War of the Worlds Movies in Order & How Many Are There
There were so many adaptations of War of the Worlds that it is becoming hard to follow. Still, if you would like to know how many movies are there and what is the best way to watch War of the Worlds movies in order, you are in the right place.
War of the Worlds movies are based on H. G. Wells’ 1898 novel, The War of the Worlds. The novel describes the memoirs of an unnamed narrator in the suburbs of Woking, Surrey, England, who recounts an invasion of Earth by an army of Martians with military technology far in advance to human science. It is said to be the first story that details a human conflict with, and overall defeat by, an extraterrestrial race.
Now, not all War of the Worlds movies are direct adaptations of the book, as you will see later when we tell you what is each movie about, but some do try to follow it closely.
Let’s now find out exactly how many War of the Worlds movies are there.
How many War of the Worlds movies are there?
There are currently ten War of the Worlds movies, and we will now show you what they look like in order by release date. Still, we won’t be including parodies on our list. Let’s see what they look like.
- The War of the Worlds (1953)
- The Night That Panicked America (1975)
- The War of the Worlds: Next Century (1981)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (2005)
- H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds (2005)
- War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008)
- Alien Dawn (2012)
- War of the Worlds – The True Story (2012)
- War of the Worlds: Goliath (2012)
As you can see, there are a lot of War of the Worlds movies and it is not easy to know what is the best order to watch them. Now, we will show you the best way to watch them and will let you know what is each of those movies about.
War of the Worlds movies in order
There are only two War of the Worlds movies that need to be watched in order, and those are H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and its sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave. Other movies don’t need to be watched in order, but we will still let you know what are they about, so you can choose which ones you want to watch.
The War of the Worlds (1953)
A meteor-like object crashed not far from a small town in Southern California. Among the interested “scouts” are the scientist Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry), who befriends her with Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), a cousin of the local priest (Lewis Martin).
Considering that the meteor is too hot to approach, Clayton decides to wait a few days and then continue the investigation, leaving three men to guard the object. Left alone, the guards decide to approach the meteorite and immediately get into trouble because it turns out that they are not guarding the meteorite but a spaceship from Mars.
The Martians are equipped with heat waves and begin to attack the helpless earthlings. When the army comes to negotiate, the aliens demonstrate their unscrupulousness by killing Sylvia’s cousin who was sent as a negotiator for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
While Clayton and Sylvia seek cover, the Martians embark on a mission to take over Earth and nothing can stand in their way…
The Night That Panicked America (1975)
The Night That Panicked America tells the story of the 1938 broadcast from the point of view of Welles and his associates as they create the broadcast live, as well as from the points of view of a number of different fictional American families, in a variety of locations and from a variety of social classes, who listened to the broadcast and believed the imaginary Martian invasion was actually occurring, with some people even committing suicide.
The War of the Worlds: Next Century (1981)
The film starts with the arrival of a more advanced civilization from Mars which purports to have a friendly attitude towards Earthlings. The place visited by the Martians resembles a police state in which a huge role is played by television, which is used as a propaganda tool.
The main character of the film, Iron Idem (Roman Wilhelmi) is a news presenter who has a popular TV program, Iron Idem’s Independent News. However, the news that is presented on his program is carefully chosen by Idem’s boss (Mariusz Dmochowski) who later orders the kidnapping of Idem’s wife (Krystyna Janda). Iron Idem is forced to collaborate with the state apparatus, which is working together with blood-thirsty Martians, and encourages people to make sacrifices and give blood in the hope of having his wife and normal life returned.
After being thrown out of his flat, Idem has a chance to observe stupefied citizens who fall victim to the repression of the state apparatus. Finally, the main protagonist rebels and criticizes society during a TV Super Show which is a concert organized as a farewell to the Martians.
On the day after the Martian’s departure, the Earth’s mass media change their perception of the whole situation and the visit from Mars is viewed as an aggressive invasion and Iron Idem is shown as the main collaborator. He agrees to collaborate with his mock trial in exchange for seeing his wife but she is delivered dead in the same bag her captors used to kidnap her.
