War of the Worlds (spoilers)

[theshire]

OK, you have now been officially warned about the spoilers. Moving on...

This movie was very...meh. Technically, it was outstanding. The f/x were flawless. The cinematography was pure Spielberg.

But it didn't make me go, 'Whoa.' It lacked anything to truly raise the bar, nothing that really was NEW. The whole section in the guy's basement was the best part of the movie, very intense.

But the aliens were a cop-out. They looked like the creatures out of Independence Day. Again, nothing new.

And the more I think about the plot, the less it makes sense. The aliens who concocted this blood-harvesting scheme must be the dumbest in the galaxy. I know the ending of the book was pretty much the same, but this was actually less plausible than that. Are we supposed to believe that these technologically superior beings didn't think of testing our blood for infections before they started filtering it into themselves? Come to think of it, if they have been planning this for 'a million years', then what were they planning to invade? Humans weren't around that long ago; how did they know we'd be around in another million years?

And don't get me started on that whole subplot with Tom Cruise's kid. How did that boy escape that deadly explosion which destroyed the countryside and return to his mum's house, which was miraculously unscathed while the whole surrounding area was in flames? Please.

But it's worth seeing, with some good moments. The 'river of bodies' was particularly haunting. Yet overall, it's just so...MEH!

 

[BigJim]

I was hoping it was going to be half-way decent. Sadly it sounds like he's changed too much. Let's face it, if you're going to be totally unbelievable, why not just stick with the original story and all of Wells's scientific errors? Make them Martians and not "aliens"- a subterranean race so you can explain away the lack of Viking and Global Surveryor findings and trot out the old one about micro-organisms never having existed on Mars. Hell, Wells did say that MArtians showed a complete ignorance of the putrefactive process because they left their dead lying in the open, so it could have swung things. Set it in Victorian England and I would personally have gone to bed with him.

Did he make use of the "black smoke" weapon?

Oh well, there's always my old PC game based on the Jeff Wayne musical, complete with full score. I managed to nab myself an original copy of the LP set on eBay for two quid as well. 🙂



n.b. Homo Erectus (physically modern man) has been around for about 1.8 million years.

 

[The Sean Man]

I understand the only reason the aliens invade in the new version is to get Tom Cruise to shut his frickin' mouth about scientology


The Sean Man

 

[New2u]

The War of mediocrity

I haven't seen the movie yet but have read what some movie critics have said and it is not promising. The part about the alien war machines being buried in the ground for a million years awaiting the day to attack the human race is really "far fetched" and sadly lacks any logic.

I know the "special effects" are, no doubt, superior to that of the 1953 original but some of the changes Spielberg made to "update" the story falls flat. I guess Spielberg is entitled to a least one bomb.

 

[BigJim]

Buried in the ground for a million smegging years? That is lamer than a pack of fuckin' one-legged hunting tortoises!

 

[BigJim]

The part about the machines being burried underground for millions of years is in the book. Most of this movie is in the book, it has just been contemproized from the late 1800's to the 2000's, and the family sub plot added in. But that part is definately in the book I am told.

I've read the book upwards of a dozen times, and they most definately did not come from under the ground. In the book an astronomer called Ogilvy observed an eruption of gas on the surface of Mars a little after midnight that continued for ten sucessive nights in 1898, starting with the first on the 12th of August. A couple or three weeks later the "earth-shots" started arriving. They were cylindrical and crashed to earth from space, opening about twenty hours after arrival. The Martians were within, as was all their kit for making fighting machines and mining ore for more. When the cylinders landed they did so with such an impace that they created a humongous pit, which might be where the conception about being underground arose, but they were in the pit for about a day before emerging, not millions of years.

That's another thing, in the book they were from Mars. Apparently in the film they're from outside the Solar System. I'll be watching it soon.

 

[New2u]

The Destruction of the Human Race is Not As Important As Bonding with My Kid

The part about the machines being burried underground for millions of years is in the book. Most of this movie is in the book, it has just been contemproized from the late 1800's to the 2000's, and the family sub plot added in. But that part is definately in the book I am told.

buggs, admittedly, I have not read the original Wells novel. If these war machines were buried in the ground for a million years then what of the "cylinders" that were sent to earth from which the martion warmachines rose from? I read an old article on the Novel which stated that they came from those, besides, they were used in the old 1953 version. The "million years ago" premise doesn't really make much sense.

