One of the better action animated flicks, War of the Worlds: Goliath has been released in both Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray. Filled with exciting science fiction war action the movie is sure to delight teens and twenties males, especially those that are into video games. The voice acting, direction and production are all top quality and the bonus features are extremely good.
It’s 1899 and Martian invaders have ravaged our planet only being stopped when Earth’s air destroyed the attackers. Among the survivors Eric Wells, who upon losing his mother and father that were protecting him, gets raised by foster parents. Flash forward 15 years later and Earth is about to get attacked again by a more advanced Martian battalion equipped with laser armed Tripods. Eric has always wanted revenge for his parent’s death and has joined A.R.E.S. an elite fighting fortress made up of soldiers from around the globe.
Showing gallantry in battle, Eric has risen to leader of a squad that includes Lt. Jennifer Carter, Lt. Raja Iskandar Shah, Sgt. Abraham Douglas and Corporal Patrick O’Brien. The team is extremely good and knows how to fight to the death. At a ceremony lead by the Secretary of War Teddy R the A.R.E.S. unveil the Achilles Cross Battle Tripod and Eric’s team gets to crew the huge battle machine. They nickname it Goliath and ready it for battle against an impossible force.
When they come up against the Martian invaders, the first encounter is devastating for A.R.E.S. Director Joe Pearson knows how to tell a story and he makes his War of the Worlds: Goliath compelling and action filled. He introduces his characters showing their strengths needed for battle. He even shows a bar fight between his squad and a German team who have to prove their loyalty to A.R.E.S. He spreads the action on the ground and in the air with amazing war machines and aircraft that fight an onslaught of Martian wingers and powerful tripods.
The animation artistry is extremely good making the graphic novel come to life with exciting action and an adventurous storyline. Colorful and explosive the well drawn characters and their environment with sharp lined figures work extremely well for the production. While computerized animation has taken the lead in the industry, this divergent media actually works better for the script.
The movie has some very nice bonus features,
BONUS FEATURES
- “Stories before the War” recounts the battle of St. Petersburg Russia that takes place 15 years earlier. The Oath goes into the battle of Albuquerque.
- “The Movie in Storyboards” This unique bonus allows you to watch the movie showing the storyboards in the upper right hand corner of the film.
- “Meet our Voice Actors” the main actors talk about their roles.
- “The Art of War” is probably the best bonus feature. Here the animators take the weapons and transports apart piece by piece to show how they look inside out.
- “The Lovers” is an adult only very quick deleted scene where Eric and Jennifer have a sexual encounter.
- “The Making of War of the Worlds: Goliath” One of the best making of extras I’ve seen for an animated film. The bonus interviews the cast and crew who talk about their roles in making the movie come to life.
- In the area where you find the subtitles on the disc you can turn on the Commentary by Director Joe Pearson and Writer David Abramowitz.
The video quality on the Blu-ray is excellent. Very vibrant and colorful the animation is a joy to watch. It even comes in Widescreen 16×9, 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio that fills the whole HD television screen. Clear and not a blemish, the movie gets high marks for presentation.
The sound quality using DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1 is clean and clear. All the dialogue is easily understandable (even the German accents) and the sound effects, explosions and death rays are chilling. I even experienced some side and back audio in most all the war scenes.
War of the Worlds: Goliath has been rated PG-13 for fantasy war violence including some disturbing images. If your teens are into video games, they have probably already experienced the kind of science fiction war violence that is featured here.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Adrian Paul, Adam Baldwin, Peter Wingfield, Mark Sheppard, Elizabeth Gracen, Jim Byrnes, Beau Billingslea, Matt Lescher and James Arnold Taylor
Director: Joe Pearson
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for fantasy war violence including some disturbing images
Genre: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Animation
Running Time: 1 hr 26 min
Video Release Date: April 1, 2014
Language: English
Format: Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, 16×9, 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish, Chinese, Bahasa Malaysa
Number of Discs: 2 Disc Combo Blu-ray & 3D Blu-ray
Distributed by: Anderson Digital
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
