War of the Worlds

[Uncle Rico]

I just got back from seeing what was supposed to be the summers most anticipated blockbuster. Steven Spielbergs War of the Worlds. I have to say that I have been long awaiting this so I went into the theatre almost certain i was in for a good show. The Movie Started off fairly fast paced but as it continued the only thing carrying it was the special effects. The biggest problem i had with this movie was the lack of backstory and resolution. They never gave a CLEAR reason for the aliens to be there. Wether it was to eat us. To invade. Or to do God knows anything else. Also I was very dissapointed in Tom Cruise's performance though Dakota Fanning backed him up and ultimatley saved the film. I did however like Spielbergs portrail of family and sticking together through tough situations, and the view of chaos if an event like this would ever happen. Too Much of the Movie was spent in Tim Robbins Basement and I was EXTREMLEY dissapointed with John Williams Score. There was nothing to hum after you left the theatre like Jurassic Park or Star Wars, there was just nothing. The Movie was also miserably Depressing. The first half hour had alot of comedy in it and then it dwindled away to nothing. But Like I said the Lack of backstory got to me way too much, but then again im a fan of LOTR so maybe im too used to complex and intricate storylines. But all in all I give this movie a C. and a 7 out of 10. and a 3 out of 5.

[OG-]

The biggest problem i had with this movie was the lack of backstory and resolution.

Maybe you were just weened on the teet of formulaic invasion films and have come to expect things as standards that shouldn't be. Your largest complaint is that there was no backstory? If you'd like to point me in the direction of the magic alien-to-english translator that we have hidden away, I'd love to see it, otherwise you should really accept the realism that was so consistent in War of the Worlds. If aliens ever came to our planet, unearthed war machines they had buried millions of years ago and started killing everyone on the planet, do you seriously believe we'd have any shred of a clue as to why they were doing it? That's the entire point of the film. Any rhyme or reason as to why they are doing it is lost on us, because there is no magical translating machine, there is no alien that'll wrap a tentacle around a person and use him as a conduit for his internal thoughts.

I think all of the people who hated the film for the reasons you did just aren't grading from the right criteria. As completely mindless as the movie may seem in terms of destruction, the script and storytelling were designed with extremelly logical inspiration.

And as for resolution; you've missed the point entirely.

The Movie was also miserably Depressing

And I don't know about you, but in all my fantasies of alien invasions, they're usually not very cheerful. I'm sorry the aliens didn't pile out of clown cars and throw pies at you.

[Uncle Rico]

yep. I didnt like it too much. there it is

[SamsoniteDelilah]

Thanks for your thoughts, Uncle Rico. I have no idea if I'll agree with you, once I see the film, but you did give clear reasons why it didn't work for you. :up:

[Yoda]

I'm with Peter on this one. They were purposefully avoiding the cliches (shots of news reports detailing the carnage, world landmarks being blown up, etc). They got away from what my dad refers to as the "God's eye point of view" of so many disaster films. Instead, it took the less common route; first-person. We wouldn't know why they were killing us, we'd just know that they were, and so we'd run. And since Spielberg has us following the characters, and not the entire planet, we only know as much as they do. It makes perfect sense, and mops the floor with the predictable displays we've seen in other disaster films.

This is not to say the film was without flaws (the screenplay was mostly unimpressive), but the general angle of following the Ferrier family, rather than the events themselves, was definitely the right way to go.

Signs meets Independence Day, but thankfully much more like the former than the latter.

[Uncle Rico]

I like the Family aspect and how he does that. I actually thought Tim Robins was gonna be someone cool who knew something others didnt. Thats Why I think i was let down. Its Understandable why The Ferrier Family knows nothin because there is no reason for them to. I just wish we found out a little bit more, so the film would have a sence of history.

[Sedai]

I like the Family aspect and how he does that. I actually thought Tim Robins was gonna be someone cool who knew something others didnt. Thats Why I think i was let down. Its Understandable why The Ferrier Family knows nothin because there is no reason for them to. I just wish we found out a little bit more, so the film would have a sence of history.
You mean Tim Robbins character I assume, as Tim Robbins is clearly a megalomaniacal idiot. He is one of the actors I most despise off-screen. I like a lot of his work though. I AM interested to see how he portrays a middle American survivalist, though. I bet he injects all sorts of his uber-left fascist opinion about middle Americans. it should be interesting to see how he views that segment of our society.

Dear Tim: May your beard get caught in the gears of a trans-continental bus.

