THE PLOT THUS FAR
The night of October 30th 1938 began as any other peaceful Sunday evening with millions of listeners tuned to their radios. Yet the outward calm hid a nation tense with apprehension: the Great Depression refused to let up and the threat of war in Europe loomed larger every day. Then at 8:15 p.m. there was a report on the radio that Martians had landed in New Jersey. Almost instantly people listening in responded to the shocking news. Newspapers were flooded with calls from worried listeners; many feared that New Jersey had been laid to waste and that the Martians were heading west. In cities and towns throughout the country people stopped a moment to pray- then grabbed their loved ones and fled into the night. What began as a broadcast performance of H.G. Wells’s fantasy The War of the Worlds turned into one of the biggest mass hysteria events in U.S. history. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE examines the elements that together created this frenzy including our longtime fascination with life on Mars; the emergence of radio as a powerful new medium; and the creative wunderkind Orson Welles the twenty-three-year-old director of the drama and mischief-maker supreme.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“War of the Worlds” is the latest exciting entry from American Experience. However, it asks a greater question about that stunning 1938 broadcast. Did the greatest hoax of the 20th Century actually happen the way we were told. Bits of Liberty Valence and bits of bullshit are thrown around, as the freak experience is recalled and recounted. I just wish that Orson Welles was alive to give us his take. The man was a genius.
The DVD comes with outtakes and featurettes as the special features. What matters most is that you get quite an interesting documentary. The A/V Quality is on par with a standard definition PBS broadcast. I just wish there was something more spectacular to be seen. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!