Paramount releases the original film version of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds on DVD this week. The glow-in-the-dark, screaming-in-Technicolor hues and tones of this production alone make it well worth the purchase.

The film also serves as an intriguing point of comparison and contrast with Spielberg’s version this year. The latter film makes overtures to terrorism, while this film, made in 1953, has the Martians standing in for those nasty Soviet commies. In particular, the ’50s evil meanies show no respect for God, knocking off a sweet old priest early on and even blowing up a church. These are godless commies, without a doubt. The film also nods to the nuclear anxiety of the day, with the American military attempting to take out the Martians with nukes.

The film suffers a rather pointless romantic plotline (see hero Gene Barry cop a free feel after Ann Robinson passes out in his arms), but its special effects—which won the film an Oscar—remain impressive to this day.