In 1938, Orson Welles broadcasted the destruction being wrought by malevolent spiked towers on gigantic stilts that appeared in New Jersey, striding down the imperial capital to terrorize the masses who threw themselves in the East River "like rats."

Welles broke off transmission as he was heard suffocating from poisonous fumes sprayed by the extraterrestial invaders. "This is the end now" was his last gasp.

It was intended to be a Halloween prank. The broadcast was adapted from a book written by science fiction writer H.G. Wells. But it exposed the psychological vulnerability of Americans, as a mass panic spread. Humanity was believed to be near extinction.


H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds is now being reinterpreted by Steven Spielberg, with Tom Cruise in a leather jacket and tactically ripped jeans as the hero. Aliens are invading the planet with giant red weeds that suck human blood, a bow to the original Wells version. In movies like this one, humans are reminded of their insect status in the universe, and the fin de siecle arriveth.

H.G. Wells wrote the story of bellicose and unmerciful conquerors invading our blue planet. At a time when European empires were remorselessly enslaving and exterminating the 'other' people in different parts of the globe, Wells considered this outcome as just and inevitable. At the time, the British Empire was committing genocide in places like Tasmania. His novel was a portentous reminder to Europeans that their period in power was insecure. It was a critique particularly of British imperialism.

Spielberg clarifies that the making of this version didn't spring from an anger of any kind, though he recognizes that the US has been embarking on "imperialism" (his word), especially in the last five years. Spielberg says it's just coincidence what's happening now and the timing of this remake of humanity's extinction being re-explored.

Nevertheless, the War of the Worlds is here. But it's not aliens who are the malevolent invaders.