Pajiba

If aliens are so much smarter than us, why do they insist on building such unstable machines? Take out just one leg of a tripod and the thing likely comes down. Even nature knows that -- how many three-legged animals are there (besides all Pajiba men, of course)?

Yeah ",". I have a real problem keeping myself upright on 2 legs.

And, in H.G.Wells "War of the Worlds" the aliens are defeated by catching a cold. That was the whole point. We could shoot at them, bomb them, etc. and nothing worked, and then they got a virus or bacteria or something and all died without our help.

I read it as a child, and read it to my daughter, too, a few years ago. I also saw the BBC series, which was quite good. I always wondered why there wasn't a movie or two made out of it...it would seem to be perfect for a good adaptation.

There are so many terrific kids books that would make fabulous movies, that I have to wonder why we keep getting shit movies and remakes. Any of Nancy Farmer's books would be great.

BWeaves,

You need that sarcasm font, I think ...

I know how the aliens lost in WotW. I'm just saying they clearly could have added a fourth leg for extra stability, it's certainly not beyond their technical capability and it should have been in their mental capacity to consider alternatives to three legs. But maybe that would have sent the project over budget and they had to cut corners somewhere and take their chances. Maybe they were getting shit from the citizen aliens back on the home planet about the military industrial complex, or maybe their legislature was taken over by liberal aliens who whacked the military hardware budget and they had to cut out Death Ray Machine 2.0 or something ...

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah ...

Think of it this way: If you have a three-legged stool and one leg breaks, the stool is useless. If you have a four-legged stool and one leg breaks, you could reposition one leg and still have a useful stool. Anyone who's ever seen a three-legged dog knows how that works. Apparently no dogs back on the alien world, they probably ate them all.

It's also worth mentioning, I suppose, that in the George Pal version from 1953 the tripods weren't tripods at all, the death machines flew. And damn if they weren't impressive special effects for the day.

oh, you guys have already schooled him. i thought i was just not getting it. i'm a little off my game this morning.

at least, the aliens weren't defeated by... a glass of water perched precariously on top of an entertainment center.

extemporanea...not to shine the light on you but good on you for delurking. Has anyone else but me noticed that there's been a ton of great people emerging from the shadows lately?!!!? This is awesome! More bodies in the pool!!

...and as a result, more people to rub against!

Can we please move past fucking tripods!!??

If an alien civilization flew here from light years the fuck away in spaceships, then WHY DO YOU NEED MACHINES THAT HAVE LEGS TO TOUCH THE GROUND. YOU'RE ALIENS, MAKE SHIT HOVER. Seriously now. I'm pretty sure you have that technology. For god sakes, we have hot air balloons. You come here with the supposedly world-beating-technology of a maimed giraffe. Christ.

p.s. Dark City was The Matrix before...ugh...The Matrix. So by the transitive property of suck, you can blame Proyas for the sequels.

Yes, yes! I loved these books. But I haven't thought about them for years. I wouldn't have been able to name the author or the titles - but when you started recapping the plot it was still all right there in my memory.

I'd like a comment diversion on beloved, obscure children's books.

For instance, I've been claiming for years that there is a book out there about telepathic alien cats who have mixed in with the normal cat population, until one day the mothership comes back to pick them up - and they take an orphaned child with them to their home planet. No one believes me.

Anyone out there remember this? Helloooo? Internet?

"," I believe the reason the aliens had tripod structured battleships was because the aliens WERE tripod creatures. And that kind of makes sense; intelligent species seems to create technology that mimics what they already know (i.e. cars have four wheels, like horses have four legs, even though two wheels would be more maneuverable.)

And, TK, I am sorry, but the most genius thing about War of the Worlds is that the aliens DO die of human/earth bacterial and/or virus infections...because that would be the number one killer of alien life visiting our planet. Think about it this way...the universe is made up of atoms; atom follow defined rules to make up molecules; molecules follow defined rules to form membranes, which thus make it possible to create life. If there is life in other places in the universe, it will be membrane based life...and it will be susceptible to membrane invaders, like bacterium and viruses, just like the life that exists now. Would alien travelers potentially be smart enough to realize this and take precautions? Well, yeah, but as any person who studies epidemics can tell you, it only takes one idiot who gets something nasty and then doesn't wash his hands to wipe out whole populations. A perfect example is smallpox and the American Indian, or AIDS in Africa (or really America, when you look at the numbers).

As others have said, Spielberg does deserve a big F U for other stuff, but not for that plot point...Orson Wells actually owns that bit of brilliance.