[Darth Stujitzu]

I'm with Peter on this one. They were purposefully avoiding the cliches (shots of news reports detailing the carnage, world landmarks being blown up, etc). They got away from what my dad refers to as the "God's eye point of view" of so many disaster films. Instead, it took the less common route; first-person. We wouldn't know why they were killing us, we'd just know that they were, and so we'd run. And since Spielberg has us following the characters, and not the entire planet, we only know as much as they do. It makes perfect sense, and mops the floor with the predictable displays we've seen in other disaster films.

This is not to say the film was without flaws (the screenplay was mostly unimpressive), but the general angle of following the Ferrier family, rather than the events themselves, was definitely the right way to go.




:yup:
Sorry Rico, I'm with Yoda on this one. It was great not to see the usual cliched destruction of landmarks, such as The White House, Statue of Liberty, etc. This is a vastly superior film to Independance Day, it lacks the humour of I.D., but Spielberg does a far better job, and I think he chose wisely to base the story around one family's plight. I also liked the fact there was no jumping to other countries around the world to see more destruction. The script wasn't great, and in particular I was especially dissapointed with Tim Robbins role in the movie.
There were times when this reminded me of the original, I think Spielberg has made more of a homage than a direct remake, on the whole it was enjoyable, but lacked a certain WOW factor for me.
Rating 3.5/5

Signs meets Independence Day, but thankfully much more like the former than the latter.

[Uncle Rico]

This is a new expirience for me. Ive never been alone on disliking a film. IM SUCH A REBEL!

[Darth Stujitzu]

This is a new expirience for me. Ive never been alone on disliking a film. IM SUCH A REBEL!

Each to their own Rico. I feel constantly let down every summer, when films don't live up to the hype. IMO this has been the best summer in ages, most of the big movies have been excellent, and my faith in corporate Hollywood has been restored a little.
I constantly disagree with my buddies, I find it harder just to switch off and watch films after being to film-school, they think I'm a loser 'cause i talk about script, editing , cinematograhy, etc.
Having a brain freeze at the mo, but I remember thinking The Village was crap, while the majority of my mates liked it.
Stick to your guns, everybody's got an opinion. ;)

[Danzig]

I'm seeing this tomorrow, I've been looking forward to it for quite some time. I hope the film isn't such a let down as this review says

[jrs]

I hope the film isn't such a let down as this review says
Trust me it's no letdown :cool:

[susan]

we are going to see this tomorrow morning...i have heard mixed reviews and some people that i know don't want to see t his again...(they liked the first one)

[darkhorse]

I saw the movie last night, and I was blown away by it! I have one word: amazing! The film critic Gene Shallit describes this movie with the acronym of its title: WOW! I have to agree!

Cruise gives a solid performance as a man coming to terms with familial responsibilities (in marked contrast to his real-life antics, incidentally). His two noisy, bratty Hollywood kids put in good performances too, once you get used to their screaming, tantrums and teenage rebelliousness (!) (Seriously--I really pitied Cruise's character for having to deal with those kids! :rolleyes: No one deserves that kind of punishment! Forget about aliens!) But seriously... moving on... Tim Robbins was kind of funny, in a macabre sort of way, playing the doomsday maniac stuck in his basement. But clearly, the aliens stole the show and were the stars--I mean, let's face it, folks--they were as sinister as they come! I won't go into a detailed description of their sinister activities (though if you have read the book, you'll know what I'm talking about), but these guys make all the movie aliens of the past--even the aliens of Aliens--look kind of tame in comparison. These guys were the ultimate in sinister, sadistic, nauseating villainy. So hats off to the aliens in WOW!

Finally, what I really think was cool about this movie is how Spielberg made it so intensely realistic. In fact, with digital surround-sound and the ingenious use of interesting camera angles, the realism in this movie was so intense that you seriously feel like it's really happening before your eyes and that you are in the thick of the action. The movie literally leaps out of the screen (even though it's not a 3-D movie), so that when, for example, the aliens fire at the screaming crowd, you feel as if you, the audience are in that crowd and that the aliens are firing at you. In fact, I'd really like to see the IMAX 3-D version of this movie--that would be truly incredible. Maybe that's what makes Spielberg such a powerful filmmaker--his ability to make fantastic visuals seem real and believable, so that they leap out of the screen at you and make you believe that you are a first-hand witness to the events.

