War of the Worlds: Two-Disc Limited Edition

By Jamie Clark -- Video Business, 11/7/2005

DreamWorks/Universal, two discs/single disc, color, PG-13, 120 min. plus supplements, DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, widescreen, Street: Nov. 22, $29.95 MAP; First Run: W, July 2005, $223 mil.

Steven Spielberg's adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel of a Martian invasion of Earth might not reinvent the wheel, but it sure ain't your father's War of the Worlds (or the 1953 version directed by George Pal), and this DVD incarnation delivers in out-of-this-world style. Produced by regular Spielberg DVD collaborator Laurent Bouzereau, the disc has several on-set interviews and videos that document the making of the film, including "Revisiting the Invasion" and "Characters: The Family Unit." Not as filled with the standard "he's great … she's great" banter as most, the featurettes get a little bit more intimate with the actors and director, the most engrossing one featuring a collection of interviews with the late H.G. Wells' family. Both production diaries are quite detailed, although they offer more information than can be absorbed in one sitting. For special effects fans, this disc shows how several of the spectacular visual tricks were pulled off. The "Tripod" battleships and their alien pilots also are well documented, and Spielberg and composer John Williams discuss how the film was scored. "War of the Worlds Synopsis" wraps up everything with Spielberg contrasting his film with the 1953 effort and sweetly recounting how the filmmaker brought back the two leads from that earlier film, Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, to play grandparents in his update.

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