H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (2005)

H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (also known as The Classic War of the Worlds or simply as War of the Worlds) is one of three film adaptations released in 2005 of H. G. Wells' classic novel of the same name, about a Martian invasion of Earth. This version, noted for its "extreme faithfulness" to Wells' novel, was produced by the independent film production company Pendragon Pictures. Unlike the other film adaptations set in the current day United States, it was the first adaptation set in the novel's original 1898 Victorian era England.

Synopsis

The early part of the film follows the experience of a late 19th-century journalist from Woking, known as "the writer", involved with the landing of a Martian invasion spacecraft. When the crashed cylinder opens, the Martians start killing anything that moves with a "heat ray" weapon. The writer discovers his house is in range of their heat ray and decides to rush his wife and servant to her cousins' home in Leatherhead; once there, he returns in order to return the borrowed cart to its owner, unaware that the invading Martians are now on the move.