War of the Worlds (2019– ) User Reviews

My first review was 3 episodes in now after more, yes, it's boring

[efd-10467 · 5/10 · 9 August 2020]

I've stopped watching, why doesn't someone fix a car or even use a bike, why aren't the bodies rotting and flies everywhere, why when the stay some where does someone leave a door open or go outside against all common sense and warnings, why do the machines make noise sometimes but at other times quietly sneak up on people, why are most of the female characters always doing stupid out of control things, where is all the ammunition from ? Why don't they ever sit down like adults and make a plan, do they people ever bath ? Why would you aimlessly wander from spot to spot, when you know you are going to be attacked, why wouldn't you heavily question the people who obviously have some gift or insight into the invaders and use it to your advantage.

I could go on, the writers could make Swiss cheese if they need a new job or at least the holes part of it.

Would've liked to have seen more of everything.

[chris-h-3 · 7/10 · 5 December 2019]

I enjoyed the first half of this series a lot. Even though is shares next to nothing with the book (if anything its closer to Day of the Triffids) the characters were original and much of the set up didn't go with the normal tropes and characters you see in this kind of programme.

But about half way through the story seems to stall and the whole thing is just spinning its wheels and going nowhere. I felt we needed a bit more investigation as to the what and the whys (I was hoping for some tripods too!)

The end of the final episode was just nonsensical, I guess it is supposed to make us want to learn more, but we have seen so little and so much of it is without explanation you feel more that the writers aren't sure what is happening any more than the audience.

None the less I enjoyed this so much more than the recent BBC adaptation which was itself very far from the book. I wonder if we will ever see a faithful adaptation of the novel in the period and place where it is set.

Interesting British/French Production

[Athanatos173 · 7/10 · 30 October 2019]

I have to say I had an advantage in that I speak both English and French fluently, therefore I did not need subtitles, but the story itself is interesting enough that I don't believe subtitles would diminish the experience.

It was refreshing to watch an apocalyptic event that had nothing to do with Americans, and although the action is fairly minimal with more attention being paid to human interaction, it was fairly enjoyable with mostly good acting throughout.

I also enjoyed the fact that someone in the show actually pointed out what I always think during this type of story; Why would aliens attack Earth when the resources available here are readily available elsewhere in the galaxy? Although the question is not exactly answered at the conclusion of the first season, we come to have a general idea as to what is going on, if not the details.

I would recommend this so long as they produce a second season.

Great potential but insufferably slow paced

[Aettea · 17 July 2020]

It only needed 4 episodes tops, maybe 3. I detest when creators deliberately stretch plots to get multiple seasons. Do it right or don't do it at all.

OverKill: They needed one man dead but wiped the entire human race instead.

[sharonwarren-98114 · 6/10 · 15 October 2022]

I don't think I'm a stupid person but I always find time travel plots to be hugely problematic and this one is no exception. Basically the 'aliens' are returning back in time to prevent a virus from being released which is decimating their population, and the virus is being released because the aliens have returned back in time and invaded earth. So there's that fundamental circle. Secondly, if the virus is just being released by one guy, why kill and hate the entire human race? If the aliens (who are in fact human) need medical treatment, respond to painkillers etc, why decimate the entire hospital/ pharmacy system? Why kill all the babies if you need baby stem cells? And why kill all the humans who are actually pretty good at making babies if you need babies? If they needed roads, why did they choke the roads up with cars? If they needed light, water and food why decimate electricity, drinking and food supplies? Why are they so disorganised? For the love of Mike, why didn't you alien/ humans just come back in time and calm the f@@k down and assimilate? No one would have known and you could have all happily lived in a hippy eco village somewhere in the mountains and grown your own crops. Nothing is making a lot of sense to me at this point. Now for the characters, who despite some fine acting, are all a bit, well, neurotic and unpleasant. Gabriel Byrne practically stalks his ex wife, which works out well for her in the end because he saves her life. Shame about the husband, oops! ...hmmmm. Then there is a little issue of medical consent, forcibly trialling a virus on 17 year old Emily. Eeew. Couldn't he have at least asked? She seems pretty switched on, at and the end of the day, it will keep her and her family alive. Next Jonathon. Yes you. Nearly has an affair pre invasion, but doesn't, determined to fight his way back to his wife and two kids. Only to have a dramatic reunion with his wife, the woman who has fought to keep his children alive, and then promptly dump her a$$ straight after hugging her, for the French side chick who was his travelling companion. Nice!!! I'm starting to cheer for the aliens at this point. So some of the lead dudes are pretty damn fundamentally unlikeable at times. But overall the biggest dilemma is just that the invaders are supposed to be smart enough to time travel, but dumb enough to blow everything they might need to smithereens. Couldn't they have just teleported in a lone assassin?

