In WWI, for the first time ever, -
- nations combined to fight nations, using the crude weapons of the day.
WWII involved every continent. Science provided new tools of war.
These reached an unparalleled peak in their capacity for destruction.
Now, fraught with the terrible weapons of super-science, -
- menacing every creature on Earth, comes...
No one would have believed -
- human affairs were being closely watched by a greater intelligence.
Yet, across the gulf of space on the planet Mars, -
- intellects vast and unsympathetic regarded our Earth enviously, -
- slowly and surely drawing their plans against us.
Mars is more than 140 million miles from the sun.
For centuries it has been in the last stages of exhaustion.
At night, temperatures drop far below zero, even at its equator.
The inhabitants of this dying planet looked across space with instruments -
- of which we have scarcely dreamed, -
- searching for another world to which they could migrate.
They could not go to Pluto, -
- so cold that its atmosphere lies frozen on its surface.
They couldn't use Neptune or Uranus, twin worlds in eternal night, -
- both surrounded by an atmosphere of methane gas and ammonia vapour.
They considered Saturn, attractive with its moons and rings, -
- but its temperature is close to 270 degrees below zero, -
- and ice lies 15,000 miles deep on its surface.
Their nearest world was Jupiter, with giant cliffs of lava and ice, -
- with hydrogen flaming at the tops.
The atmosphere is awful. Thousands of pounds to the square inch.
They couldn't go there, nor to Mercury, nearest planet to the sun.
It has no air. The temperature at its equator is that of molten lead.
Of all the worlds the life forms on Mars could see and study, -
- only our own Earth was green with vegetation, bright with water, -
- and possessed a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility.
It did not occur to mankind that a swift fate might be hanging over us.
Or that from the blackness of outer space we were being scrutinised.
Till the time we drew close to Mars' orbit, during a pleasant summer...
- Is that a fireball or something? - Boy, that's big.
- I wonder where it hit? - Probably halfway to Pomona.
I'm gonna see. Who's coming?
This is Pine Summit. I got a smoke.
- 160/30. - Azimuth: 160 degrees, 30 minutes.
Big? I bet it's as big as anything that ever lit in California.
Better get something over there. It's started a blaze already.
Number Three to D.O.
- D.O. to Number Three, come in. - We're getting this under control.
Okay, send the tanker in, but you stand by until that thing cools off.
- Someone ought to check on it. - There's scientists fishing nearby.
They probably saw it come down. I'll tell them. What's it look like?
It's too hot to get near enough for a good look, but it's enormous.
I got a message for you. You're the guys from Pacific Tech, ain't you?
- Looks like the fishing was good. - Have some?
Well, I might just do that.
It's about that meteor.
They say it's a whopper.
They phoned us up on the summit. I thought you might be interested.
- About 10 miles from here. - It didn't come down like a meteor.
That's right. It came down in spurts.
You fellows figure it out. You're scientists.
It's big as a house and red-hot.
- I'll loan you car and take a look. - We ought to get back.
- I'll fly Bilder back down in your plane. - Okay, the insurance is paid up.
- Light? - No, I'll smoke it later.
Did you watch it come down? I saw it from my window.
Harold, look here a minute.
Step over a little. Smile.
It must have skidded along the gully.
Then the loose earth shook down over it.
- I guess most of it's buried. - That's 12 feet thick.
They run heavy. They won't be able to haul this one away to no museum.
A good attraction for Sunday drivers.
Better than a lion farm or snake pit. We won't have to feed it.
- We can sell tamales and hot dogs. - Ice cream, cold drinks, souvenirs.
- We should put up picnic tables. - Then they'd bring their own lunch.
- Gonna dig for gold, Buck? - You think you're kidding?
It'll be like having a gold mine in your own back yard.
I'm gonna get a closer look at it.
- That's it over there. - It's still pretty darned hot.
- Be careful, Buck. - Watch it.