So see the movie--it's well worth it! I hope the next Indiana Jones movie is as good!

[susan]

i saw the movie this morning...there are a few things going for it...john williams' score is one, speilberg's depiction of the martians (closer to the ones that hg wells described in the book), and the special effects...

[darkhorse]

i saw the movie this morning...there are a few things going for it...john williams' score is one, speilberg's depiction of the martians (closer to the ones that hg wells described in the book), and the special effects...
Actually, Spielberg's portrayal of the Martians was quite different from the ones in H. G. Wells' book. True, Spielberg stuck with many of the plot elements in the book--but Wells describes the aliens as kind of like giant octopi, with huge heads and snake-like tentacles surrounding their mouths, whereas in the movie, when the aliens make their appearance, they look pretty different--actually, they seem to resemble Wells' description of the Morlocks, the underground creatures from The Time Machine--the way Spielberg portrayed them.

Incidentally, another cool thing about this movie is that you get to see the trailer for "The Chronicles of Narnia" before the movie. That should be another excellent movie--I've always been a fan of the C.S. Lewis books ever since I was a kid and have always wanted to watch them made into movies. Susan--I thought that might interest you, since you share the name of one of the main characters in the series!

[susan]

yes you're right...sorry i didn't clarify...it was the machines that were closer to the way wells described them not the martians themselves...

as for the trailers, we saw the new one for king kong...very interesting....

[Danzig]

I think the plane wreck scene is just...stupendous. They actually used a Boeing 747 for that scene.

[jrs]

I think the plane wreck scene is just...stupendous. They actually used a Boeing 747 for that scene.

For anyone who doesn't know, the area of land where the plane crash took place is directly across the Bates Motel at the Universal Pictures backlot. Cool eh? :D

[adidasss]

i agree with everyone who liked the movie so i won't repeat what has been said, but i do have a pet peave, i thought it was sortof unnecessary for tom cruise to be dodging the death reys whilst literaly everyone that was near him was waporised....he's one lucky sonofabitch....oh and when he destroyes the alien machine the cage with the people falls some 50 meters...i thought they would at least be all broken up if not splattered...noone survives that kind of fall...other then that..STUPENDOUS MOVIE!!!GREAT FUN!!( a bit more scary then i thought it would be...almost on the verge of a horror film, especialy the scene in the basement )
and i'm very grateful tom cruise didn't figure out a way to defeat the aliens ( at one point i thought he just might ) or that the americans in general didn't...coodles for avoiding the cliche...( also for avoiding the classic scenes of the eiffel tower being destroyed, as well as Big Ben, the red square and other cliche landmarks )

Edited by Lordslaytan: Be careful with your spoilers, man.
EDIT:oh c'mon man, i had a point there...and it couldn't possibly ruine your viewing experience...could it?

[darkhorse]

For anyone who doesn't know, the area of land where the plane crash took place is directly across the Bates Motel at the Universal Pictures backlot. Cool eh? :D
I've done the Universal Pictures tour too. I remember the Bates Motel.

About how the people in the cage survive the fall--I think they survive because the cage lands on the treetops or bushes or something that breaks the fall. Correct me if I'm wrong!

[susan]

i suppose you guys are talking about the universal backlot in la and not in florida....there is a bates motel there too...

thanks for the info jrs

[darkhorse]

i suppose you guys are talking about the universal backlot in la and not in florida....there is a bates motel there too...

thanks for the info jrs
The one in LA is the actual Bates Motel, where they actually shot the movie (at least that's what the tour guide said!) The one in Florida is a cheap imitation! :D

BTW, the Bates Motel in LA sits right behind the Grinch city from the Grinch movie! Interesting...

[LordSlaytan]

About how the people in the cage survive the fall--I think they survive because the cage lands on the treetops or bushes or something that breaks the fall. Correct me if I'm wrong!

It lands on water filled with reeds/vegetation.

EDIT:oh c'mon man, i had a point there...and it couldn't possibly ruine your viewing experience...could it?It won't ruin mine since I've seen it twice now...but there are a lot of people here who don't want to know particulars like that before they see it. It's no big deal. I didn't delete what you said, just protected the WotW virgins out there.

[darkhorse]

It lands on water filled with reeds/vegetation.
Thanks for the clarification. I couldn't make that out too well when I saw it.

