The War of the Worlds

The filmmakers chose to update the novel, just as Welles had done with his famous radio play years before. The film is about the Martians' attempt to wipe out the human race and take over the Earth. The action takes place around a small town in the Midwest, near which a mysterious meteor-like object lands. Fortunately the young but renowned scientist Clayton Forrester is on hand, so he can advise the inhabitants. The object turns out to contain the Martians' war machines, which not even an atomic bomb can destroy. All over the Earth the Martians advance, but what humans cannot manage, our Earth's tiny bacilli can, for the Martians have no resistance to them.

It is uncanny how closely "Independence Day" follows The War of the Worlds in terms of story. The films also have in common, however, that oceans of time and money have been spent on the effects while the actors are left in the lurch. The special effects are surprisingly good for The War of the Worlds.