- Did you see it come down? - Yes, I was fishing in the hills.
- That's a lot of tackle. - The others flew back in my plane.
Why didn't it make a bigger crater?
It hit sideways and skidded in. That's what I think.
A scientist's coming, he'll tell us.
- Ever hear of Clayton Forrester? - What's that fellow trying to do?
He's top man in astro and nuclear physics. He knows all about meteors.
- You seem to know all about him. - I did a thesis on modern scientists.
- Did it do you any good? - Sure, I got my degree.
- Say, do you have a match? - No, I'm sorry. I don't smoke.
They had Forrester on the cover of Time. You have to rate to get that.
- He isn't that good. - You don't even know him!
- I do know him, slightly. - What's he like?
Well, he's like...
You don't look like yourself in that get-up, but I'm happy to meet you.
Sylvia Van Buren. I teach library science at USC.
- I didn't know how to stop you. - You didn't wear glasses in Time.
They're for long distance. To look at something close, I take them off.
- You could fry eggs on that thing. - The sand is keeping the heat in.
Uncle, Dr Forrester. Dr Matthew Collins is the pastor here.
- Well, how do you do? - How do you do, sir?
Hey, you!
What have you got in here? It's ticking like a bomb.
This is a Geiger counter for detecting radioactivity.
- It's that meteor. - It's radioactive?
Yes. It's difficult to account for a reaction like that.
- Look at it. It's going crazy! - Maybe we should keep people away.
I'll post a few deputies.
That meteor is either very light, which is unheard of, or it's hollow.
If it were heavy and solid, it would have made a tremendous crater.
I'll wait around until it cools off. Is there a place I could clean up?
- I'd like you to stay at my house. - Thank you.
It won't be cool for 24 hours. What do people do here on a Saturday?
- Not much of anything. - There's a square dance tonight.
Let's take another look at it.
- It's almost cold now. - We might as well go home.
- No sense staying out here. - Let's go.
Hey, it's moving!
- It's a bomb! - It didn't go off last night...
- Maybe it's gonna go off now. - It's a sneak attack. Let's go.
Wait a minute.
Bombs don't unscrew.
It's no meteor. That's for sure.
Darnedest thing I ever saw, the way that's unscrewing.
- Thank you, Doctor. Having fun? - You know what I was thinking?
The energy from one square dance could send the meteor back home.
- Must be somebody in there. - Who? Where do they come from?
I read that Mars is near Earth now. It happens every 20 years, they say.
Men from Mars...
- What do you think? - Maybe these are not men, like us.
Everything human doesn't have to look like you and me.
If it's men from Mars, we ought to let them know we're friendly.
- No, you don't know what it is. - We'd be the first to make contact.
We'd be in all the papers.
We could walk out there with a white flag.
I got an old sugar sack in my car.
What are we going to say to them?
"Welcome to California."
Come on.
We're friends!
Open up!
- How will they understand us? - We'll talk in sign language.
Everybody understands that the white flag means we want to be friends.
- Hey there, open up! - Come on out, we're friends!
- We welcome you! - We're friends!
No smooching in the dark, folks.
- Any candles around? - All the lights in town are out.
- Somebody found some candles. - I like it in the dark.
Call the electric company and see what happened.
- Hey, the phone's gone dead. - The phone isn't on the same circuit.
What are they saying? Something's wrong with my hearing aid.
We play "Good Night Ladies" at midnight, anyway. It's near that now.
- My watch has stopped. - I've got the time.
- Mine's stopped, too. - Mine ain't working. What is this?
They've all stopped at the same time.
There's only one explanation for a thing like this. Do you have a pin?
See that? My watch is magnetised.
That's what knocked the phones out, too.
- But everyone's watch all together? - Do you have a pocket compass?
- The needle isn't pointing north. - It's pointing toward the meteor.
Let me through!
- What's going on? - I don't know any more than you do.
Look at the fire out there!
The power lines are down. That explains why the lights went out.