[adidasss]

that's a lot of warnings....:)

[darkhorse]

that's a lot of warnings....:)
Now I see why your name is "adidass"... :p (j/k ;))

[LordSlaytan]

Thanks for the clarification. I couldn't make that out too well when I saw it.I know what you mean. I missed a couple of things my first viewing that I saw the second time around. I had to assume that Dakota had a bug in her hair the first time because she was freaking out with it, then I noticed she had a (real?) fat spider on her face the second time. That's a good actress...usually little girls and spiders can't occupy the same room, let alone have one crawling across your face and into your hair.

Man, there are so many things I'd like to talk about concerning this movie...

It's been many years that a BB has mesmerized me so completely. I friggin' LOVE this film. L-O-V-E IT!!! Brilliant, powerful, intense, and amazing. I will certainly see this at least 5 times during the next couple of weeks. Speilberg really came through.

[adidasss]

Now I see why your name is "adidass"... :p (j/k ;))

i dun git it...what'd i do?

[susan]

oh sorry darkhorse...didn't see that last about narnia...i can't wait until that film comes out...i've seen the trailer several times now

i do have the book here someplace...maybe i should get around to reading it...

[darkhorse]

I know what you mean. I missed a couple of things my first viewing that I saw the second time around. I had to assume that Dakota had a bug in her hair the first time because she was freaking out with it, then I noticed she had a (real?) fat spider on her face the second time. That's a good actress...usually little girls and spiders can't occupy the same room, let alone have one crawling across your face and into your hair.

Man, there are so many things I'd like to talk about concerning this movie...

It's been many years that a BB has mesmerized me so completely. I friggin' LOVE this film. L-O-V-E IT!!! Brilliant, powerful, intense, and amazing. I will certainly see this at least 5 times during the next couple of weeks. Speilberg really came through.
Yeah... I remember the spider. It was pretty creepy. I agree that this is one powerful film. Spielberg has an instant classic on his hands, one that will go down in the history books and will make Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning household names in years to come!
i dun git it...what'd i do?
Just kiddin', dude! :D
oh sorry darkhorse...didn't see that last about narnia...i can't wait until that film comes out...i've seen the trailer several times now

i do have the book here someplace...maybe i should get around to reading it...
I have and have read the entire series. Probably will re-read it some day when I get the time! Definitely looking forward to the movies, which look incredible!

[mogwai]

I enjoyed it. The ending was a bit disappointing, though.

[LordSlaytan]

It's funny about the previews they showed...first; a coupla lame-o's (Stealth :sick: and Four Brothers :sick: ). Then they get to the biggies; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I'll see it, but I have misgivings whether I'll like it or not), The Chronicles of Narnia (a paragraph mentioning there was a battle turned into a full scale violent war...perfect for the target audience the story was made for :rolleyes: ), King Kong (I don't care what anybody says about the CGI, it looks beautiful to me, and I think the animated look fits well with the fantastical story elements and the entire 'feel' of the story...I can't wait, and I'm sure I'm going to go ga-ga over it), and then...the final trailer...the biggest movie of them alllll.....a romantic comedy called Elizabethtown (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0368709/), starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. :sick: What a let down.

[darkhorse]

I enjoyed it. The ending was a bit disappointing, though.
Now that's what I call an ironic statement, considering that the ending is 100% faithful to the book! :D

Did you notice the movie's (and book's) symmetry, btw? It begins with a shot of microbes in a drop of water and makes the comparison between the human race and the microbes, suggesting that the aliens are studying the human race much as the humans study microbes in a drop of water. And it ends with the aliens being wiped out, ironically, by those same seemingly insignificant microbes--the human race is saved from the monstrous invaders by the tiniest of earth's inhabitants--the invisible germs and microbes that inhabit pretty much every corner of the world. So Spielberg frames his movie between shots of microbes in a drop of water, and, in a stroke of cinematic genius, fades out, at the end, from the shot of the microbes to a shot of stars in the night sky. I thought it was pretty ingenious and a great representation of one of the book's underlying themes.

[susan]

king kong looks a lot like the original...peter jackson did a bang up job with that one...and i'd like to see elizabethtown...interesting to hear orlando without the brit accent

[LordSlaytan]

I agree with darkhorse...the 'letdown' ( I don't see it as a letdown at all, actually) ending is based on the novel...'cept it was actually his brother. Blame Wells, Jungle Boy. :)

The ending, for me, is done wonderfully. I like the music and the way it plays in the scene. After all that has happened, it's like Ray's heart is finally able to slow down and beat normally again. There's nothing sappy in this film at all, which is what I was afraid of more than anything.

