YMMV / Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

• First Installment Wins: It is rather more popular than Spartacus, Jeff Wayne's second Rock Opera.
• Fridge Logic: The second part of the epilogue is pretty spooky until it dawns on you that it doesn't make much sense. Why would NASA send a mission to Mars despite knowing that the Martians are a threat to human civilization? Are we to assume NASA think the apocalypse that befell England in the 1890s simply didn't happen? Surely humanity would be wary of space and would have possibly armed itself against another Martian invasion by then!
  • The Martians launched an unprovoked attack and then the planet went silent for decades. Of course they want to know what they're up to!
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Would it be safe to say that "UUUUUUUUULLLLLLAAAAAAAAAA" has reached memetic status?
  • The opening riff of "The Eve of the War" is very well known.
  • "The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one... BUT STILL THEY COOOOOOMME!!!"
• Narm: In the stage show, as shown in the 2006 live DVD. Most of the background film being synchronised with the music works really well, but the "dancing heatray" during Horsell Common looks a bit silly.
  • This is taken up to eleven in the New Generation stage show where not only is the heat ray seen "dancing" multiple times, but there are also two occasions where it thrashes around like something out of a comedic Garry's Mod machinima. Luckily, they appear to have toned it back down a bit when they updated the film (again) for the Final Arena Tour.
  • During an emotional moment in the "Thunderchild" song ("flashing heat-rays pierced the deck"), the word "pierced" can unfortunately be misheard as "pissed".
  • If you don't find the cry of Ulla scary, it's going to sound awfully silly.
  • The music is awesome, but very 1970s, which makes it sound like the Martians are menacing late 1800s Britain with disco.
• Tear Jerker: The brave, outnumbered, outgunned, glorious charge of the HMS Thunder Child desperately fighting off three tripods to save some escaping civilian ships.
  • "Forever Autumn":
    Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,/ Like a leaf on the breeze you blew away...
  • Parson Nathaniel being too far gone to understand his wife's death.
    Beth! She's dead! Buried under the rubble! Why?! Satan, why did you take one of your own?
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Some fans react this way to the New Generation re-release. And also to the Movie Bonus Song "Life Begins Again" which was added to the Final Arena Tour.
• The Woobie: Parson Nathaniel in the cut song of the same name, in which he despairs over the loss of his church to the Martian invasion and wonders what sins he and his fallen followers have committed to deserve this punishment.

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