- Hey, look at the cars! - Where are the three men you left?
Look there!
People in town started to follow us. Don't let them come near here.
Get under cover!
- What is that gizmo? - A machine from another planet.
We'd better get word to the authorities. Look!
Sheriff, you'd better get word to the military. You'll need them.
Get moving. On the double.
Take cover along the riverbed. Get those 30's over here.
The area is controlled by Marines. The gully is surrounded.
Here is Prof. McPherson of Canada.
Is it true you've had reports of landings in other places? Canada?
Not in Canada yet, but in Bordeaux, France. Some in Spain...
There's supposed to be one down in Italy.
We're trying to locate the second meteor that landed here at midnight.
- Do you think they come from Mars? - Dr Forrester?
It's possible. It seems certain they're from some other planet.
If they are Martians, what would they look like? Bigger? Smaller?
As to Martians, our heavier air would oppress them.
You think they'd breathe like us. What about hearts and blood?
If they are Martians, with hearts, they'd beat at a slower rate.
Their senses could be quite different from ours.
They may be able to smell colours.
It is possible that they would have more than one brain.
- Two? Three? Just think of that! - It's only speculation.
What about these meteor machines?
They're probably controlled by jets, navigated with a gyroscope system.
Thank you, Doctor. Colonel, can you tell us anything about this plane?
It'll drop a flare. Then Air Force cameramen will get pictures.
There's been a lot of mysterious activity around the machine.
Lights and dust, as if they're digging themselves out. There it comes again!
If it keeps up, it'll be a guide for the plane.
The pilot's just blipped his motor. That means he's dropped the flare.
We'll be the first men on Earth to get a real look at these invaders from space.
They're after the plane with their rays!
Jump for it!
Here we are...
Hey, they cut me off! They got my truck!
They'll come out of the gully soon. Our defences have to be ready.
You'll need plenty of reinforcements.
- The troops are certainly moving in. - You sent word to the 6th Army?
No, Col. Heffner's in charge.
You never know where you'll wind up when you go to a square dance.
- That's D-24. - Correct.
Locate your observation post on this hill.
Position your recoilless 75's back here. Carbon Canyon.
I want your battery here. In daylight you may be exposed. Be ready to pull out.
- But you'll get first crack at them. - Suits me, sir.
Heffner... Half-tracks? Okay.
Get in back of Hill Three.
If it's a moving target, follow up from there. Over and out.
They've located that second meteor.
There's one, there's the other. We're right between them.
- So is the town. - I warned them to prepare to evacuate.
Everyone has been alerted.
- Gen. Mann, I was told to expect you. - I'm here to report back, not interfere.
Clayton Forrester, I haven't seen you since Oak Ridge.
This is Pastor Collins, Sheriff Bogany, head of local control.
- Miss Van Buren. - Would you care for some coffee?
Gen. Mann's in charge of intelligence for the Pacific area.
You've certainly got them surrounded.
- They've neutralised communications? - Not all. The field phones are okay.
A cylinder reported by Huntington Beach. That's a job for the Navy.
- Any news from abroad? - We're in touch with their militaries.
They're coming down all over. Santiago has two cylinders.
They're outside London. They're in Naples.
We've got them between here and Fresno. Two on Long Island.
- They're coming down at random. - No.
According to information from foreign sources, they have some kind of plan.
What it is isn't clear yet, because once they begin to move, -
- no more news comes out of that area.
We've had reports of destruction, massacre.
"Town south of Bordeaux wiped out by ray."
"Local reports say nothing remains." What do you make of that?
- All we've seen is their heat ray. - Our newest weapons will stop them.
From the data, and that picture the Air Force took tonight, -
- this is the original pilot ship.
Its observations guided the others down.
One lands, then two, making groups of three joined magnetically.
My orders are not to go into action unless they move out of the gully.
This is the only place we have them contained.
What happens here will be a guide to other operations.
