This morning, The Criterion Collection announced their Blu-ray titles for July, and among them was Byron Haskin's adaptation of H. G. Wells’s end-of-civilization classic, The War of the Worlds.
As is the case with most Criterion releases, the 1953 film comes to Blu-ray with a new 4K restoration and a plethora of bonus features.
Special Features include:
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, created by sound designer Ben Burtt and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary from 2005 featuring filmmaker Joe Dante, film historian Bob Burns, and author Bill Warren
Movie Archaeologists, a new program on the visual and sound effects in the film featuring Burtt and film historian 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 adaptation of The War of the Worlds from 1938, directed and narrated by Orson Welles
Radio program from 1940 featuring a discussion between Welles and H. G. Wells, author 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
In the sci-fi classic, "A mysterious, meteor-like object has landed in a small California town. All clocks have stopped. A fleet of glowing green UFOs hovers menacingly over the entire globe. The Martian invasion of Earth has begun, and it seems that nothing—neither military might nor the scientific know-how of nuclear physicist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry)—can stop it."
The War of the Worlds joins The Criterion Collection on July 7th, 2020.
Check out the new artwork below from Patrick Leger and head on over to Criterion's site to pre-order your copy for the reduced price of $27.96.
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