Finally, he is sentenced to death and executed by the firing squad where he only shows as dead on the television screen in what appears to be a [afterlife] moment. He leaves the television studio and steps into an outside world obfuscated by light and mist.
War of the Worlds (2005)
For centuries, people have observed the universe, at first only with their naked eyes, and later with the most modern technological instruments, wondering if there is anyone else in that vast expanse, what their intentions are, and if our civilizations will ever make contact. It turned out that we were looking in the wrong direction because they have been on our planet for many, many years and now they have decided to conquer us!
- RELATED: 20 Best Sci-fi Movies About Mars
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a worker from New Jersey, whose life is not exactly blooming roses, because he does not have the relationship he wants with his children from a broken marriage. However, when one day the long-planned alien attack on our planet begins, it is up to Ray to do everything to protect his son Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning).
H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (2005)
The early part of the film follows the experience of a late 19th-century journalist from Woking, known as “the writer”, involved with the landing of a Martian invasion spacecraft. When the crashed cylinder opens, the Martians start killing anything that moves with a “heat ray” weapon. The writer discovers his house is in range of their heat ray and decides to rush his wife and servant to her cousins’ home in Leatherhead; once there, he returns in order to return the borrowed cart to its owner, unaware that the invading Martians are now on the move.
The Martians have built tall tripod “fighting machines” and begun a destructive rampage across southern England. The film also details the adventures of his brother, a student in London, who accompanies two ladies to the east coast of England in order to escape from the slaughter and destruction wrought by the Martians.
When the writer tries to get back to his wife in Leatherhead, he is confounded and beset by many problems as a result of the chaos brought by the Martian invasion.
H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds (2005)
A contemporary translation of the novel set in the United States, War of the Worlds tells of an invasion of Earth by technologically-advanced extraterrestrials, from the perspective of an American astronomer trying to reunite with his family.
It is the only adaptation besides the 1953 film in which the main character actively tries to repel the aliens. The film is loosely based on an unproduced screenplay called “Invasion”, written by Carlos De Los Rios in 1997.
War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008)
The film is a sequel to the film H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, an adaptation of the 1898 H. G. Wells novel and mockbuster of the DreamWorks/Paramount adaptation of the same source.
The film’s tone and overall plot significantly differ from the first film and recycle elements from the novel.
The film is set two years after the initial alien invasion, following the remnants of the human race who launch an attack on the planet Mars to counter a second attack. C. Thomas Howell reprises his role as George Herbert.
Alien Dawn (2012)
2012. The dawn of destruction. As giant alien machines enslave and feed off humanity, the few remaining survivors band together to form an armed militia that will be the last stand against total extinction.
Based very loosely on H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds set in Los Angeles.
War of the Worlds – The True Story (2012)
The film bases its documentary approach on the 1938 Orson Welles CBS radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, by presenting itself as a true account of actual events. Director Timothy Hines said, in reference to this technique, “When Orson Welles broadcast War of the Worlds on the radio in the 1930s, he presented it in such a way as to not clearly identify that it was a work of fiction.
He did it for the drama. And many people took the fictional news broadcast as a real news broadcast. People believed they were hearing an actual invasion from Mars that night. We are approaching the story in the same way, as if it were an actual news documentary”.
War of the Worlds: Goliath (2012)
A retro-futuristic epic of a steampunk battle set in 1914. It has been 15 years since the original H.G. Wells Martian invasion. Fearing another attack, the human race has prepared itself. This is the story of the battle tripod ‘Goliath’ and its young crew.
‘Goliath’ is the vanguard of an army of steam-powered battle walkers, heat-ray biplanes, and armored zeppelins facing a Martian fleet of giant fighting machines and flying wings. Within the cockpit of ‘Goliath’, courage under fire, conflicted loyalties and the struggle to save the Earth, in this new War of the Worlds.
This animated sequel is set 15 years after the Wells novel.
Do you need to watch War of the Worlds movies in order?
You don’t really need to watch War of the Worlds movies in order, except H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and its sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave. Those two movies are connected.
Will there be more War of the Worlds movies in the future?
There are currently no official announcements, but we do belive there will be more War of the Worlds movie adaptations. We will just have to wait and see when, and we will definitely update this article once they get announced.
