NOTE: The 4K UHD of War of the Worlds is reviewed HERE

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (June 2020): Criterion have, likewise, transferred Bryon Haskin's iconic 1953 War of the Worlds to Blu-ray from a "New 4K digital restoration". It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It looks almost exactly the same as the 4K Imprint restoration. Although I didn't compare every frame of the film, it has been reported that Criterion may have done some color correction that may have required 'fixing - ex. Mars (The red planet) being shown as blue etc... Also there was talk of the exposed wires;

From Wikipedia: "Despite the many accolades awarded to the film, for 50 years, beginning in the late 1960s when The War of the Worlds 3-strip Technicolor prints were replaced by the easier-to-use and less expensive Eastman Color stock, the quality of the film's special effects suffered dramatically, resulting in a degradation of lighting, timing, and image resolution, causing the originally invisible wires suspending the Martian war machines to become increasingly more visible with each succeeding advance in film and video formats, leading many, including respected critics, to believe the effects were originally of low quality."

This is another advancement over the SD digital versions. I would only add that to the very discerning eye that the Criterion, with its higher bitrate, may appear marginally superior 'in-motion' - otherwise, colors, contrast, framing and detail are on par with the strong Australian Blu-ray from the 2018 restoration.

NOTE: We have added 79 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

For the audio, Criterion also offer a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround (24-bit) bump or a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) - both in the original English language. It gives the Criterion the edge in the mono track (24-bit vs. 16-bit) giving the original audio a more robust deeper experience. The Criterion states "The War of the Worlds is presented with two soundtrack options: the original monaural track and an alternate 5.1 surround audio mix created for the 2018 restoration of the film by Academy Award-winning sound designer Ben Burtt". Criterion also add optional subtitles - English (SDH) on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

Criterion also include the audio commentary from 2005 featuring filmmaker Joe Dante, film historian Bob Burns, and author Bill Warren, Welles' original Mercury Theatre Radio Broadcast, and the 2005 documentary The Sky Is Falling featuring actors Gene Barry, Robert Cornthwait and Ann Robinson; assistant director Michael D. Moore; Jack Senter, who worked in The War of the Worlds' art department; Diana Gemora, daughter of makeup artist Charles Gemora; film historian Bob Burns; filmmaker Ray Harryhausen; author Justin Humphreys; and visual-effects supervisor Robert Skotak.

What is new is the 1/2 hour Movie Archaeologists. Visual-effects supervisor Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt are historians of specialized filmmaking techniques. In this documentary, produced by the Criterion Collection in 2020, they discuss the production of The War of the Worlds, including the film's innovative use of visual and sound effects along with rare footage from the Paramount Pictures archives. In another 20-minute program, produced by the Criterion in 2020, entitled From the Archive, senior vice president of asset management for Paramount Pictures Andrea Kalas, along with Barron and Burtt, who served as consultants on the 2018 restoration of The War of the Worlds, discuss their work on the film. There is a 50-minutes of excerpts from an audio recording of George Pal's 'Harold Lloyd Master Seminar at the American Film Institute' on February 5th,1970. In them, he discusses his career and the use of special effects in his films and fields questions from the audience. Running 1/2 hour is a radio program from 1940 featuring a discussion between Orson Welles and H. G. Wells, author of the 1897 novel The War of the Worlds. Pretty cool. Lastly, are a trailer and the package has liner notes with an essay by film critic J. Hoberman.

Choices. With the Imprint you get the two additional commentaries and the handsome slipcase package - with the Criterion you get negligibly superior video, improved mono audio, and the new extras; restoration details, audio interviews and the liner notes. Either is a must-own and we lean to owning both as they each offer unique value for this classic's long deserved arrival in 1080P.

***

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (June 2020): Newcomer Imprint out of Australia (the disc starts with a ViaVison logo) have transferred Bryon Haskin's iconic 1953 War of the Worlds to Blu-ray, beating out the upcoming Criterion who's 1080P release is due in about a month (HERE.) It was rumored to come from a 4K restoration and I am pleased with the HD presentation. It's on a dual-layered disc with a high bitrate. There was some minor inconsistency in which the visuals seemed saturated (notably in the beginning) but for the vast majority of the film, the image quality is excellent. It represent the 3-strip Technicolor very decently. The image is clean, with depth - colors have a very appealing richness. Grain textures are there but not prominent and I don't see the image has any undue gloss. It was a very pleasant surprise and I will compare it to the Criterion Blu-ray when it arrives. There was a touch of movement in the frame but it generally seems faithful without cropping and often shows a shade more of inconsequential information in the frame. 

On their Blu-ray, Imprint offer a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround (24-bit) bump or a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (16-bit) - both in the original English language. The surround has some potency in the Martian death-rays and other effects that I have never heard in previous viewings. The separations were evident if not discrete. The score is by Leith Stevens (Great Day in the Morning, The Gun Runners, Syncopation, World Without End, The Night of the Grizzly, I Married a Monster From Outer Space, 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Garment Jungle) sounding a bit drowned out by the intensity of the alien-invasion effects. Imprint offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray (Yes, it is Region FREE - not 'B'-locked as advertised).

The Imprint Blu-ray duplicated the addition of the two commentaries available in the 2005 DVD (with actors Ann Robinson and Gene Barry and - in the second - Joe Dante, film historian Bob Burns and Bill Warren, author of Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties), but add a new one with Barry Forshaw (author the BFI Film Classics' The War of the Worlds book) and the inestimable Kim Newman! They feed off each other's enthusiasm very well, admitting that they won't point out actors and their other films as they are aware that of the existing Joe Dante et all commentary also included that does that effectively. They talk of past War of the Worlds representations including Welles', about it being in US rather than England, the red and green glow, the three strip Technicolor, what it would have been like if Lang, Hitchcock or Ray Harryhausen had made it, and much more. It's wonderful and I have listened to it twice. The rest of the supplements repeat what is on the DVD with the hour long original Mercury Theatre (audio) radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds from Orson Welles, the 1/2 hour The Sky is Falling: The Making of The War of the Worlds, ten minute piece on H.G. Wells: The Father of Science Fiction, the original theatrical trailer and an Imprint Trailer advert of their initial slate of Blu-ray offerings. There are no liner notes.

The Imprint Blu-ray of the 1953 War of the Worlds is a good sign and we look forward to reviewing more of their future releases of desirable films that have been neglected in 1080P to-date. We will compare to the Criterion, but this has plenty of value - solid a/v and the addition of the new fun-filled commentary. I'm really glad I have this one. 

Gary Tooze

 - Henrik Sylow