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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A show 28 years in the making, comes brilliantly to life, 6 Jun 2007
I can only assume if you far enough to read this review, you are a fan, or at least an owner, of the album of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of `The War of the Worlds'. If you are, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised what a fantastic job they did bringing this to the stage so true to its original form, and then of course on to DVD. If not in on what its all about, then I urge you to still watch this - it's a unique album, and a unique stage experience.
The show itself uses a mixture of elements. The orchestra and the band are on stage, and various characters walk on and act and sing their roles. This all works very well, with a dramatic backdrop of sub-cinema standard cgi graphics going on, on the massive screen behind the orchestra. In addition, a large almost life sized Martian's Fighting Machine has been made, and even Richard Burton is featured - not just his voice, but an animated projection of his head, on a large sculpted bust hung above the stage. In fact, these two much-hyped elements of the show are the weakest. If you can't have the real Richard Burton, they should have stuck to his voice, instead of a rather unconvincingly animated photograph. And the Fighting Machine has undeniable scale, but for all that adds little to proceedings.
No, the star of the show is the music and the musicians. There are some of the original participants involved.. some of the musicians involved were on the original album, such as Justin Hayward singing the ever popular `Forever Autumn', and Chris Thompson reprising his `Thunder Child'. The other participants are now either dead or too old for the roles.. so we have (surprisingly) Russell Watson playing the Parson, and the less well known but perfectly cast Tara Blaise as Beth his wife, and the excellent Alexis James as the artilleryman - who may even be better than David Essex' version!
So apart from the show, what else is present on the two disc version..? Well, this is where the DVD crosses over from being an interesting rental to a worthwhile purchase.
There are a multitude of extras - some of them the usual `This-is-how-we-made-it' publicity, and some uninvolving talking heads. However, there is a one hour long documentary of the tour, which is amazingly candid. This shows the principal contributors from an early stage as they start rehearsing, through to the first night and some footnotes from the end of the brief tour. Worthwhile moments are - the tension as the original cgi efforts do not impress, Russell Watson acting surprisingly childishly, and seeing some of the rather excellent unsung heroes - the understudies.. the male understudy actually had to understudy all 4 male parts, and when Watson twists his ankle he is called upon and succeeds admirably. The final conversation with Wayne suggest the show could be back - a tantalising thought for all those like me who missed it this time round.
All in all - timeless music, great musicians, and a pretty good show with excellent sound, packaged with genually entertaining extras - what's not to like?
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![The War Of The Worlds Live : Special Edition (2 disc) [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51D8N945XCL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Jeff Waynes The War of The Worlds 30th Anniversary Edition [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514sh8acxHL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![The War Of The Worlds Live [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HNTMYJFML._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
~ Jeff Wayne
![The War of the Worlds [7-disc Collector's Edition]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Ht3wr6dHL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ Jeff Wayne
![Jeff Waynes The War of The Worlds 30th Anniversary Edition [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514sh8acxHL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ Jeff Wayne
![The War Of The Worlds Live [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HNTMYJFML._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Jeff Wayne