Oh, I also just got back from watching the movie this afternoon, the family subplot was not overly appropriate for the story. It was like Cruise sitting there with both hands on his daughter's shoulders trying to "bond" with her while there were bullets, bombs, death rays, dead bodies flying back and forth over their heads, it just didn't seem very appropriate. Spielburg did adhere to the original H.G. Wells war machine "walking tri-pod" design. I would rate this movie one of Spielberg's "clunkers" along with 1941.

 

[BigJim]

This film was due to be screened three or four years ago, but it's filming got delayed by public sensitivities after 9/11.


I first got hooked on the WOTW story when I was about eight or nine and heard the Jeff Wayne musical version on LP. I first read the book when I was about eleven and saw the '53 film not long after. It's still one of my all-time favourites and I go back to read it every now and again.

 

[MrMacphisto]

Personally, I think this was one of the best movies that Spielberg has done. I've never been a big Spielberg fan, and A.I. and Minority Report were utterly disappointing, but this movie exceeded my expectations. The final twist at the end was better than the original story, in my opinion. A viral complication makes more sense than a mere atmospheric one, because microbes can be very unpredictable.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I first got into this thirty years ago, after seeing a very well made TV movie called The Night That Panicked America, about the Orson Welles broadcast. They fashioned a story around it. About six months later, I found a dog-eared, yellowed paperback copy of the HG Wells book in the high school library. In fact, this was, at age 14, one of the very first novels I ever read.

Last year, I found, at a yard sale, a beautifully bound compilation of four of Wells' early novels, including WOTW, in a black leather cover, and gold edging. Cost me only two dollars or something. I read it again, and it only took me two days, the novel is only about 116 pages or so (Time Machine is only 96!). For 1896, I thought the novel was clearly ingenious. For all intents and purposes, Wells, along with his contemporary across the Channel, Jules Verne, both INVENTED science fiction. 116 pages is a very short span of time spent out of your life, Buggs, give it a shot. The book was very well written. Also, keep in mind...Microbiology in 1896, as a science, was in its infancy. Wells was very much on the cutting edge.

I don't think I'm going to see it, now. If the cylinders aren't falling from outer space, as in the novel and all previous treatments, then it isn't War Of The Worlds. Thanks, Steve.

 

[BigJim]

When you think about it, Wells was incredibly visionary. He was writing about interplanetary travel, nuclear fusion, biological warfare and advanced mechanics in the nineteenth century!

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I have the 1938 Orson Welles CBS broadcast on tape. Remarkable in that both Orson and Howard Koch (later a screenwriter/producer in Hollywood) pretty much came up with the script in little more than an afternoon, and devised the production on the very day of the broadcast. I have a natural interest: I used to live in the town where Orson's Martians landed. Grover's Mill, in West Windsor Township, is within walking distance of the Princeton Junction train station. There's a very well preserved nineteenth century mill there, overlooking a lake. On the other side of the lake's a nice park, with a five foot tablet commemorating the Welles broadcast.

Grover's Mill was chosen by Koch, who, while sitting in his car eating lunch, opened a map of New Jersey, closed his eyes, circled his finger above the map, and dropped it. Nothing more scientific than that.

I'm sure the broadcast is somewhere on the internet. Very well done, and it's very understandable how it could scare the bejesus out of someone who's not paying too close attention...

 

[North2NY]

I read War of the Worlds when I was 10. I was bed-ridden for a time with a broken leg and my uncle gave me some books to read, WOTW being among them, as he was/is a big sci-fi fan. Read it in one sitting and became a sci-fi convert as well. I had high hopes for the Spielberg film. I think I'll wait for the DVD. I've got the radio version someplace on CD. I think I'll dig it out tonight and give it a listen.

 

[North2NY]

I've got the radio version someplace on CD. I think I'll dig it out tonight and give it a listen.