When it starts, and a defence pattern develops, I'll report to Washington.
- You've deployed your forces well. - We'll blast them right off Earth.
They'll probably move at dawn.
There's something moving in the gully.
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 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's he think he's 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.
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.
- 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 busses. - 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 60º/% men, 90º/% 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.
Get down!
- How long was I out? - Hours. I've been so scared!
They're right outside. Several of them came down together.
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?
- 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!
Your scarf.
It's wet.
Blood...
Stop it. Stop it!
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 significance of the British Isles.
The people of Britain met the invaders magnificently, but it was unavailing.
As the Martians swept toward London, the British Cabinet stayed in session, -
- coordinating every item of information that could be gathered, -
- passing it on to the UN in New York, and from there to Washington, -
- the only remaining unassailed strategic point.
It's vital to prevent the Martian machines from linking up.
Once they do, they adopt an extraordinary military tactic.
They form a crescent, anchor it at one end -
- and sweep on until they've cleared a quadrant.
Then they anchor the opposite end and reverse direction.
They slash across country, wiping out everything that's trying to evade them.
That's why communications are cut once they begin moving.
- Montreal's blacked out. Nothing. - Same thing as on the Pacific coast.
- Anything from them yet? - Still nothing from San Francisco.
- Here's that Los Angeles picture, sir. - This is a sonic radar picture.
It shows details of the Martian nest outside Los Angeles.
Their machines appear as round blobs.
Newly fallen cylinders are elongated.
There are three cylinders to each group, three machines to each cylinder.
All right, I've seen enough.
Only one thing will stop them. We've held back because of the radiation.
Now there's no choice. Washington will confirm an order to use the atom bomb.
Our first target will be the initial landing place outside L.A.
Have Pacific Tech monitor the drop. I'll have the area cleared all around.
We can still hit them before dark. We'll blast them all over the world.
- We've been looking all over for you. - We walked halfway from Corona.
This is Miss Van Buren. Dr Grotzman, Dr Pryor, James, Bilderbeck.
- What's this about the A-bomb? - We're going in right after it.
- What's that? - An electronic eye.
They modelled it after their own eye. They use it the way we use a periscope.
- It'll tell us about their metals. - We can find out about their optics.
- Very interesting. - And this... the blood of a Martian.
I don't remember ever seeing blood crystals as anaemic as these.
They may be mental giants, -
- but by our standards, physically, they must be very primitive.
Everything about them seems to be in threes.
Their eyes have three lenses, three pupils. Strong light shocks them.
Sunlight on Mars is approximately half as strong as we get it.
Add their clouds and dust, it amounts to no more than our twilight.
Now, if you'll step over here, please.
We've rigged the epidiascope to reflect whatever the Martian lens picks up.
Move in a little. Thank you.
There's how the Martians see us.
Evidently there's a shift in their spectrum.
Their colour absorption must be different from ours.
Let's see why they were so curious about you, Miss Van Buren.
- Time we got started, gentlemen. - Let's go.
- Let's make an analysis of their blood. - It might give us something.
You can get all the Martian blood you want after the plane drops the bomb.
The Flying Wing is going to carry it.
Tower, this is Flying Wing, ready for take-off.
Flying Wing, this is the tower. Clear for take-off.
Wish us luck.
The target is the nest of Martian machines in the Puenta Hills, -
- where more cylinders came down last evening.
A plane will pinpoint the target from six miles up.
This bomb is ten times more powerful than anything previously used.
Nothing like it has ever been exploded before. We're going to be pretty close, -
- but there are observers in a forward bunker who will be a lot nearer than us.
The whole world is waiting. This will decide the fate of civilisation.
Whether we live or die may depend on what happens here.
Attention! Four minutes to bomb time.
There must be a couple of million people behind us in the hills, -
- waiting to find out whether they can go home again.
Direct cable communication is being maintained with Washington, -
- but there's no radio at all. Not even with the bomber that's coming over.