No, it's not H G Wells but it is still good

[johntacchi-11227 · 8/10 · 11 April 2020]

I like this show. It grows on you. It has now whizzy special effects and if you want those, watch the Tom Cruise film. The tension here is that you don't see the aliens. Throughout you are left wondering who they really, why are they here and what do they want? It is a drama about people and what they might do facing the end of the world. Good cast with plenty to work with and they bring out the human element to the story. Dramatic tension is maintained and there is a haunting soundtrack. Interesting British/French co-production which brings out the idea that this is something across the whole world and not just a corner of it. If you feel it is a bit slow at the start, stay with it. It's worth it.

Wildly Uneven Sci-Fi Thriller With A Misleading Title

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 3 November 2019]

Having recently seen the BBC version of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS I knew there was also another version of HG Wells story being produced at the same and was advertised as a "reimagining" . It couldn't possibly be worse than the BBC turkey but I don't like the word "reimagining" and the lukewarm early reviews on this page meant I almost gave it a miss. I did get round to seeing it and I'm in two distinct minds as to what I've seen

First of all I'm in total agreement with the people who say if it had a different title people wouldn't be so critical. Remembering my days at film school one thing that doesn't fall under copyright is the title of a film so it's a very cynical exercise calling this WAR OF THE WORLDS because there's with the exception of the premise of an alien invasion there's not one single scene that has been inspired by HG Wells novel., so I'll judge it as an original SF drama

It's not all that original either but it is highly impressive as what it does. Most of humanity are wiped out by an energy pulse of some kind and a handful of survivors in London and France find themselves struggling against an unknown alien menace. The first couple of episodes are outstanding and I was instantly reminded of the works of Nigel Kneale , John Wyndham and all my other favourite science fiction writers. This resembles QUATRMASS meets 28 DAYS LATER and had me on the edge of my seat. The only fly in the ointment is that the characters seem to jump to conclusions too quickly - if you surround yourself in metal you'll be safe from the pulse effect - which struck me as contrived writing

Sadly the writing becomes more contrived as it goes along . To be fair none of the character plot turns come out of nowhere but the more we see of Emily and her French counterpart the less we see of heart pounding scenes like the French army expedition to a supermarket. There's also an annoying internal continuity where the alien "hunter dogs" are able to kill red shirt type characters with no problem but are unable to do so when it's a major character important to the plot. The main reason this is so annoying is because it's a show that hints it's not going to play things safe and isn't scared to kill off characters which it does . Another unfortunate thing is that " character development " qualifies as soap opera melodrama

As much as I enjoyed WOTW in places as it went along one thing that did worry me in the last couple of episodes is how things would be resolved. With modern television it's not enough to keep faith in the central plot , producers insist on adding more plot turns and twists as if to say "Please recommission us for another ten years and we will tie up all the loose ends" . I'm afraid this show ends on another cliffhanger which leaves the audience none the wiser as to the motives of the aliens and their invasion.

If we do get a second series I will have no hesitation in watching it because it when it's good it's great but there's a lot of generic television surrounding the good bits

Bore of the Worlds

[Rob_Taylor · 4/10 · 13 July 2021]

I wanted to like this. I made it through season 1 without too much problem (more on that in a moment) but I'm afraid season 2 did for me. Currently just finished episode 4 and I had to fast forward through some of it, just like the previous episodes.

See... it had potential. Season 1 was not too bad. I admit, I saw the final episode coming for that first season a mile off. I mean... aliens that design their robotic assassins to resemble something Boston Dynamics might churn out... really. But even so, that last episode of Season 1 was a very large disappointment. Ho hum... the aliens are us, but with better tech, so they are probably from the future. Yawn...

Then we have the cast of characters. All utterly unlikeable. Not a one that you will care about. I'm serious. They are all awful. When you are watching an episode and the only joy you are getting out of it is watching the cast die off, then that says something about the level of writing.

There is no joy in this show. I get it... it's an invasion. People die. It's a grim scenario and things are always darkest before the dawn etc. But man! You can do that without making the show such a drear-fest. This feels like it was written by depressed sad sacks striving to outdo each other for who could make the most miserable scenes.

Further, the pacing is so slow. I mean glacial at times. Too much focus on the misery of the human condition and not enough moving the plot (such as it is) forward. This makes many of the scenes painfully dull to sit through.