I found it (that was quick). Into the CD drive it goes and time for some reminiscing 😎

 

[Goatboy]

Here is my War of the Worlds rant, which i have e-mailed to several people:

OK, War of the Worlds: I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed in a movie before. After the Greatest trailer of All Time, I was expecting a movie that even remotely made sense. This “plot” was constructed from a dart board or something.
The aliens came to earth, planted a bunch of machines in the ground, left, and came back a million years later to dig up the machines and wipe out people so they could spray their blood all over the place. Why the hell didn’t they just conquer the planet the first time they were here? And why wait for people to evolve as far as they did? Couldn’t they have just come here 500 years ago when we were running around with bows and arrows and swords and kill us all then? And they studied us for a million years yet they didn’t know anything about germs or bacteria, which are a fundamental part of human life? They obviously knew our blood was able to be used as fertilizer for those red weed things they wanted all over the planet. Well, our blood is full of bacteria and microbes. Studying humans for millions of year and not discovering germs would be like studying the ocean for a million years and not finding out about fish.
The whole EMP thing was done well in the beginning, but it was quickly forgotten about when it was convenient. Nothing worked, except for the car Tom Cruise needed. In ALL of New Jersey, there wasn’t one other person who knew what to replace in the car except for Tom Cruise? And when everybody’s cars were dying, did they all magically say to themselves “My car lost power, let me pull over and stop, because Tom Cruise is going to have to drive in a sea of unmoving vehicles, and he’s going to need a path.” I have been on the Jersey turnpike. If all the cars stopped, there is NO WAY IN HELL there would be a patch for one car to get through. You can’t get through on a Jersey highway if all the other cars are WORKING! If they are stalled out forget about it.
Why the hell did two camcorders keep working? The newswoman says to Tom Cruise: “Once the Tripods land, all news stops coming out of the area. Now come over here and watch new footage of the tripods.” What the fuck!?!
And the one hand held recorder that fell down and then the camera looked through the viewer thing on it? I think this was really shitty directing. I mean, Spielburg had done a good job up to that point of really creating a sense of panic and hysteria with people running around and freaking out, then he does his fancy little shot, and completely takes you out of the movie. It just killed the mood he had created. It would have been an interesting shot in another movie. It was certainly creative. but it did not belong in this movie.
And really, how many times did I need to see the overhead shot of Dakota Fanning looking up in the sky towards the camera. After like 6 times, I said “Enough already! Pick another shot composition!”
Tim Robbins, normally a good actor, was almost comedic in his portrayal of the nut case. And his entrance was just so over-the-top, it was almost like Spielburg said “And now ladies and gentlemen..... MR. TIM ROBBINS!!!” Also, a big deal was made of the fact that this story was told entirely from the point of view of Tom Cruise’s character. “If Tom doesn’t see it, neither do you.” was the quote Spielburg made over and over again. Then why the hell didn’t we see him beat Tim Robbins to death in that room? In fact, that would have made the movie worthwhile.
If you have rocket launchers, tanks, and missiles fired from helicopters, you are not going to make a dent in the aliens machinery. But if you are Tom Cruise with an axe, chop away!
Why the hell is the son still alive at the end??? I was so glad when that two-dimensional, stereotyped “angry teenager” got fried on that hill, I almost cried tears of joy. I was actually hoping Tom Cruise would say “You want to die? Go ahead. I’ll stay here and protect your sister, who’s actually a somewhat likeable character who the writers spent more than 3 seconds thinking of.”
What’s with the bodies Dakota Fanning sees floating in the blood red river? One body, I can understand. But hundreds of them? The Aliens were vaporizing people at first, leaving nothing but ash. Then they were sucking them up into their machinery and turning them to juice in a blender and spraying them. Where did all these bodies come from?
At the end of the movie, when Tom Cruise delivers his daughter to their mother, the mother, her new husband, and the grandparents are completely fine, in a house with all the electricity working. They look like they were in the middle of Sunday dinner. Nobody else has power because of the complete decimation of their communities, but these four people are living like nothing is happening. Did the aliens say “Destroy everything! Ecxept for the house of that pregnant woman in Boston! We like her!”
In the original story, the martians come to earth because their planet has been destroyed or rendered unlivable. They didn’t have time to study the Earth, they just showed up and started taking over. So when the germs take them out, it makes sense. In this story, they have been studying us forever, yet they just overlook one of the most obvious and vital parts of life on this planet. It just doesn’t make sense.
Bear in mind, these are the things that were going through my mind WHILE I WAS WATCHING THE MOVIE. If I sat down and thought about it, I could probably think of hundreds of other things that were wrong with this movie. But I have more important things to do. So I’ll stop here.
Anyway, Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning were very good. The special effects were very good. The plot was non-existant. Spielburg tacked on a bullshit, Hollywood ending with the son being alive. And he constantly took me out of the movie with fancy shots and unexplained plot inconsistancies. If they had taken a little more time on the script, and didn’t rush production, this COULD have been a great movie. As it is, I give it 2 stars. The original was better. This had it’s moments, but there was too much wrong with it to really give it a higher rating.

