# Watching the DVD of the "authentic" WOTW now... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615 "2005-06-09T17:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/1 "2005-06-09T17:26:27Z")
a half-hour into the movie, the Martian has finally emerged from the cylinder… Oh. my. God. Not in the good way either! 😃 This is actually fun in its badness! It should have been released it theatres! Just to see the mass reactions! This coulda been a cult film! More tomorrow, once I’ve seen & pondered on it all. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/2 "2005-06-09T19:25:12Z")
Is this the low budget british production, that’ supposed to be faithful to the book and period? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/3 "2005-06-09T19:28:48Z")
Must be. He couldn’t be talking about the Gene Barry one, which was GREAT! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/4 "2005-06-10T10:14:23Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Is this the low budget british production, that’ supposed to be faithful to the book and period? Oh yes, and faithful it may be- faithful for three long drawn out boring hours in excruciating detail! And the Martians- oh god, the Martians- like a hybrid between a squid & a pudding- not slithering on their multiple tentacles, not walking on their multiple tentacles, but HOPPING, oh dear Heaven! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/5 "2005-06-10T18:26:49Z")
Giant walking tripod machines? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/6 "2005-06-10T18:31:17Z")
Was this the one meant to be released this year, until they found out Speilburg was doing a big-budget version with Tom Cruise? Or is it older? And how did you get a copy? Did they just release it straight to DVD in hopes to cut their losses, or is it a bootleg of some kind? (Reminds me of that ill-fated Fantastic Four movie from the late 80’s/early 90’s.) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/7 "2005-06-10T18:39:57Z")
[Here is the IMDb listing.](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0425638/combined) ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/8 "2005-06-10T20:10:10Z")
According to the IMDB: “When the project was originally in development in 2001, Michael Caine, Charlize Theron and Eric Stoltz were offered roles in the film. All three declined.” That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: Michael Caine _turned down a role_ in this movie. _Michael Caine!_ I think that’s all we need to know. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/9 "2005-06-11T13:30:24Z")
I haven’t seen this, and judging from the trailers, I definitely don’t want to. One of the trailers was a “message from the actors” clip, and judging by their accents, I’d be willing to bet anything you’d care to mention that they ain’t British. And then there was the bit with the guy pointing to the sky and saying that the red light was Mars. He must’ve had good eyes, as it was full daylight. According to comments made on AICN, when the director (Timothy “legend in his own mind” Hines) announced that production had started, he said that Caine and Theron were already signed to be in the movie. Turns out that he had just sent to their agents unsolicited scripts and letters inquiring as to their availability. At one point, he also stated that the SFX would be “better than the Matrix.” Now, I enjoy seeing arrogance like this come to its downfall as much as anyone, but after seeing various online reviews (Amazon, [waroftheworldsonline.com](http://waroftheworldsonline.com)) I’m not going anywhere near this one…unless MST3K comes out of retirement and riffs on it, of course. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-dvd-of-the-authentic-wotw-now/307615/10 "2005-06-11T17:07:13Z")
Hines sounds like the [Derek Smart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Smart) of independent filmmaking. 😉