[darkhorse]

I agreewith darkhorse...the 'letdown' ( I don't see it as a letdown at all, actually) ending is based on the novel...'cept it was actually his brother. Blame Wells, Nibbles. :)

The ending, for me, is done wonderfully. I like the music and the way it plays in the scene. After all that has happened, it's like Ray's heart is finally able to slow down and beat normally again. There's nothing sappy in this film at all, which is what I was afraid of more than anything.
I agree with that. For Spielberg to have taken the alien invasion theme that is probably as old as Hollywood (I mean War of the Worlds dates back to the time of Orson Welles, for pete's sake!) and turn it into a movie as fresh and original as this one, avoiding most of the sad cliches one sees in other movies of this genre, is no mean feat! In fact, it's a tremendous accomplishment! So hats off to Steve!

[susan]

did anyone notice that both orsen welles radio version and steven speilberg's movie version take place in nj???

[jrs]

did anyone notice that both orsen welles radio version and steven speilberg's movie version take place in nj???
:yup:

[darkhorse]

did anyone notice that both orsen welles radio version and steven speilberg's movie version take place in nj???
Maybe Spielberg's movie is based on the radio show, not the book! Hmm... interesting... never thought of that...

[susan]

Maybe Spielberg's movie is based on the radio show, not the book! Hmm... interesting... never thought of that...

not really...the only similarity is jersey...

[jrs]

Maybe Spielberg's movie is based on the radio show, not the book!...

Nope.

[LordSlaytan]

Speilberg 'nods' to everyone who has had a hand in the telling of this story.

[darkhorse]

Well the radio show is based on the book... Maybe Spielberg based his movie partially on the book and partially on the radio show and partially his own ideas...
like the whole thing about the aliens coming to earth riding lightning bolts and the tripods being buried underground dating back to prehistoric times, all of which are Spielberg's original ideas, I believe...

[darkhorse]

Speilberg 'nods' to everyone who has had a hand in the telling of this story.
Except to the original movie made by George Pal. I didn't see any references to that one...

[LordSlaytan]

Except to the original movie made by George Pal. I didn't see any references to that one...The whole way the basement scene played out with the tentacle...it mirrored the 50s film.

[darkhorse]

One of the things I found really impressive about this movie is the way Spielberg handled mob psychology and mass hysteria. (Interestingly, the whole mass hysteria theme is reflective of the original Orson Welles radio broadcast, which triggered off a(n) (in)famous case of mass hysteria provoked by a fictional radio dramatization). Anyway, back to the movie...

The scene where Tom Cruise and kids are attacked in their car by a freaked-out mob... how the car crashes and Cruise & co. are dragged out of the car by the crazed mob, after which Cruise pulls out his gun to try and restore order, only to have some other guy pull a gun on him and take over his car... and then that guy gets shot by someone else and the mob swarms all over the car. And there's the other scene at the boat, which is subsequently attacked by the aliens. I thought Spielberg's depiction of mob hysteria was very realistic and very well executed.

[Uncle Rico]

I think I may well be the only one in the world who didnt think this movie was great. NOW IVE MOVED UP A NOTCH TO EXTREME BADASS

[LordSlaytan]

Yup. The realism he affected with the screaming masses can literally give a guy the chills. It's akin to Saving Private Ryan's realism concerning battle enivronments.

Horsey, there are SO many things Stevey did right with this picture, it's really heartening. I've always held so many of his films dear to my heart (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan), that I find myself so happy that he did so well this time. It's been a long ass time since he captured my childlike wonder for film like this. I wanna give him a hug and some heartfelt thanks.

[LordSlaytan]

I think I may well be the only one in the world who didnt think this movie was great. NOW IVE MOVED UP A NOTCH TO EXTREME BADASSHmm...I think pessimistic toddler sounds more like you. ;)

I was really bummed out that you didn't like it, especially after I saw the reasons why. They are unrealistic expectations for a film of this nature. A kid your age 'should' be in love with this one. Oh well...you always have The O.C..

[Ezikiel]

A kid your age 'should' be in love with this one.
Not all us 'kids' love big huge destuction mega multi million dollar blockbuster pieces of turd. ;)

Or The O.C.


Kidding, still haven't seen this, but don't plan too.

[LordSlaytan]

I didn't mean that a teenage boy should be an idiot...I meant that this is a pulse-pounding, heart-stopping, thrill-ride, that is incredibly fun. It's just too bad, as far as I'm concerned, that Rico couldn't get into it. As far as you are concerned...