 

[New2u]

Spielberg's War-of-the-Worlds movie is almost a turkey, Though Not Quite

goatboy, I fully agree with your post. I too, was looking quite forward to seeing this movie being a "sci-fi" fan. Of course the CGI special effects were superb no problem there.

The two main problems I had with Spielberg's take on the story was with the "family ties" part (Cruise's character bonds with kids while cities and people are being vaporized) and the alien war machines being buried underground for a million years then one day they "pop" out to destroy human civilization. That last one bothered me the most, it didn't make any sense. These machines were buried in the ground all over the world for all this time and nobody accidently "found" them or detected them in the meantime??? This is where Spielberg stretched the believability to the point of "breaking". He needed to keep, at least, one finger in the area of realism to help the audience to "buy" the concept.

H.G. Wells used the "cylinders" from space as the vehicle for the aliens to land on our planet from which the martian war machines emerged. That made sense logically, it was a loosely based "Trojan Horse" concept for the martians to land here and prepare their warmachines for their on-slaught. The buried underground for a million years concept was ridiculous.

I also agree that the original 1953 version of WOTW was indeed better than the Spielberg version due to the fact that the original kept Wells' landing martian cylinders in as a more logical reason for the martian's sudden appearance.

 

[Ticklebell]

I gotta say, I think I went into this movie with the right attitude, and I enjoyed it a whole bunch. That attitude: I am going to see a Spielberg Summer Blockbuster. Stuff is going to blow up, things are gonna jump out from behind corners, and nothing will be realistic. This is purely for entertainment value.
Anyone who knows Spielberg will know that he doesn't mind deviating from original plot, or from the realms of realism. You have to go in just looking to have fun watching a movie. It was clear that he isn't doing this one for an Oscar, unless it's for effects or a surprise Supporting Actress Nom for Fanning. Pure Summer Blockbuster. Never judge a book by its movie, or vice versa, really.
One thing I'll say: They never explained why the aliens were juicing people and spitting them out again. That I didn't get. I spose you have to have read the book, but I heard many people in the audience going, "What the hell is that for?"
Most effective acting: Dakota Fanning, not when she's screaming bloody murder and hugging herself, but near the beginning when she's just beginning to get scared and whimpers, "Is it the terrorists?" I wanted to scream, "SOMEONE HUG THAT LITTLE GIRL!"

 

[primetime]

after seeing the movie tonight, i would have to agree with a lot of people here and say it was.......alright. the main thing that got me was that there was no climatic scene. no huge buildup for that one scene where all hell breaks loose.

yeah, the ending does leave you thinking "that's it?". i wanted to see battles, i wanted to see bloodshed. gosh darn it, show the aliens destroying the world's military with ease.

one thing i didnt get is, why oh why would people get on a boat? you cant hide on a boat....

i think the "million years" thing just comes from "crazy man" Tim Robbins. for all we know, the aliens been there for a short while (maybe a few centuries), then sprang up.

yeah, i was also wondering how in the world did the mom and her parents live in a neighborhood where there was no destruction. i mean, the aliens sent snake-like probes to search each and every nook and cranny in a basement of a house, but Boston stands? that made sense....

now, doesnt "Independence Day" seem a lot better than this movie?