So what about season 2? Worse, if anything. At least season 1 had the novelty of newness and figuring out what was going on and what each character was about. Season 2 has none of that. In fact season 2 is worse in other ways too.

There is no more character exploration. No more figuring out. Just the endless "delight" of watching characters be dumb, be miserable and be oblivious to the obvious. The pacing seems even slower, if that were possible.

Of course, there is always the staple of badly-written shows... the dysfunctional family dynamic, rearing its ugly head from time to time. As if the show wasn't miserable enough torture without that.

As I say, I have started fast-forwarding, which is always a bad sign. I suspect this will mark as far as I go with this show. Apparently there is a season 3 to come, which is astounding. Guess they'll drag the non-existent story out even further with more dreariness and misery.

SUMMARY: Early potential squandered with obvious plot developments, snail-like pacing and unlikeable characters. Too much grim-dark nonsense and misery in the writing. I'd like to say it was fun whilst it lasted but I'd be lying.

I really don't understand the negative reviews

[OmniCognateSnr · 10/10 · 12 March 2020]

Not all sci-fi is lasers and spaceships. I really don't understand why this is getting so many negative reviews. I accept it has only a parsing resemblance to the original ( well, mainly just the title ) but that aside this is a really good suspense show. Maybe some people don't like reading the occasional sub titles or don't like the heavy drama, or possibly the fact that the main protagonists dont seem to care much who they kill but for me this is an excellent series. War of the Worlds was the first "grown up book" i ever read, and i live around the area it was set, so i have a real love of the original and I really wish someone would have a go at making a proper version of it, but if you can ignore the title this is a great show.

Why the hate!?

[luckybuccaneer · 7/10 · 2 April 2020]

I cannot understand the hate for this show. I get that it's not War of the Worlds in the Wells sense and if you're expecting an action series then this is not for you.

The script can be a bit clunky in places, but all in all I think it's fairly well acted for the most part. I like the characters and the 3 different POV works really well to progress the story. Another reviewer commented that the aliens reveal was a mistake and that I do agree with. When they were out of shot and seen only in flashes they were far more menacing and added to the tension. Hence why it's not an 8/10.

It deserves a 2nd series to see where they go with it. An enjoyably solid 7/10 for the first season so far.

Lacks of everything

[mau-26 · 3/10 · 28 January 2020]

You would think that in a TV show about the downfall of our civilization, the emotions and merits of people would be portrayed. But in fact all the characters you meet here are colorless and boring, even unappealing. They hardly talk at all, the dialogues are practical at best - if there are any at all. It feels as if a person with social attachment disorder wrote the script.

To the special effects: there are none. Nada. Nothing. No spaceships, no aliens, no energy weapons, just people walking around, hardly talking to each other. Here and there some strange robot dogs appear for fractions of a second, and that's it. This series is really just a waste of precious time and resources. It could have been so much more.

A really good, intelligent slow burner

[dianaconroy-96443 · 9/10 · 16 July 2023]

So refreshing to have a series that builds. Really well written, some great acting and a compelling plot. Not some fast paced overly CGI shoot them up that is action, action, action - a very welcome step up from the usual Hollywood type science fiction fare. The European flavour and range of characters is nicely diverse. The complexity of the characters makes it a good study of humanness.

The story unfolds over the three series and gets better and better in my opinion - it's moves from the initial attack, incorporating some excellent plot twists. It is dark, atmospheric and very real. I am enjoying it immensely!

Good but will not please everyone

[wormanseder · 7/10 · 30 October 2019]

I am a native French speaker and speak English quite well, so I looked at the version with both languages.

This is not a action series. Spielberg fans, go your way! So we have here a free adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel, which I read a number of years ago, and we must remember that the 2005 movie was too. The story is interesting and includes a British and French cast, which is new to me. We find the progression of 3 groups of people in this post-apocalyptic world between the Alps and London who are trying to find meaning in what happened to humanity after the surprise attack of the 1st episode. The motivations of the main characters are divided between pure survival, the search for relatives and the search for reasons and justifications for the attack rather than eradicating the invader.

Concerning the scenario, it was chosen to unfold the story in a rather intimate way by focusing only on the 3 groups as well as to develop some personal aspects, sometimes too much. I would perhaps have preferred to see more references to human nature (selfishness, individualism...),which was criticised by H.G. Wells, there are a few but not many. On the other hand, I have noted some inconsistencies concerning travels, sometimes too fast, and one or two script inconsistencies that sound weird.

For the realization, we will also note the profusion of plans with the dead people on the ground which reinforces this feeling of "alone in the world " The dominant colour in the different shots remains grey which is common in Canal+ series.

