• The War of the Worlds (Dramatized)

  • By: Orson Welles
  • Narrated by: Orson Welles
  • Length: 56 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (857 ratings)

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The War of the Worlds (Dramatized)  By  cover art

The War of the Worlds (Dramatized)

By: Orson Welles
Narrated by: Orson Welles
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Publisher's summary

The original uncut Radio Broadcast.

On the evening of October 30th, 1938, Earth went to war with Mars. Martians invaded New Jersey!

Here is the famous panic-inducing broadcast that shook the world, starring Orson Welles.

©2012 ABN (P)2011 ABN

Featured Article: The top 100 classics of all time


Before we whipped out our old high school syllabi and dug deep into our libraries to start selecting contenders for this list, we first had to answer the question, "How do we define a classic?" The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might guess, though there’s a lot to be said for the old adage, "You know it when you see it" (or, in this case, hear it). Of course, most critically, each of our picks had to be fabulous in audio. So dust off your aspirational listening list—we have some amazing additions you don’t want to miss.

What listeners say about The War of the Worlds (Dramatized)

Average customer ratings
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Excellent!

Would you listen to War of the Worlds (Dramatized) again? Why?

What's not to like?!

What was one of the most memorable moments of War of the Worlds (Dramatized)?

A memorable moment was when a coworker asked me a question and I was pretending to listen to CE but I was really listening to this.

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Classic story

I got this one so I could listen to a bit of history and a fictional story that caused some people to get scared.

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The Original

The orginal recording to get caught up in. Orson Wells voice commands attention, and confidently takes you along for the ride. Awesome.

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Wonderful

To hear hear this old radio show and know the history and story behind it. What a wonderful voice in Orson Welles.

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A fun snippet

While I highly recommend the real story, the Mercury Theatre made a fun remake here, and you should absolutely listen to this small piece of history that frightened a small percentage of the population in its time.

Just NEVER watch the tom cruise movie.

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I would have been terrified!

Had this aired and I didn’t know it was a dramatization, I could see the public freaking out! It was wonderful listening to this after hearing so much about it. Everyone should listen to it, pretend you’re back in that time, and put yourself in the story.

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Good old fashioned entertainment

Yes, the quality is garbled and exactly what you'd expect from the 1930s but that is where the charm comes from I think.

overall very well written, produced and acted.

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I enjoyed!!!

maybe it's been too long but I didnt not feel the panic that they originally felt but it was still one heck of a story!!!!

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A Classic Everyone Needs to Hear

I am a big fan of sci-fi books and "The War of the Worlds" is a favorite of mine. I remember as a kid hearing about this famous broadcast and trying to find it online. I found it and loved listening to it, and not I can from a major provider.

The story is great, and stands the test of time. Sure the performance is not that good, and the times have changes but this still stands tall. I would love for someone to take this and remake it, either as a podcast or a video series or something. Take the idea of "The War of the Worlds" but happening right now and it being documented by random people.

I think fans of sci-fi, horror, the works of H.G. Wells, audio production, and especially media/social media need to listen to this and take what it does and try it in the real modern world.

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Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!

I love it!!!! Orson Welles is spectacular!!! I wish I could go back in time, that would have been amazing to hear back then!!! Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!

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