The Classic ‘War’

Chapman’s Science Fiction series continues at 7 p.m. Monday with “The War of the Worlds” (1953), which relocates H.G. Wells’ (1898!) story to Southern California. There’s even a cylinder in Huntington Beach (“That’s a job for the Navy,” someone remarks), and the first wave of military reinforcements is called out from the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The film’s producer, George Pal--known for working with small budgets and creating fabulous effects--made three of the best movies of the 1950s, including “Destination Moon” and “When Worlds Collide.”

Pal updates this story with eerily beautiful flying saucers that look like manta rays but are deadly Martian war machines. In fact, the machines fare better than the actors: The Oscar-winning special effects don’t look cheesy at all, especially for 1953, although some of the dialogue borders on the absurd.

Note: The plot unfolds not as Orson Welles interpreted it--a radio drama hoax--but rather as if the Martian landing is undisputed fact.

In English. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes. Not rated.

Argyros Forum, Room 208, Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Free. (714) 997-6765.

‘A Better Tomorrow’

UC Irvine’s “From Zen to Now: Hong Kong Action Film Series” continues Saturday with a 7 p.m. screening of action master John Woo’s “A Better Tomorrow” (1986), which ushered in a new era for the genre and brought widespread acclaim to its co-star, Chow Yun-Fat.

(Woo’s “A Better Tomorrow 2” [‘87] and the so-called prequel, “A Better Tomorrow 3: Love and Death in Saigon [‘89; not directed by Woo] also star Chow.)

Chow nearly steals the movie--also written by Woo--as sidekick Mark, a counterfeiter whose partner Ho (Ti Lung) faces family disgrace and a gangster double-cross and ends up in jail. Mark seeks retribution for his friend’s troubles while Ho’s brother, Kit (Leslie Cheung), rises through the ranks of the Hong Kong police force.

Filled with Woo’s signature stylized gunplay and the uncertainty of Hong Kong’s future, “A Better Tomorrow” defined the Hong Kong urban thriller. There’s a lot more plot--and thoughtful subtext--here than might be expected by someone unfamiliar with the genre, and the action scenes are beautifully choreographed. The acting, much of it done subtly with the eyes, is very good.

In Cantonese with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes. Not rated.

* Humanities Instructional Building 100. $6; $4 for students, seniors faculty and staff. (949) 824-7418 or check out the Web site: https://www.humanities.uci.edu/fvc/.

Dangerous ‘Detour’

The cult movie “Detour” (1945) has a free screening today at 8 p.m. as part of Chapman University’s Film Noir series. On practically no budget, Edgar G. Ulmer directed this intriguing melodrama about a hitchhiker, played by Tom Neal, who gets involved with a femme fatale (Ann Savage)--and murder. In 1992, the movie was remade--with Tom Neal Jr. in the lead.

In English. Running time: 1 hour, 9 minutes. Not rated.

* Argyros Forum, Room 208, Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Free. (714) 997-6765.