War of the Worlds: Goliath finally got its UK premiere at the Sci-Fi-London event. Impact was there for the invasion...
We've closely followed the evolution of War of the Worlds: Goliath - from the earliest days when veteran writer David Abramowitz first began penning the script from producer Joe Pearson' framework (and I inadvertently doomed my hometown of Leeds with an off-hand musing about why it was always Paris, London or New York that got picked on by the aliens and not other cities. Whoops...). The projects mix of anime-style animation, the action content and the voice-talent (almost the entire cast of the Highlander tv series) made it ideal for us to be interested in and watching it develop over the last four years - from words and sketches on a page to a fully three-dimensional film has been fascinating.
The film finally got its UK premiere at the Sci-Fi-London event on the morning of the 4th May. Despite the fact it was a gloriously sunny weekend, a fair amount of people turned out for the morning screening and the audiotorium was almost full for the all-night anime extravaganza when it got a repeat showing later that night. 3D glasses handed out in the nick of time, the film began on the dot of 11:00am as an updated, more synthesised version of the classic Forever Autumn song (originally sung by Justin Hayward in the Jeff Wayne concept album) echoed out of the speakers as first Leeds and then several other cities felt the weight of the attempted Martian invasion.
Though I'd seen certain sequences and knew a lot of the backstory for the project, this was actually my first chance to see the entire film on the screen and in full 3D and I have to say I was it's a pretty impressive end result. You can read what contributor Dave Davis thought at one of the very first sceenings at last year's SDCC HERE but we decided to give it the first UK review as well...
With the Martians returning to Earth for a second attempt (no man-flu to fell them this time!), it changes the dynamic of the world's more terrestrial struggles. While some countries pull part for their own border disputes, wanting their countrymen back home from the ARES project (think an international early incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D. meets GI Joe), the actual army members mostly want to ignore their mother/fatherland's directives and still work together against a common enemy. It doesn't mean there aren't fractures, questions of loyalty and agenda, but it does mean that what starts out as a training exercise rapidly turns into a genuine fight for survival. The members are diverse... Englishman Eric Wells (Peter Wingfield) is the man haunted by losing his parents to a tripod (somewhat unluckily, as about one minute later the Martian itself had succumbed to germs) and leader of the team, with able support from the likes of American Jennifer Carter (Elizabeth Gracen), Irishman Patrick O'Brien (Adrian Paul), Canadian Abraham Douglas (Beau Billingslea), Malay prince Shah (Tony Eusoff) and the "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen from Germany (Matt Letscher) ... but out-flanked and out-numbered they're going to do their best to defend North America - under the watchful eye and rallying call of Theodore Roosevelt (voiced by another Highlander allumni Jim Byrnes)
Both visually and narratively, it's good to see a lot of thought being put into how abandoned Martian techology would have sped up mankind's progress in the early years of the Twentieth Century - steampunk fans will love some of the creations and backdrops - but also find it balanced with mankind's innate way of still finding new and interesting ways to screw things up and pursue agendas. Some of the thoughtful geo-politics included are a welcome bonus for more discerning, older watchers but may be of less interest to younger audience-members. However there's nothing here that's inherently unsuitable for that younger generation. Perhaps it says something about the exposure to material in the modern era, but I certainly wouldn't feel uncomfortable taking anyone over the age of ten to see War of the Worlds: Goliath on a visual level. Yes, many a hapless human finds themself incinerated to dust by the Martian death-rays, their skeletons lasting only milliseconds in the air, but one suspects kids have seen worse death and destruction elsewhere.
What were the comments from audience-members after the screening? Most reflected my own general opinions of the finished piece. Most were positive, praising the 3D effects - many saying that the tripod designs and backdrops were particularly effective and that the flatter, traditional animation worked reasonably well alongside the higher-tech aspects. The only criticisms came over some over-played stereotypical accents from some of the supporting characters and a feeling that some of the interesting back-stories that were weaved through the narrative (for example the geo-politics of how the invasion had affected the more terrestrial England/Irish and IRA battles) were touched upon but not always explored more fully or evenly thereafter. This left interesting supporting characters like genre-magnet Mark Sheppard's militant IRA man Sean O'Brien with less of an arc - almost as if the film was a pilot episode leaving aspects to explore in the second episode. Several said they would have liked a more bombastic music over the closing credits (instead of the melancholy reprise of Forever Autumn) and a few bemoaned the fact that a more raunchy version of a liasion between Wingfield's Eric and Gracen's Carter appeared to have been cut-out to leave almost everything to the imagination - though this could have been because it was the Mayalsian version of the film. However almost everyone said they had their fingers crossed for either a full theatrical release or at least a DVD release (maybe with a longer cut) on DVD.
The whole Sci-Fi London event seemed to have a diverse number of screenings and events and this was an ideal way to launch the film to a UK audience. Producer Leon Tan says he's always nervous before the film gets a screening... four years of solid work having to face its final test: the public. He needn't worry. One hopes that there'll be other opportunities to see it around the UK and a wider release in the not-too-distant future...
(Note: Special thanks to Louis Savy and Leon Tan for assistance in attending the screening).