The acting is often good but I have a lot of trouble with Léa Drucker and we will also notice from time to time some unconvincing dialogue.

The soundtrack is minimalist and unpretentious and it should be remembered that it is not a blockbuster, that it is useless to put epic music on a series that wants to be cold and dark. Not everyone will like it, but it was enough for me.

As for the last scene, although it is surprising, I was expecting it with the rare clues crumbled during these 8 episodes.

Even the actors seem bored and not convinced of the plot

[apollosdei · 3/10 · 30 December 2019]

Let's forget for a moment all the technological and pseudoscientific inconsistencies these types of shows may have, as usual: that's no excuse for unrealistic characters who behave in poorly believable ways; on top of that, they have no depth and whatever authors try to do to give them some humanity, is trite and pathetic. For example: You would see people with more angst, sense of urgency and perspective of reality on people who lost a fly abroad than with these characters. The plot is stupid too and makes no sense on top of the aforementioned lack of alien (and human) technological consistency. You feel sorry for the actors because some of them, at least, have to deal with a useless material to work with and obviously the direction is horrible. There are film shorts that work miracles in 10 minutes, this TV show doesn't know what to do in so many episodes. And, of course, there is no War of the Worlds of anything close to it.

Aliens hate Nick Cave.

[Scunner · 8 November 2019]

Scientists broadcast Nick Cave into space and the aliens hate it so much they turn up and try to wipe out all of humanity.

Personally I prefer Nick Cave's work with the Birthday Party and Bad Seeds up until The Good Son and am not so keen on what he's produced since, including the song the scientists broadcast into space which was 'Into my arms' from The Boatman's Call. I mean it's an ok song, a bit bland and soppy, but for it to enrage an alien species so much they decide to commit genocide seems to me to be a bit of an overreaction.

Really??

[nbirthisel · 7/10 · 26 September 2021]

I like this show. I particularly liked season one. Yes the mechanical dogs were a bit quirky and you could question how they seemed able to access all areas, but I wouldn't want one of them chasing me. Also I was pleased that it wasn't just a rehash of the original story.

But the direction of season two worries me. Time travel, really?! So many holes. (As others have noted) why would you go back in time to kill a man who creates a virus, if the only reason he creates the virus is because you went back in time? In fact, if you never went back in time even the thought of going back in time would never have arisen. Also, if you go back into your own historical timeline and wipe out the majority of the population, doesn't that bring your own existence into question? Every time an invader kills someone, ten invaders should cease to exist.

Hopefully the writers know more than me and have a great storyline out of this mess.

Not War of the Worlds, maybe War for the Earth

[martintallon-62-398805 · 8/10 · 5 April 2020]

War of the Worlds is typically owned between Earth & Mars which this is not even close. As a SciFi show it's OK, but it seems it was named to steal ratings from the BBC release of the same name. Just like C W Howell does with his movies using the same or almost same name as a box office hit to lure people in to watch only to find out they got duped. Anyway It's not that bad, No SciFi is bad except maybe the so named channel with wrestling and paranormal garbage and very little actual SciFi, but that's another comment section. If you like SciFi you may like this, just ignore the title and you'll be fine.

Started off very well but.....

[vahid-mousavi · 6/10 · 24 January 2023]

The show has absolutely nothing in common with the original War of the Worlds movie other than it's title.

Yes it is about a cataclysmic event, but then again there are dozens of other shows and movies about the end of the world.

There are no aliens (spoiler) even though they keep saying there are even after they find out there aren't any.

So many silly plots where you keep shouting at the TV "why are you going there"?

Still I watched it till the end just like you have to watch a bad accident to see if there's something interesting to see.

I really wish they had created a TV series of the classic War of the Worlds. It would have been very interesting.

Calling this show The War of the Worlds is like calling ham sandwich a cheesecake. They are both edible but don't have anything else in common.

It doesn't get better and there's nothing at the end

[jim-482-862831 · 2/10 · 3 November 2019]

I'm not sure why, but I watched all 8 episodes, and after each one ended I would say to myself, "wow, this show is truly awful." But I kept thinking, maybe next episode they'll show the aliens or big alien machines. Let me save you some time: that never happens. The only alien things you see are these cyborg robot dog things that look like what the US army developed several years ago. At one point, they imply that there are more intelligent beings somewhere, but it never goes further than that. They show a lot of dead people lying on the ground. I now believe they were bored to death by reading the scripts. there's a British mini-series of war of the worlds that was produced around the same time, and it's so much better! They show giant alien machines, and the alien creatures come out and eat people! Now I know why you never hear about any hit French TV shows outside of France.