 

[BigJim]

one thing i didnt get is, why oh why would people get on a boat? you cant hide on a boat....

now, doesnt "Independence Day" seem a lot better than this movie?

The boat scene is probably Spielberg's attempt to pay homage to the scene in the book where Martian tripods fight a battle at sea with British dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy as a passenger steamer escapes, carrying refugees out of Britain to France and safety. Makes sense in Britain where they invaded the island because it was the centre of the world's power and organisation, but makes no sense when it's America which is a gigantic landmass by comparison.

Independence Day, unlewss I'm hugely mistaken, is a re-make of the original War of the Worlds film, right down to the inpenetrable shield resisting the nuclear bomb and the aliens biting the dust as the result of a virus (Jeff Goldblum's character draws a close comparison with the original when he say "I gave it a cold" - meaning a computer virus). The similarities between ID and the 53 film are huge.

 

[b0xr]

We saw the movie last night and we both thought it was terrible. The special effects were great but the story was so weak and the end was just way too unbelievable. It reminded me of Inedependence Day at times but didn't have the character involvement of ID...I would not recommend it to anyone. It seemed "All about the Cruise" Two thumbs down from us !!

 

[New2u]

The Aliens "strike" a "pose"

It appears that Spielberg made some attempt to make a "politically correct" invading aliens from outer space flick that had the elements that referenced "terrorists" and 9/11. Oh well, Hollywood.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I crouched, watching this fighting-machine closely, satisfying myself now for the first time that the hood did indeed contain a Martian. As the green flames lifted, I could see the oily gleam of his integument and the brightness of his eyes. And suddenly, I heard a yell, and saw a long tentacle reaching over the shoulder of the machine to the little cage that hunched upon its back. Then something- something struggling violently- was lifted high against the sky, a black, vague enigma against the starlight; and as this black object came down again, I saw by the green brightness that it was a man. For an instant he was clearly visible. He was a stout, ruddy, middle-aged man, well dressed; three days before he must have been walking the world, a man of considerable consequence. I could see his staring eyes and gleams of light on his studs and watch-chain. He vanished behind the mound, and for a moment, there was silence. And then began a shrieking and a sustained and cheerful hooting from the Martians...

...It was on the third day, if my memory serves me right, that I saw the lad killed. It was the only occasion on which I actually saw the Martians feed...
-H.G. WELLS, The War Of The Worlds 1898

*

I was in Walmart the other night, and was surprised to see a VHS cassette of WOTW. I investigated further, and saw that this was a new movie by an English production company, based SOLELY on the novel by H.G. Wells. In other words, in the film, the Martians landed in 1898. In England.

I watched it over two nights. The special effects were cheap (not like the Japanese 'Godzilla' films, Thank God, but more like as much Ray Harryhausen a ten quid budget would buy you), and the acting, by an obscure cast, was, in some cases, second rate, but the the well done atmosphere of terror more than made up for these shortcomings. Best of all, the tape only cost six bucks. I'd say that's quite a bargain, if you would like to see a tripod's heat ray slice off the top of Big Ben and send it crashing into Westminster Bridge.

If you go to Walmart, give it a shot. At least, from what the above posters indicate to me, this one, about 95% faithful to the Wells story, doesn't leave you asking questions.

 

[BigJim]

Damn, why haven't I seen that over here?

 

[New2u]

knox, wow! I did not know that an English version existed of WOTW. Thanks for the tip.

 

[ChicagoLass]

Wotw

I agree with Goatboy and everyone else who said WOTW was awful. It was!!! The original 1953 movie was one of my favorite sci fi movies...particularly the ending that showed the Martians going down all over the world because of bacteria. But as someone said, that made sense in the original because the Martians came to Earth not having had a chance to study our planet. I kept thinking to myself when watching the Spielberg one, how could these intelligent creatures, who supposedly have been studying Earth for a million years, be so stupid not to realize they had to wear spacesuits on Earth? The boat scene also was ridiculous...what idiot would agree to be a sitting duck in the water? Everything about the movie was so absurd...what a waste of money and what a waste of Spielberg's enormous talent! What was this man thinking?????