The weapons used by the Martians
Anyone wonder about the silvery metal, folded umbrella-looking weapons used by the Martians? What prop-director thought up that goofy design? I know the Martian culture in the book and the television mini-series were highly artistic and reliant upon flowing, organic-shapes. But why the design of an metal umbrella folded up? I'm sure the prop-director could have come up with something a bit more realistic.
Ray Bradbury's book metaphorically refers the weapon's ammunition as, 'angry, buzzing bees'. I've always assumed it was a metaphor for directed energy. In the television mini-series it had to be some kind of directed-energy pulse. The effects were graphically shown. The dead American astronaut's uniform was pulled up and a small, charred black hole, a little smaller than a dime, was seen on the dead man's upper abdomen. A pulse of microwave thermal energy, burned a tiny hole on the skin and immediately flash-cooked the internal organs, causing instantaneous death. It couldn't have been plasma, like the Terminator's favorite weapon. That would have burned the clothing as well. There was no visible external damage on the astronaut's shirt.