter in New York), the George Pal movie and the 1970s movie about Orson Welles' broadcast. I hope someone puts them all together one day.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest misunderstandings of all time
Review: This is the actual radi broadcast made in the 30s, and I can see where people could get the idea of the story being real. The details are authentic to the period and it really sounds like those old radio news shows from the time. The plot follows the H.G. Wells classic with minor changes, like the introduction of airplanes in the futile defense of... New York City! Yes, there are changes that yould make this little joke seem more real to an American radio audience.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have For Antique Collectors
Review: This should be required listening for everyone. The story is fantastic. You can easily understand how people could be convinced that it was real. In a time when radio and print news were the primary sources of information, this broadcast was quite convincing. If you missed the few times the broadcasters mentioned that it was a performance, you would easily assume that it was real. Although I have read the story several times, this was the first time I have experienced the broadcast. Definitely something worth having.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic for everyone
Review: This should be required listening for everyone. The story is fantastic. You can easily understand how people could be convinced that it was real. In a time when radio and print news were the primary sources of information, this broadcast was quite convincing. If you missed the few times the broadcasters mentioned that it was a performance, you would easily assume that it was real. Although I have read the story several times, this was the first time I have experienced the broadcast. Definitely something worth having.