I first read about the Tripods as an adapted comic strip series that was published in Boys' Life magazine. My exposure to that led me to read the actual trilogy of novels and finally to the BBC TV series when it was shown on PBS. Tragically, the only the first two of the three books were covered as it was canceled before they could complete it with the third and final series. The TV series was actually pretty good despite the usual lack of funds for quality effects. As with other British Sci-Fi series of the day such as "Doctor Who" and "Blake's 7" The Tripods relied more on story and acting over flash. To their credit, despite the shortcomings, the innovation and improvisations of the effects crew made what could have been a real turkey into something respectful to the source material. In the end I'll take a good story and used my own imagination to fill in the blanks that lacking special effects leave out over great whiz-bang effects and an empty tale (are you listening Michael Bay?)

It should also be noted that the author also wrote a prequel novel "When the Tripods Came" twenty years after the trilogy was published. You don't need to read it, but it does off a thicker backstory and history to the Tripod Universe, and since it was written by the original creator, should be taken as canon.

Carrie has a point there.

I love that you guys took my screw up in the post and ran with it, and now it's turned into a biology lesson.

I say that without a hint of irony. I fucking love it.

BBC short series from the 80s?

No. Not worth it. Doesn't matter what it is or what it's about. Not. Worth. It.

Marya,

Could you be thinking of Andre Norton's Star Ka'at?

Anyone who's ever dealt in construction/design will tell you that a tripod is easier than four legs to stabilize.

"If an alien civilization flew here from light years the fuck away in spaceships, then WHY DO YOU NEED MACHINES THAT HAVE LEGS TO TOUCH THE GROUND. YOU'RE ALIENS, MAKE SHIT HOVER."

On the other hand, that's exactly what Independence Day did; we all know how that turned out.

That would be awesome! Giant weebles terrorizing the earth. Especially if they had those happy faces painted on them. Of course weebles trade stability for a lack of mobility. So you'd just have to keep out of their "rocking" range.

Gee, yet another outright lie by a Pajiba staff member.

And STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES!!!!!! they actually get called out on it by someone other then me and in the first comment no less.

Question is, will TK:

A) Pull on a pair of big boy pants, man up and admit that he was wrong and made a mistake and apologize

B) Ignore the calling out completely in hopes that everyone will have forgotten about it in another 90 minutes

C) post some endlessly boring horseshit which lays the blame everywhere, tries to draw attention away by saying, "LOOK!!!!!!! SHINY NOISES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and pretends that TK never made the comment at all?

I see that TK chose C.

Shocker.

Not.

Just one in the seemingly endless examples of the Gen X/Gen Y scum refusing to accept any responsibility for their actions/words.

You are filth TK and I hope you are crippled when a bus runs you over.

You know how to solve the tippy-over tripod thingy? Easy. Just sew a bunch of them together! HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING FROM THE POOPY BREATHED HUMANPEDE? Three-legged aliens need only look toward our no-kneed, no toothed, flying purple pooper eaters to see that multiple - MULTIPLE - legs are the way to go...

It's sad, really.

Julie, I think you might have meant to type "douchepants" and spelled it wrong. Or maybe that was just me...

Oh my god, the link worked! OK, listen up everyone. If you want me to be able to visit Pajiba at will and laugh and cry and point at the douchesippers along with y'all, this is what needs to be done: Someone, anyone (or everyone) needs to link to every single post on Pajiba from their Facebook page (it helps if we're friends first). That way I can clicky the linky and poof! I'm here! Woo! Yay! So, I don't care how insignificant the article may be, I don't care if it's the latest movie trailer or Dustin's most recent tearjerker about how RyRey will never! Be! His! I want it. I need it. So give it to me, please?

I should also add that I haven't read the Tripods trilogy but I know I'd be interested in the movie. On topic, yes indeedy.

This might just be my interpretation, but I always thought of the Tripod aliens from WOTW as having no legs and three penises.

I loved this series! I first read it as a kid and happened to see the first one at my bookstore a while ago, so I bought it to see how it held up. It's still great young adult sci-fi. I can't wait for the movie! Please don't let it be a cheap action-y special effects vehicle. The point of the books wasn't that the tripods were scary because they were there and terrifying, the point was that the main characters were surrounded by brainwashed people and the tripods COULD be there at any moment. It was more about suspense than horror, though when the characters do inevitably have to confront them they are quite horrific. I hope this ends up as thoughtful and satisfying as the book series.