The War of the Worlds Page #3

Look at it.

Beings from another world.

- Is it a flying machine?

- No.

It's supported from the ground by rays.

Probably some form of magnetic flux.

This is amazing!

They must keep the opposing poles

in balance and lift the machine.

Stand by to fire.

All command posts, stand by to fire.

- But Colonel, shooting's no good.

- It's always been a good persuader.

Shouldn't you try communicating with

them first, then shoot, if you have to?

Target as indicated.

We should try to make them

understand we mean them no harm.

There's another machine coming out!

They are living creatures.

They're not human.

They're an advanced civilisation.

If they're more advanced than us,

they should be nearer the Creator.

No real attempt has been made

to communicate with them.

Let's go back inside, Uncle Matthew.

I've done all I can in there.

You go back. Sylvia...

I like that Dr Forrester.

He's a good man.

Attention all batteries:

Prepare for volley fire.

Who's that?

What is he doing?

- Uncle! Stop him!

- It's too late. He's too far away.

Though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

It's seen him.

Thou anointest my head with oil.

My cup runneth over.

And I will dwell

in the house of the Lord forever...

- Let 'em have it!

- Fire!

The shells can't get through. They've

put up an electromagnetic covering.

That skeleton beam must be what

they used to wipe out the French city.

Cut across their lines of magnetic force

and any object will cease to exist.

Take my word for it, General.

This defence is useless against them.

You'd better

let Washington know. Fast.

Hold them as long as you can.

(SCREAMS OF AGONY)

Order all command posts to pull back

north of the tunnel bunker.

Everybody out of here! The Air Force

will take care of these babies now.

Dr Forrester, get out of here.

Everybody out...

- Can't you go higher?

- The air will be full of jets in a minute.

Read all about the Martian invasion.

They're in New York and Miami.

Fighting outside Los Angeles.

Read all about it.

(POLICE SIRENS)

- Hold it right there, General.

- What do you think of the situation?

- Do you believe we can hold them?

- Sorry, I've no time.

Break it up.

The way he's hedging, maybe we

didn't hold them. I've heard news.

Australia, India...

Nobody's stopped them yet.

- If the city must be evacuated...

- Many have already moved out.

- We've mobilised cars and buses.

- The Red Cross is standing by.

The enemy

is 30 miles outside Los Angeles.

Not in full force yet, but developing.

It can happen any minute.

- Washington is on the line, sir.

- General Mann.

I'd say our effective losses

were 60% men, 90% material.

The jets went in but none came out.

Bombers were knocked out of the sky,

and their bombs did nothing.

Their electronic umbrella

is quite impenetrable.

Forrester thinks they generate atomic

force without the screening we use.

Very well, sir.

Get me the fastest plane we've got.

Now I'll make a statement

to those reporters.

All right,

the general will see you now.

We heard Forrester was out with you.

What does he think about this?

- Ask him. He's back at Pacific Tech.

- No, he's not. He hasn't shown up.

Wake up.

Let's get moving.

- Are you all right?

- It's that machine!

It's gone.

We're south-west of Corona.

There must have been another cylinder

down here. They cleared everyone out.

There's a farmhouse out there.

Let's find something to eat.

We're doing all right.

I almost forgot when I ate last.

That looks good. Mostly I get my meals

in coffee shops and restaurants.

- Don't you live at home?

- No, on campus. I haven't any family.

I come from a big one. There's nine

of us, all in Minnesota. Except me.

I have no close folks.

My parents died when I was a kid.

A big family must be fun. It must make

you feel you belong to something.

It does. Maybe that's why

I feel lost right now.

We'll get out safely. Don't worry.

They murder everything that moves.

If they're mortal, they have mortal

weaknesses. They'll be stopped.

I haven't been close enough to them

for any real observation.

I feel like I did once when I was small.

Awful scared and lonesome.

I'd wandered off. I've forgotten why.

The family and whole crowds

of neighbours were hunting for me.

They found me in a church.

I was afraid to go in anyplace else.

I stayed by that door, praying for

the one who loved me best to find me.

- It was Uncle Matthew who found me.

- I liked him.

He liked you.

Oh, I could bawl my head off.

But you won't, you're not the kind.

You're tired. You've been up all night.

You crashed in a plane, slept in a ditch.

You want to know something?

It doesn't show on you at all.

(AIRBORNE AIRCRAFT SOUNDS)

(LOUD EXPLOSIONS)

Get down!

- How long was I out?

- Hours. I've been so scared!

They're right outside.

Several of them came down together.

(PULSATING SPACESHIP SOUNDS)

There's a machine standing

right alongside of us.

An electronic eye.

Like a television camera.

It's looking for us.

Maybe they're not too sure we're here.

They could be as curious about us

as we are about them.

Maybe they want to take us alive.

It's pulling out.

Can't we get out of here?

(S YLVIA GASPS)

- Something moved out there.

- There's nothing there now.

- It was one of them!

- What was it like?

- I couldn't see much in the dark.

- I've got to get a good look at them.

- They've blocked it!

- It's blocked here, too.

They've pushed earth

all around the outside.

Here, this is the way up to the attic.

Look out!

(MARS ALIEN SCREAMS)

Your scarf.

It's wet.

Blood...

(S YLVIA SCREAMS)

Stop it. Stop it!

(S YLVIA SOBS)

We've got to make a run for it.

Come on!

The Martians had calculated their

descent with amazing perfection.

As more of their cylinders came from

the mysterious depths of space,

their war machines, awesome

in their power and complexity,

created a wave of fear

throughout the world.

Governments tried to coordinate their

defences with those of other nations.

The government of India

met in a railroad coach,

while millions streamed for the

imagined safety of the Himalayas.

The Finnish, Turkish, Chinese and

Bolivians worked and fought furiously.

Every effort against their other-world

antagonists ended in the same rout.

As the Martians burned fields and

forests, and cities fell before them,

people were driven from their homes.

The stream of flight became a torrent.

It became a giant stampede,

without order or goal.

It was the beginning of the rout of

civilisation, the massacre of humanity.

A great silence fell over half of Europe,

as all communication was disrupted.

When the last wire photo out of Paris

reached the exiled French Cabinet,

they hit upon the idea

of using jets as couriers.

Carrying extra fuel

instead of weapons,

they maintained contact with North

Africa, the US and especially England.

The Martians plainly knew the strategic

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