Introduction

War of the Worlds: Goliath is a 2012 Malaysian animated science fiction film directed by Joe Pearson that was released in 15 November 2012 in Malaysia.

The film is voiced by actors Peter Wingfield, Adrian Paul, Tony Eusoff, Elizabeth Gracen, Jim Byrnes, Rob Middleton, Mark Sheppard, Matt Letscher, Adam Baldwin and other voice actors.

The film is a loose sequel to H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds.

The film’s title refers to the human tripod the main characters use in the film.

Outline

The film is set in an alternate-reality Earth. In 1899, the Martians launched an unprovoked attack on the major nations of the world. In Leeds, England, a younger Eric Wells watches in horror as a Martian Tripod lays waste to his city and then kills his father and mother. But before it can kill him, the Martian Tripod suddenly keels forward and crashes into the ground. Over 140 million people were killed by the Martians, and many of the great cities of the world were destroyed until the Martians were killed off by Earth’s bacteria, to which the Martians had no defence against.

15 years later, in Manhattan, New York City in 1914, the world has seen radical change and development. It has become a dieselpunk/steampunk-like world, where Earth is at the potential onset of the Great War as the European nations’ fragile alliance begins to shatter. A now grown-up Eric Wells is Captain of a Tripod squad for the A.R.E.S. (Allied Resistance Earth Squadron) organisation, alongside American Lieutenant Jennifer Carter, Irish Corporal Patrick O’Brien, Canadian Sergeant Abraham Douglas, and Malayan Lieutenant Raja Iskandar Shah. A.R.E.S. is commanded by strict Russian General Sergei Kushnirov (who lost his family to the Martians in 1899 at St. Petersburg), Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt (who forsook a second term as President of the United States), and Professor Nikola Tesla, an enigmatic scientist who reverse-engineered the technology from the first, failed, invasion of the Martians and created A.R.E.S. weapons and vehicles.

Eric Wells is given the first of a new type of steam-powered, Achilles-class Battle Tripod, (65 feet tall, armed with heavy machine guns and six light rockets, a heat ray and an 88-millimetre cannon) who nick-names his new tripod ‘The Goliath’.

But as his crew are preparing to engage another group of Tripods in a simulated war game against Japanese Captain Sakai, the A.R.E.S. alliance is threatened by the onset of the Great War when Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo. The members of A.R.E.S. are all called back to their respective countries in preparation for the coming war, but Eric, outraged at the stupidity of the human politicians and leaders, convinces everyone to stay and prepare for the coming Martian invasion.

This proves to be advantageous, as a second, more ruthless, Martian invasion begins, using more advanced, 100 foot tall, heat ray spewing, tripod battle machines, and are now immune to Earth’s bacteria. The Martians first attack the War Games, and decimate many of A.R.E.S.’s forces until they themselves are destroyed by Eric and his team. But, according to General Kurshnirov at the debrief, that was just a probing attack to judge A.R.E.S.’ combat potential as the real invasion began.

The Martians landed on various countries and A.R.E.S. are deployed to repel the invasion. General Kurshnirov set an ambush for some of the tripods and on knowing three Tripods had broke off, send Eric’s team to hunt the three Tripods. Eric and his team destroyed two tripods with the aid of the militia, with only Eric’s crew and Wilson, member of the militia, surviving the encounter. Wilson led Eric to a factory where the Martians are using as a base. They discovered the Martians were capturing and harvesting humans, and building weapons for the invasion. The prisoners are rescued and the factory then destroyed. The Leviathan, A.R.E.S.’s flying warship, then arrives to evacuate the team.

General Kurshnirov briefs Eric that the attacks were a feint to draw out A.R.E.S.’s forces out of New York and the Martians had attacked A.R.E.S.’s base in New York. New York was overrun with Roosevelt holding the A.R.E.S.’s base. The Martians breaches the base and the Leviathan and Agemmon, A.R.E.S.’s other floating warship, arrives to relieve the siege and Roosevelt regains the base. Together, they destroy all the Martians in New York.

As they are celebrating their victory, a large Martian spacecraft emerged from the waters near Liberty Island in New York Harbour. The spacecraft attacks A.R.E.S. base with devastating effects with its heat rays. Leviathan and Agemmon concentrate their attacks on the Martian spacecraft which causes it to attack both warships. Agemmon is then destroyed in a heat ray attack. The Leviathan flies low to avoid the heat rays while trying to get closer to it. A destroyed building falls on the Leviathan’s bridge and caused it to crash to the buildings on its side. The crash causes a Lieutenant to fall off the bridge but he manages to cling to the side of the warship. General Kurshnirov attempts to save the lieutenant but he let go of General Kurshnirov’s hands to allow General Kurshnirov to regain control of the Leviathan. The lieutenant calls out to General Kurshnirov “I love you, Father” as he falls to his death. General Kurshnirov regains control of the Leviathan and steer the warship in a collision course with the Martian spacecraft. They collide together and are destroyed, ending the invasion.

Roosevelt rallies the survivors to rebuild Earth and bring the war to Mars.

The War of the Worlds Film, TV Series & Documentaries

You can find a full index here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director: Joe Pearson.
• Producers: Joe Pearson, Kevin Eastman, and Leon Tan.
• Writers: Joe Pearson and David Abramowitz.
• Music: Luka Kuncevic.
• Production: Studio Climb and Sun Min Image Pictures.
• Release Date: 15 November 2012.
• Running Time: 82 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

YouTube Link