...elitist.

nyah-nyah ;)

[Equilibrium]

I just got back from seeing it. It SUCKS my left testicle. And John William's knows how to score and he managed to spew out a mediocre score in this movie, but nothing that stands out. Don't get me wrong speilberg is and always will be good at making technically masterful films and this one is no exception, however, there is no story. Wells had a story to tell, however this movie starts abruptly then there is just white noise in between with NO plot advancements and then it ends as aburptly as it began. Come on Speilberg, this is definitly not in the top half of your movie resume.

[Ezikiel]

...elitist.
:laugh: Hey now, I don't want to spend my hard earn money on something that looks as interesting as Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

[jrs]

I just got back from seeing it. It SUCKS my left testicle. And John William's knows how to score and he managed to spew out a mediocre score in this movie, but nothing that stands out. Don't get me wrong speilberg is and always will be good at making technically masterful films and this one is no exception, however, there is no story. Wells had a story to tell, however this movie starts abruptly then there is just white noise in between with NO plot advancements and then it ends as aburptly as it began. Come on Speilberg, this is definitly not in the top half of your movie resume.


I don't want to spend my hard earn money on something that looks as interesting as Diary of a Mad Black Woman.


This is as interesting as Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman eh'? You must have been watching the wrong movie, or at least have your brain thoroughly and massively examined.

[LordSlaytan]

It SUCKS my left testicle. Dude, that’s your dog. That’s so gross. Sick-o!

And John William's knows how to score and he managed to spew out a mediocre score in this movie. I heard it so differently. Lately, Spielberg has overused Williams music in his films. We are given cues with the music so we know when we should feel light hearted, or sad, or jumpy, etc…but I didn’t get that from this film. Actually, the music is really minimalist. It’s most often used to enhance the sounds of the machines, which are so loud the music would normally be in competition with them. And the way the music is used at the end is completely understated given what happens at the end of the film. I believe that the score was just right, and I’ve been humming it off and on all day.

…however, there is no story. Yes there is. The story is simple. Competent, but arrogant and self-centered dad has kids for the weekend. Kids act up, dad thinks its there fault when it is really all his. Poo hits the fan with a wide plethora of unique and spectacularly filmed segments of an alien invasion. Dad runs. Dad gets kids and runs. Dad and kids and everybody else runs…or dies. They stop and sleep a bit, then run. Then they run some more. See…what kind of character development, or back-story, or allegorical symbolism are you expecting? This is a movie that is about running! That’s it. Big, mean, scary, machines are killing everybody and changing our very landscape to fit there own needs. There’s no time to get to know one another. There’s no time to stop and reflect. You learn whatever you can while you run…and I thought that was shown perfectly.

I watched Ray turn into a mature man during the 2 hours of the film. He started so sure of himself, so confident that he had it all figured out. Then life takes an unexpected turn and he has to run. He learns on the fly that he’s had it all wrong all this time, and he feels terrified that he will lose everything that he has just discovered to be so valuable. During this process, he learns from his children what he actually has done wrong, and for once, he hears them. But he has to keep running, and he has to keep them alive…so for the first time in his life, he’s thinking outside of the box. Then he has that clarity of sight when he sees his son is just like him! I love that moment; when he looks up at his son trying to get the people who are stuck on the ramp, and he has that slight smile on his lips…that is a look of awe on his face. He is watching his boy turn into a man over a period of…what, a handful of days? Then, in an agonizing sequence, he has to let his newly arrived man go. I loved that part. The way he let go of his boy, but didn’t break the contact until his reach could go no further. Beautiful and quite sad. Then there’s the grenade scene, and his little girl sees Ray turn into a fully realized man right before her very own eyes…not to mention, he’s a friggin’ superhero for taking down a machine.

I dunno, man. I think the story is told quite well. I mean, I was pretty sure when I sat down that I wasn’t going to see 2001: A Space Odyssey. That I was there to see an apocalyptic tale full of amazing effects, glorious sounds, and heart pounding action…and I was. :)

Wells had a story to tell…Yeah, he did. It was a lot like this one. Bad guys kill good and bad people without so much as a glance at their wallets, color, or religion. Same thing happened here. Of course, there will always be more symbolism and topical theorizing in a classic work compared to a summer block buster. All in all, I got what I wanted. Stevey promised me a fun thrill ride, and he delivered. Besides, as far as I know he didn’t promise anyone any real depth and that the film would touch on the current state of affairs that our modern world has to deal with. It’s too bad that people expect every movie to be a fun think ride. Sometimes they’re just meant to be fun.

… there is just white noise in between with NO plot advancements and then it ends as abruptly as it began. Much like the attack. I think that was the point, but I dunno.

…this is definitely not in the top half of your [Speilberg] movie resume.I think it is, and since we both know I’m cool and amazing and you’re just a smelly turd…:laugh: Okay, I couldn’t keep a straight text face with that last part. To each his own. I’m not attacking you for not liking it so much as I feel compelled to defend a film that has quite literally captured my heart and imagination. It’s been a long, long, time since a movie like this has had this affect. I like it.

:laugh: Hey now, I don't want to spend my hard earn money on something that looks as interesting as Diary of a Mad Black Woman.And you...I'm going to kick your malnourished country ass for that one. Okay, I have no idea if you're hungry or an okie, but it sounded cool and menacing...and that's me...oh yeah...I'm humble too.

You must have been watching the wrong movie...He mentioned earlier that he won't even give it a chance...just like a friend of mine. Bastards. :indifferent:

[Equilibrium]

Dude, that’s your dog. That’s so gross. Sick-o!

I don't own a dog and if I did..haven't you seen The Big Lebowski? haha jk.


I heard it so differently. Lately, Spielberg has overused Williams music in his films. We are given cues with the music so we know when we should feel light hearted, or sad, or jumpy, etc…but I didn’t get that from this film. Actually, the music is really minimalist. It’s most often used to enhance the sounds of the machines, which are so loud the music would normally be in competition with them. And the way the music is used at the end is completely understated given what happens at the end of the film. I believe that the score was just right, and I’ve been humming it off and on all day.
John Williams will never cease to make decent music, even in this film. But John williams has such a track record we expect so much. That is why you are confusing "lower than expectations" with "decent". In any case it doesn't matter we both agree that this score was just not what it should have been.


Yes there is. The story is simple. Competent, but arrogant and self-centered dad has kids for the weekend. Kids act up, dad thinks its there fault when it is really all his. Poo hits the fan with a wide plethora of unique and spectacularly filmed segments of an alien invasion. Dad runs. Dad gets kids and runs. Dad and kids and everybody else runs…or dies. They stop and sleep a bit, then run. Then they run some more. See…what kind of character development, or back-story, or allegorical symbolism are you expecting? This is a movie that is about running! That’s it. Big, mean, scary, machines are killing everybody and changing our very landscape to fit there own needs. There’s no time to get to know one another. There’s no time to stop and reflect. You learn whatever you can while you run…and I thought that was shown perfectly.
What is a movie without character development? Why should we care about Aliens killing characters we don't care about? Seriously I might be wrong but damn the dialogue in this movie is down to a bare minimum and half of it was just randomn funny lines. This is a story that is about fear, well **** this movie made me open my eyes more to look at the cool looking aliens and their ships but it didnt make me scared or even I dunno....interested?

Yeah, he did. It was a lot like this one. Bad guys kill good and bad people without so much as a glance at their wallets, color, or religion. Same thing happened here. Of course, there will always be more symbolism and topical theorizing in a classic work compared to a summer block buster. All in all, I got what I wanted. Stevey promised me a fun thrill ride, and he delivered. Besides, as far as I know he didn’t promise anyone any real depth and that the film would touch on the current state of affairs that our modern world has to deal with. It’s too bad that people expect every movie to be a fun think ride. Sometimes they’re just meant to be fun.
Fine, but given Speilberg's ability to tell stories...he could've done better. Think MINORITY REPORT, now there is a movie that is on my top ten list of all time. The only things that that movie and this one have in common is that they are both smoith flowing movies. But one had a story you were waiting to see and the other had a story you wanted to just scream and just say "DAMN ALL THEY ARE DOING IN THIS MOVIE IS LOOKING SCARED AND RUNNING". I seriously have never been to a movie where I felt completely cheated out of a good time..I was totally not engulfed by it. Maybe it was the mood I was in but damn.

Much like the attack. I think that was the point, but I dunno.
What are you trying to say? Its GOOD that only the beggining and end of the movie matter? What about the substance in between. I feel like this movie was tinkering on the edge of having some sort of powerful message or even basic truth, but either it never got around to it or it just faded away, or it was killed by the abrupt ending.


