Steven Spielberg is under attack for his recent remake of War Of The Worlds, as friends of author HG Wells insist the director has missed the point of the classic.
Veteran politician Michael Foot, friend and biographer of the late writer, is convinced Wells would have been devastated by Spielberg's treatment of the 1938 book.
He fumes: "(Wells) was bitterly opposed to the British Empire. He thought it was a real disgrace.
"And that was really what War Of The Worlds was about: it wasn't just a great adventure story, it was about invasion.
"He would have seen terrible irony in the fact that Hollywood, this year, decided to make a film of his book while America and Britain are fighting in Iraq.
"He would have been horrified by the film, even though he loved seeing his books reach the screen."