Comparision Point Two: the reality of The War of the Worlds vs the hyperreality of The World’s End.
The clip from The War of the Worlds is when the main character – Clayton Forrester – first meets the aliens. This scene has a very serious tone to it, and there is a strong sense of verisimilitude that helps the audience believe that what they are watching could be real. it has very traditional elements of science-fiction, including the obvious alien invasion, and the set reflects the idea of a disaster. The clip from The World’s End, is the point in the film when the main characters come into contact with the aliens. Compared to the point of first contact from The War of the Worlds, it is presented as much more comical, with Oliver’s repeated phrase “WTF”, and the hyperrealistic way that the scene is presented with the fight sequence.
The scene from The War of the Worlds is the main fight against the Martians. It is presented seriously, and the audience can sympathise with the characters as what is happening seems quite believable. The film also uses stock footage from the war in some scenes, which again adds a sense of verisimilitude, and makes the action seem more serious and dangerous. The scene from The World’s End is one of the main fights that the main characters have against the invading aliens. Again, it is presented in a much more comical way than in The War of the Worlds, and it is clearly very rehearsed. The over-exaggerated actions of all the characters reflects the postmodern style of the film, and gives it a sense of hyperreality.
The opening scene to The War of the Worlds takes a modernist approach to science-fiction, as it explains the Martians in a very scientific way, focusing on details of all the planets in the solar system (except Venus). This relates to the fact that The War of the Worlds comes in the classic stage of science-fiction’s genre cycle, when the conventions are iconic and easily recognised by audiences. In comparison, The World’s End is much more postmodern, as
