The Great Martian War 1913–1917

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The Great Martian War
1913–1917
Promotional poster
GenreAlternate history
Science fiction
Based onThe War of the Worlds
by H. G. Wells
Written bySteve Maher
Stephen Sarossy
Directed byMike Slee
StarringJock McLeod
Joan Gregson
Ian Downie
Thomas Gough
Narrated byMark Strong
Country of originCanada, United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersMichael Kot
Steve Maher
Mike Slee
CinematographyChristopher Romeike
Running time90 minutes
Original release
NetworkHistory
Release8 December 2013 (2013-12-08)

The Great Martian War 1913–1917 is a 2013 Canadian/UK

made-for-television science fiction docudrama film, produced by Michael Kot, Steve Maher, and Mike Slee, and also directed by Slee. It unfolds in the style of an episode from the History TV Channel
.

Overview

The film as presented is an

Martian invaders instead of Germany and the Central Powers. Europe is on tenterhooks in the second decade of the 20th century. Everyone is expecting war between the European powers. Many references to real events in World War I are woven into the film's fictional narrative, including parallels to the conflict, such as trench warfare and the Christmas truce, and America's late entry into the war. The film also utilizes a surprising twist on the "Spanish" flu pandemic
that killed more people than the conflict itself, which becomes the key development in ending the alien invasion.

Description

The film is based on the 1897 science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, by English author H. G. Wells, and includes both new and digitally altered film footage shot from World War I to establish the scope of the interplanetary conflict.

Historical Records

In June 1913, astronomers in

Kaiser Wilhelm
makes an urgent appeal to the world for military assistance in fighting what turns out to be a powerful, non-human invading force thought to be from Mars.

As the war unfolds, the European

Martian fighting machines, unaware that deep flaws exist in their military leadership's central battle strategy: the alien force sends thousands of scavenger drones over the battlefield every night, scouring every scrap of metal to be recycled into the construction of new fighting machines. The Allies' mass-wave tactics only serve to resupply the enemy with fresh metal. Across the Atlantic, US President Woodrow Wilson struggles to keep America out of the war while sending aid to the beleaguered European alliance. When a series of attacks on ships at sea is blamed on the Martians, politicians and the populace force President Wilson to resign. His replacement, Theodore Roosevelt, is restored to office and joins the European allies. Whether the ship attacks really were perpetuated by Martians, which had never been seen in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Atlantic, or were a False flag
operation by the Allies is speculated upon but unanswered.

Following an apparent attack on London by a single alien tripod, the Allies discover that the Martians are vulnerable to

bioweapon despite the risk of triggering a pandemic
. The weapon is released and kills the Martians in couple of weeks, winning the war. However, the disease mutates after coming into contact with the humans, resulting in millions more deaths in the following pandemic than had occurred during the war.

Throughout the documentary, modern historians with opposing views about the conflict's many controversies. They disagree on an incendiary new discovery centered around the previously uncrackable "Martian Code", a vast century-old cache Martian documents seized following the end of the war. These messages are warnings from the "Martians" themselves about the true culprit behind invasion: a

parasitic
existence, ready to "infect" whichever alien species manages to defeat us in order to repeat the cycle again

Main cast

Reception

One film reviewer found the film gripping and "not only fascinating to watch, but very realistic right to the very end".

Postmedia News, the film is "a novelty, but an inventive and surprisingly engaging novelty".[3] Still another reviewer states, "What an audacious, perfectly clever, and perfectly realized project. The utmost skill and craftsmanship have delivered this merging of faux archival-style (scratched, battered) footage (appearing as though from The Great War) with an endless CGI army of ruthless Titan alien machines. To my mind, the result was utterly awesome, and 'awesome' is not a word I throw around lightly. Indeed, the entire film seems authentic, and to have pulled it off so satisfactorily reflects uncommonly well on The Great Martian War’s creative team".[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Woodham, Karen (3 August 2014). "Great Martian War 1913–1917 [Review]". BlazingMinds.co.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  2. ^ Bowling, Dave (15 December 2013). "TV Review: FTN reviews The Great Martian War 1913–1917". FollowingTheNerd.com. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  3. Postmedia News. Archived from the original
    on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. ISBN 978-0-7864-9914-4
    .
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