War of the Worlds: Goliath
It seems like every day there’s just a bit more steampunk in the world. The latest addition to the steampunk genre is “War of the Worlds: Goliath”. It’s an animated movie, but it seems to be rated R for language, violence, and possibly sex and nudity. It’s, after all, produced by the “Heavy Metal” people, so anything goes I guess. Of course, that also means the film won’t pull any punches so it could be pretty cool. In fact, based on the trailer, it will be pretty cool.
The basic synopses from “Heavy Metal Magazine” is as follows (no real spoilers, so don’t worry):
In 1900, the Earth was attacked by ruthless invaders from the planet Mars. The Martian’s 80 ft tall, heat-ray spewing, Tripod battle machines laid waste to the planet, but the invaders ultimately fell prey to Earth’s tiny bacteria.
Fourteen years later, Man has rebuilt his shattered world, in large part by utilizing captured Martian technology. Equipped with giant, steam-powered Tripod battle machines, the international rapid reaction force, A.R.E.S., is Mankind’s first line of defense against the return of the rapacious Martian invaders. Based in a massive fortress complex at the south end of Manhattan Island, the young warriors of A.R.E.S. train under the leadership of Secretary of War, Theodore Roosevelt, and the grim General Kushnirov.
And return the Martians do. The rematch finds the multinational squad of the A.R.E.S. battle Tripod “Goliath” on the front-lines of a vicious interplanetary offensive when the Martian invaders launch their second invasion using even more advanced alien technology. In the crucible of combat, this young team helming the mighty Goliath will be tested to the limits of their endurance and courage as they fight for Mankind’s very survival under the onslaught of an implacable enemy.
This is the saga of “War of the Worlds: Goliath”, a 90-minute, animated, steampunk epic of war, comradeship and courage under fire.
True, true. Here’s the first part of the original radio broadcast from 1938. Classic!
Looks like a nice kit-bash between the Steampunk meme and WotW. The quality of the story and animation are probably suspect, however… just because it’s from the guys who made Heavy Metal.
(While I’m throwing in my 2 cents, I’ll add that they made a poor choice of narrator for the trailer — they probably should have stolen Orson Welles’ original broadcast introduction, instead. Welles had a tremendous voice and his introduction — including the static in the recording — is just classic.)