DO NOT listen to the hate for this show, Its really good.

[valkyrtwitch · 9/10 · 7 December 2019]

First off, like the title suggests don't bother listening to the mass hate for this show, it's solid character driven Sci-Fi but for some reason people seem to need action spoon-fed to them to be happy, This is not and was never supposed to be an action series, it is a character driven re-imagining of the aftermath of an alien attack, it was never a recreation of the original Wells story.

Should it have been called 'war of the worlds' probably not, however, 8 episodes is not enough time to flesh out what they are trying to do, especially with such a large cast, The story and ending is quite clever if you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together and remember this is not a carbon copy of any of the others, it is a 're-imagining', meaning that the original concept of an 'alien attack' is the only thing that is the same.

I think a lot of people were expecting the typical 20 minutes of character introduction and then non stop action for the rest, like a lot of Sci Fi, instead here the action takes a back role in favour of character development.

I would highly recommend this show for anyone who likes to think for themselves rather than those who like to be spoon-fed explosions and cheesy lines but do not go into it expecting the same Wells story as has been done before.

Lastly (no spoilers) A lot of people seem to hate the show because of the ending, calling it 'flat' and 'boring' and rather than use their brains to think about it for more than 10 seconds these people jumped to the conclusion that it was bad, it wasn't, its actually really good, well thought out and thought provoking at the same time it also gives away a massive realisation for going forward with another season but these people leaving reviews clearly did not understand the ending or what it was meant to suggest to the viewer and all i can say is my jaw dropped with it and i can not wait for another season.

Should have been a limited series

[mavericksy · 6/10 · 17 June 2021]

The show is not bad so much as just a super slow pace. I feel like they could have made the show like a 10 hour limited series and picked up the whole pace of the show instead of making everything move so slow and methodical. I'd give it an 8 if they had squeezed all the story from both seasons along with an ending into those 10 hours.

If it was not called War of the Worlds, no one would complain

[garodardavis-08913 · 5/10 · 1 November 2019]

First I want to say that I am quite disappointed that the show completely reimagined what the book was about. The aliens are not martians, there most likely are no tripods and the aliens look like robots.

However, if you watch this show with a different perspective and forsake the fact that it is called War of the Worlds, you will surely enjoy the show. The fact that they chose the french/british production over the american makes it a lot more intriguing. To be honest I am sick of american alien invasions and the setting makes for a nice change. The acting is decent, the characters so far are interesting and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. The show delivers a sense of mystery and is very ominous during most of the runtime, not to mention that the director isn't afraid to kill off characters, which brings a sense of realism to the situation. While the aliens are still shrouded, you do get a small glimpse at them. I am not so impressed with how they designed them, and I am not impressed with the fact we have so far not seen any machines, but I hope my opinion changes in next episodes.

Like I said, this show suffers from 1 debatable flaw and that is its name. If it was named anything else, it'd be great, but when the director chooses to name the show War of the Worlds, certain demands have to be met to please the audience and I understand that. This show does not fulfill demands of the book fans, but as its own production, the series makes for a decent story about survival and human character. I would definitely recommend u to watch it, but do not expect a faithful adaptation.

Different and Very Good

[kfratt · 8/10 · 3 August 2021]

Different from the classic Wells "War of the Worlds" but very good twist on the original theme. I also appreciate that the characters (actors) are basically regular and ordinary-looking people and not supermodels or other unrealistic types. This lends to the realism of the series from week to week, and I for one look forward to more, if there is more.

Starts well but ends flat

[sam-32569 · 7/10 · 5 November 2019]

Great acting and script across the range of actors. I'm usually quite immune to most tired out horror tropes, but this series is thoroughly chilling and uncomfortable to watch in parts - some images from this series haunt me - it's certainly not for the faint-hearted. The series includes an obvious callout to the perils of weaponised AI. However, the tech angle is a bit disappointing - some of it was just too far-fetched, and others too primitive for a foe capable of interstellar travel.

Overall, this was a great story that kept interest up all the way, but I felt the season fell flat at the end with a disappointing final episode ending. Not sure I can weather another season after this one.

Sigh!!

[Snowraven69 · 1/10 · 25 December 2019]

This is the sound I made during each episode after forcing myself into watching the next one in the hope that the show would improve then realise 5 minutes into each episode that 45 minutes of tedium awaited me.... "Sigh" Each sigh lasted 45 minutes, I'll say no more.Is it over yet?