The War of the Worlds Blu-ray

Release Year: 1953

Runtime: 85 min

Director: Byron Haskin

Cast: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Lewis Martin, Les Tremayne, Frank Kreig

Studios: Paramount Pictures

The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

Special Features:

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

New alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, created by sound designer Ben Burtt and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio

Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film director Joe Dante, film historian Bob Burns, and author Bill Warren

Movie Archaeologists, a new program on the film’s visual and sound effects featuring Burtt and visual-effects supervisor Craig Barron

From the Archive, a new program about the film’s restoration featuring Barron, Burtt, and Paramount Pictures archivist Andrea Kalas

Audio interview with producer George Pal from 1970

The Sky is Falling, a 2005 documentary about the making of the film

The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio play of The War of the Worlds from 1938

adapted by Howard Koch and directed and narrated by Orson Welles.

Radio program from 1940 featuring a discussion between Welles and H. G. Wells

authors of the 1897 novel The War of the Worlds.

Trailer

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

PLUS

An essay by film critic J. Hoberman.

Technical Specifications:

• DTS-HD Master Audio
• Monoaural
• 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio