Without Warning (1994 Film) - Aftermath and Impact

Aftermath and Impact

The film employed "accelerated time" (i.e. events said to have taken place an hour apart actually take place a few minutes apart), among other storytelling devices to make it clear to viewers paying attention that it was not real. This, combined with the casting of Jane Kaczmarek, a recognizable actress, as well as several other well-known performers in secondary roles (such as Star Trek: The Next Generation regular John de Lancie as a reporter), was expected to alleviate any concerns that the story being shown was actually happening. However, the casting of noted (albeit retired) news anchor Vanocur and noted journalist Bree Walker in major roles portraying themelves, plus a faux interview with noted author Arthur C. Clarke, still left some viewers wondering.

In addition, when it originally premiered, the movie had warnings during the commercial breaks stating that the film was completely fictional, and that the events were not actually happening. The producers used actual CBS News graphics to help accentuate the feeling that it was real (though they used a different network logo, a sphere within an outline of a TV screen), however, leading to at least one uproar over the events. In Fort Smith, Arkansas, the CBS affiliate (KFSM-TV) reported that they had received dozens of calls regarding the incident and whether it was actually happening. The area's ABC, Fox, and NBC affiliates were also flooded with complaints, asking them why they were not covering this event at the same time that CBS was covering it. In several other markets, including Detroit, Michigan and San Diego, California, the local CBS affiliates (respectively, WJBK, which was preparing to drop CBS entirely six weeks later, and KFMB-TV) refused to air this TV movie.

Some accused CBS of being irresponsible in showing the movie during the primetime hours, when some children were still out trick-or-treating, but very few occasions have happened since Orson Welles' 1938 The War of the Worlds radio broadcast that so many people have been taken in by a production such as Without Warning. The film also borrows one of the locations from Welles' broadcast. Welles used the village of Grover's Mill, New Jersey as the first landing site of the martians in his tale. Without Warning uses the fictional town of Grover's Mill, Wyoming as an obvious homage to Welles' broadcast, and the original broadcast was preceded by a brief prologue referencing the War of the Worlds broadcast, with the narrator reiterating that the film about to be shown was fiction.

The film was released on DVD on July 8, 2003, nearly nine years after its initial, and only, showing on CBS. However, it has since been shown outside the United States, such as the United Kingdom where it has been aired on Sci-Fi, minus the commercial break warnings.