1 review
I will start with the positives. The high quality of the film used here is quite remarkable. The sets are sharp and focused; the characters facial expressions are easy to read. The special effects are nicely done. I guess I can forgive some of the bad science, but let's face it, astronomy had reached some pretty spectacular levels, even in 1916. To simply ignore the pull of gravity, the time to travel from planet to planet in such a vehicle, and the oxygen levels and other absurd coincidences, isn't right. What we have here is a silly religious allegory like "A Pilgrim's Progress." The Martians for some reason are quite advanced. Their planet is a gigantic hippie colony where the men wear doilies on their heads and they spout a pacifist view of their world (apparently, they had wars and devastation in the past and have learned from it). This is well and good, but they don't seem to do much of anything but roam around like an ant colony. I guess this is heaven. The invaders some in and kill one of their swans and set off a grenade. They are arrested and tried and then nothing happens. Of course, there's the romance of the leader and the young Martian girl. I could go on, but the thing I praised at the beginning make the fact that the film itself is such a dud kind of sad. One character I haven't mentioned is Professor Dubius (he's dubious--get it?), who jealously taunts the astronauts, making fun of their leader and announcing to the scientific community what idiots they are. He has failed in his lifetime to accomplish what they have accomplished. When all the fact are in, I think he would have been an interesting counter the pack of schmucks that end up on Mars.