The War Of The Worlds - Live On Stage (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)

I must start with asking how anyone can criticise the music in this is beyond me. An orchestra of powerful music with the vocal talents of the Moody Blues Justin Hayward is outstanding. This DVD was filmed during the successful run of the stage show of Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation of the War of the Worlds. The original story was written by H.G Wells in 1898. This famous story has had its popularity exhibited by its production as a major hollywood movie. The original Musical adaptation was concocted by Jeff Wayne in 1978, with famous people such as Richard Burton as the narrator and as stated, Justin Hayward as one of the singers. Richard Burton ...  Read the complete review

Awful. Just awful. Firstly, if you're looking for a stage musical with theatre and acting, look elsewhere. This is solely about the poor music. With that in mind however, it doesn't really visually focus on the orchestra like it should. Like the proms, for example. Where you see the huge impressive orchestra. Instead, this is more focused on an appallingly bad computer animated video. Oh, and let's not forget the giant floating head that looks like something from South Park. Ridiculously cheerful music, for saying it's suppposed to be the end of the world. It's almost foot-tapping! And damn, it goes on and on. Same tune over and over. Practically none of it is onstage ...  Read the complete review

When composer Jeff Wayne devised the musical version of War Of The Worlds in 1978 he knew it would be big, exactly how big it would become was an unknown. By 1982 the album had become one of the biggest selling records of all time, so Wayne made preparations for phase two a version so show in America's Broadway, and London's West End. With plans firmly afoot to bring the entire original cast and musicians to stage 1984 bought things to a staggering halt; the main cast member Richard Burton had died. Plans for a live version were scraped, but desperate to bring a new audience up to speed with the phenomena Jeff Wayne created a slightly remixed "highlights" album ...  Read the complete review