Battle of the Worlds (1961) Special Edition Blu-Ray and DVD Review
Battle of the Worlds (1961)
A runaway asteroid dubbed “The Outsider” mysteriously begins orbiting the Earth and threatens it with lethal flying saucers. Filmed in Italy at the height of the country’s sci-fi craze, this independent classic stars Golden Age-star Claude Rains (Casablanca, The Invisible Man, Notorious), Bill Carter, Umberto Orsini, Maya Brent, Jaqueline Derval and Renzo Palmer.
Writer Ennio De Cocini and director Antonio Margheriti had first collaborated on 1960’s ASSIGNMENT: OUTER SPACE, and both were less than impressed by the lack of distribution that their first film received in the US. With that in mind they looked to improve the box-office chances for BATTLE OF THE WORLDS, their second collaboration, by casting a ‘name’ American actor, their choice, Claude Rains, who yet again is asked to play a grumpy professor, after first playing one for 1960’s THE LOST WORLD.
BATTLE OF THE WORLDS is very much of it’s time, with those all too familiar ‘futuristic’ electronic sounds and wobbly effects work, both adding charm to an otherwise lifeless B movie sci-fi that loses itself in unnecessary romantic subplots when it should be upping the genre thrills instead. It also doesn’t help one’s enjoyment when one is presented with an example of the gender expectations of that time – witness the scene where a man asks a woman to get him a coffee when he’s literally stood right next to where the coffee is, get it yourself you lazy git! I wanted to like it, honestly, but sadly it’s rather dull and lacking the thrills one would have anticipated from a B-movie sci-fi.
BONUS FEATURES: Original essay by author Don Stradley, Margheriti’s World; Full-length commentary track by film historian Justin Humphreys; all-new original production, A Cinematic Outsider: The Fantastical Worlds of Antonio Margheriti by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures; and an insert with a special surprise for TFD fans.
Battle of the Worlds will be available on Blu-ray ($29.95) and DVD ($19.95) on August 9 or fans can secure a copy by pre-ordering now at:
