This may be a bit of a variation on the Falling Stars theme, as it’s not a film per se. But it is a very cinematic project, combining prog rock opera, symphonic bombast, HG Wells, and a near-the-end-of-his-career Richard Burton.
The Musical Version of War of the Worlds
“This was no disciplined march; it was a stampede–a stampede gigantic and terrible–without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the rout of civilisation, of the massacre of mankind.”
– HG Wells, The War of the Worlds
My parents were always willing to indulge my state as kind of a weird kid. One year for Christmas, they got me an LP with which I would become obsessed as a kid, and one that continues to find it’s way into my playlist. It was a bizarre amalgamation of rock opera and old time radio play, featuring the voice talent of none less than Richard Burton: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
#1 by Jason Farrell on February 1, 2012 - 12:12 pm
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“my dream project never happened; that being Warner Brothers dumping a ton of money into the lap of Hammer Films and telling them to make a faithful adaptation starring Peter Cushing as Ogilvy the Astronomer, Ralph Bates as The Artilleryman, Christopher Lee as mad Parson Nathaniel, Caroline Munro as Beth, special effects by Ray Harryhausen, and Oliver Reed as The Journalist.”
Wow, that is just awesome. As soon as the Old Ones return and repay my fealty, I’m going to absolutely see that the above film gets made.
#2 by Blake on February 1, 2012 - 1:47 pm
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Apparently, Ray Harryhausen TRIED to get Paramount to let him do stop-motion aliens that looked like the ones described in the novel. They turned him down. Bastards.
#3 by Jen S on February 1, 2012 - 8:46 pm
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Yaaaaay! This sounds AWESOME! I want it!
Failing that I’ll just have to reread WotW again….
#4 by Jason Farrell on February 2, 2012 - 8:14 am
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I did try to get a used copy from Amazon not too long ago and I thought it was prohibitively expensive.
#5 by KeithA on February 2, 2012 - 2:30 pm
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It’s available on iTunes or Amazon mp3 for $16.99. I downloaded from Amazon, since my LP, while beloved, is pretty scratched up
#6 by Jason Farrell on February 2, 2012 - 2:55 pm
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I was looking for the vinyl, which is how I heard it the one and only time I heard it, but $16.99 ain’t all that prohibitive.