July 24, 2010 0132

I have never liked any of the War of the Worlds films but I have never been able to figure out why until now. A few minutes ago it dawned on me; neither of the mainstream films included the HMS Thunder Child. I am sure most of you have no idea what that is and why its absence ruined the films for me, so I will explain.

The original H. G. Wells novel takes place in Victorian London. The HMS Thunder Child was (originally) an ironclad torpedo ram. In the novel, it directly attacks three Martian tripods in an attempt to allow civilian ships carrying refugees to escape. During the battle, it destroys two of the three tripods before be destroyed itself.

Why is this important to me? It represented what I considered to be the climax. The Thunder Child was the only human weapon capable of standing up to a Martian tripod on even terms. When it was destroyed, all hope for humanity was lost.

So I ask you, how can such a significant part of the novel be left out of the movies? There is only one film that does have the Thunder Child and that is a little known version from 2005 by Pendragon Productions. I have not yet seen this one but I am already assuming it will be better than either of the two well known adaptions. Here's hoping I can find a copy!