All radio is dead, -
- which means that these recordings are for the sake of future history, if any.
Future history, he said.
Yes, if any.
Bilderbeck's calculated how long we have until they take over the world.
If the A-bomb fails, the Martians can conquer Earth in six days.
The same number of days it took to create it.
Attention! Two minutes to bomb time. Prepare to take shelter.
If you have no goggles, turn away.
Remember, the heat flash and concussion that follow are dangerous.
50 seconds.
There's the plane.
40 seconds.
We've sighted the plane, sir.
- 30 seconds. - Look. Look!
They're using those protective blisters again.
Attention! Stand by.
15 seconds.
10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6...
...5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Hello? What can you see?
There's something moving!
They haven't even been touched!
It didn't stop them. Guns, tanks, bombs, they're like toys against them!
Lt'll end only one way. We're beaten.
No... Not yet.
Washington ordered all cities in danger of attack evacuated if the bomb fails.
They'll be moving on Los Angeles now. We'll fight them back to the mountains.
Our best hope lies in what you people can develop to help us.
Six days, you said. Six days...
They'll stamp the city flat.
We'll establish a base laboratory in the Rocky Mountains.
- We'll search out their weaknesses. - A forlorn hope.
- But there is a chance. - We may get a lead from the blood.
- By some biological approach? - We can't beat their machines.
We've got to beat them.
Everybody listen carefully!
The Martians are coming this way. We must evacuate.
Take food, water and extra clothing.
All highways have been marked to lead you to welfare centres in the hills.
Keep them rolling!
Come on!
- Gratzman, did you get those biotics? - No, I thought you had them.
I'll get them. You get in the school bus. Sylvia will drive you.
Let me up. I'll give you $500 for your place. I'll make it $1,000.
Money's no good anymore!
Here comes another truck!
Throw that guy off there!
Stop, you fools!
You fools!
- Quick, we've got to stop them! - The law's no good here now.
It's like this all over.
They must be stopped. The instruments!
Hold it a minute!
We've got to have those instruments. They're our only chance!
Did they grab the trucks ahead of me? Did you see the Pacific Tech people?
I don't know. There's fighting all over.
- Did they get the school bus? - If they saw it, they took it.
You can't buy a ride for love or money!
Gratzman! Bilderbeck!
Sylvia!
- Hey, you better get out of here! - I'm looking for Pacific Tech people.
- There's nobody left around here now. - We could have stopped them.
The mob stole the trucks and smashed everything. They cut their own throats!
He's nuts... Come on, jump in.
Hurry up. Jump in!
There was a girl with them. If I could find her...
- She's kind of lost. - You look kind of lost yourself.
- But I think I know where she'll be. - It's your last chance to get out of here.
We humbly beseech Thy divine guidance, O Lord.
Deliver us from the fear which has come upon us.
From the evil that grows ever nearer.
From the terror that soon will knock -
- upon the very door of this, Thy house.
O Lord, we pray thee.
Grant us the miracle of Thy divine intervention.
Don't go, son. Stay with us.
No, I'm looking for someone. She'll be in a church, near the door.
- Forrester! - DuPrey, Bilderbeck! Are you...?
- Where are the others? - We don't know where they are.
I got knocked under our truck.
DuPrey pulled me out.
- What happened to Sylvia? - We never did see her again.
In our peril we plead. Succour and comfort us in this hour.
Please, God.
Sylvia!
- Here! Here! - Sylvia!
Let me through! Please!
It's quiet. Maybe they've gone away.
Something's happening to them.
It's dead.
We were all praying for a miracle.
The Martians had no resistance to the bacteria in our atmosphere.
Once they breathed our air, germs harmless to us began to kill them.
The end came swiftly. All over the world, their machines stopped and fell.
After all that men could do had failed, -
- the Martians were destroyed and humanity saved -
- by the littlest things which God in His wisdom had put upon this earth.
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