Война миров: Продолжение вторжения

Science fiction television series

War of the Worlds is a science fiction television series that ran for two seasons, from October 7, 1988 to May 14, 1990. The series is a continuation of the 1953 film The War of the Worlds, a loose adaptation of the 1898 novel of the same title by H. G. Wells, using the same war machine designs and often incorporating aspects from the film, radio adaptation, and the original novel into its mythology. Though the original film's producer, George Pal, envisioned a TV follow up sometime in the 1970s, it was not until the late 1980s that a series was finally realized, this time by television producer Greg Strangis. The show was a part of the boom of first run syndicated television series being produced at the time. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel. The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

According to the series, rather than being killed outright by germs at the end of the 1953 film, the aliens had all slipped into a state of suspended animation. Their bodies were stored away in toxic waste drums and shipped to various disposal sites within the United States (ten such sites are known to exist in the country) and a widespread government cover up combined with a condition dubbed “selective amnesia” has convinced most people that the invasion had never happened. Although the original movie narration had explicitly stated that the aliens were Martians (even featuring artwork indicating an alien city on the planet Mars), since 1953 the concept of vastly intelligent life on Mars had lost plausibility. In the series, the aliens are revealed to actually be from Mor Tax—a garden planet 40 light years away in the Taurus constellation orbiting a dying sun. Thirty five years later, in 1988 (modern day when the series began), a terrorist group calling itself the People's Liberation Party accidentally irradiates the drums containing the aliens while raiding the dumpsite near Fort Jericho. The radiation destroys the bacteria that were keeping the aliens unconscious. Once free, the aliens take possession of the bodies of the six terrorists who overran the site. From there they use a series of human bodies and crudely adapted Earth technology to find means of appropriating the planet, both in removing humanity and developing a permanent means to inoculate themselves against the planet's indigenous bacteria. Their attempt to successfully make Earth into their new homeworld is imperative, for in roughly five years three million colonists from Mor Tax are expected to arrive.

The first season featured some recognisable actors in the series. Aside from getting Ann Robinson to reprise her role as Sylvia van Buren from the film, the series also obtained John Colicos (from Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek) as rogue alien Quinn who, while only appearing twice, was no doubt intended to play an integral part of the series as it went on (the character's power hungry nature and middleman status between two worlds is noticeably reminiscent of Colicos’ role as Lord Baltar). The list of notable guests begins in the show's very start with John Vernon appearing in the first two episodes as General Wilson. Other guest stars throughout the series: Patrick Macnee, Greg Morris, Jeff Corey, John Ireland, Colm Feore, and James Hong. The series was also the early working ground for future stars. Chris Potter made his acting debut in the second episode of season one. Singer Alannah Myles appears in the 20th episode of season one, which aired less than three weeks after the release of her platinum certified eponymous debut album. Aside from exclusive season two star Adrian Paul (of Highlander fame), the second season also featured the first onscreen appearance of Mia Kirshner. The second season also gave more screentime to Rachel Blanchard, who only had minor play in the first season. Julian Richings also makes regular appearances as Ardix, an alien scientist working under Mana.

Note that three episodes ("The Walls of Jericho", "The Good Samaritan", and "Epiphany") are credited to pseudonyms based on the original film characters Clayton Forrester and Sylvia van Buren. These were the first three regular episodes produced, during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, and the writers (possibly including series creator Greg Strangis) went uncredited to avoid being charged with strikebreaking.

A novelization of the pilot episode was written by J. M. Dillard. While following the same narrative structure of the episode, the book contains characters from the 1953 film and scenes not included in the final cut of the pilot; it also explores more deeply the aliens' political motivations, and emphasizes denial instead of the "selective amnesia" aspect of the plot.

On November 1, 2005, Paramount Home Media Distribution released season 1 on DVD in Region 1. The set's release coincided with the DVD re release of the 1953 film from which the show was spawned (the updated version from Steven Spielberg being released on DVD later the same month). A common criticism of the DVDs has been the poor image quality; fans in particular also point out the omission of the alien hand animation from the opening credits that had been inexplicably removed from every episode. The set contains no special features. It does, however, allow the viewer to jump to a chapter, which are divided by act, including the opening and closing credits, but are not available via any menu. It also includes closed captioning, but these may not be entirely reliable as there are several clear errors for example, it is inconsistent in how it spells the name of the aliens' homeworld, neither of which is the canonical spelling. By contrast, however, in a few episodes, the captioning refers to the Advocates by the name of their original host bodies from the pilot episode (i. e. Chambers, Urick, and Einhorn), even in the absence of the original actors. The second and final season was released on October 26, 2010, nearly five years after the release of the first season. In Region 2, Revelation Films has released both seasons on DVD in the UK. Season 1 was released on April 30, 2012 and Season 2 was released on August 30, 2012. On February 6, 2018, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution released seasons 1 and 2 as a single package entitled War of the Worlds: The Complete Series on DVD.