I think it is, and since we both know I’m cool and amazing and you’re just a smelly turd…:laugh: Okay, I couldn’t keep a straight text face with that last part. To each his own. I’m not attacking you for not liking it so much as I feel compelled to defend a film that has quite literally captured my heart and imagination. It’s been a long, long, time since a movie like this has had this affect. I like it.
You might be cool and amazing, and sexy, and i might even want to have your babies...but it doesn't mean you weren't smoking somthing while watching this movie. Speilberg is my favorite director and I know when he puts out good stuff....but when he puts out ****..well lets just say his **** doesn't smell sweeter than any other.

I am glad the film captured your imagination. Lots of movies have done that for me like Lord of The Rings, Minority Report, Terminator 2, and on smaller scales: Gattaca, Equilibrium, and other movies.But like you said, War of the Worlds may not have a message, or a point..it might just be a "yeah lets go watch a bunch of aliens destroy the earth but who cares about the characters" type of movie.But maybe I was walking in expecting I dunno...Speilberg material?

[LordSlaytan]

John Williams will never cease to make decent music, even in this film. But John Williams has such a track record we expect so much. That is why you are confusing "lower than expectations" with "decent". In any case it doesn't matter we both agree that this score was just not what it should have been. I’m not confusing what you’re saying, I’m just disagreeing. I thought he made a good score, but it was understated in this film. It’s just a change in the way Spielberg usually uses him, that’s all. I liked that we weren’t inundated with too much music. Spielberg has saturated us with John Williams music in the past; sometimes to great effect, sometimes not. This time, I feel he found a perfect balance.

What is a movie without character development? Why should we care about Aliens killing characters we don't care about? Seriously I might be wrong but damn the dialogue in this movie is down to a bare minimum and half of it was just randomn funny lines. This is a story that is about fear, well **** this movie made me open my eyes more to look at the cool looking aliens and their ships but it didnt make me scared or even I dunno....interested? It has character development in the way that Ray grows and comes to many realizations about what true worth is. It’s a constant throughout the entire film. Rachel is a rich little bitch kid at the beginning of the film, and changes utterly before our very eyes…Robbie turns into Rob. It’s full of character development. It’s just not done over coffee and cigarettes…it’s done on the run with sparse dialogue, facial expressions, and utter desperation.

Fine, but given Speilberg's ability to tell stories...he could've done better. Think MINORITY REPORT, now there is a movie that is on my top ten list of all time. The only things that that movie and this one have in common is that they are both smoith flowing movies. But one had a story you were waiting to see and the other had a story you wanted to just scream and just say "DAMN ALL THEY ARE DOING IN THIS MOVIE IS LOOKING SCARED AND RUNNING". I seriously have never been to a movie where I felt completely cheated out of a good time..I was totally not engulfed by it. Maybe it was the mood I was in but damn. I understand your complaint…I don’t share it, but I understand. It’s just…I see this film as a slice of time. Kind of like Gibson’s Passion film. The story, plot, everything, is all about these handful of days where the human race thought they were done in. The whole point is that there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no time to do neither. That’s the story. That’s all there is to it. I do not understand why you feel there should be more to it. It’s like people complaining about Gibson’s Passion flick not telling the back story of Jesus. Hell, if you wanna see a film that tells his entire tale, go rent it. If you wanna see one that centers on his passion, see this one. It’s the same thing here. If you wanna see a complex, nourish, sci-fi, check out Minority Report, if you wanna see a fast paced, run for your life, apocalypse movie, see War of the Worlds.

What are you trying to say? Its GOOD that only the beggining and end of the movie matter? What about the substance in between. I feel like this movie was tinkering on the edge of having some sort of powerful message or even basic truth, but either it never got around to it or it just faded away, or it was killed by the abrupt ending. I wished the ending would have been drawn out too, but only because I wanted more. The book had the same thing…just outta nowhere they started dying. Then it was over. That’s how it is…and powerful message or basic truth? This ain’t All Quiet on the Western Front, bro.

You might be cool and amazing, and sexy, and i might even want to have your babies...but it doesn't mean you weren't smoking somthing while watching this movie. Speilberg is my favorite director and I know when he puts out good stuff....but when he puts out ****..well lets just say his **** doesn't smell sweeter than any other. It’s about time you figured out who the bitch is (sorry ladies, couldn’t resist). ;)

I am glad the film captured your imagination. Lots of movies have done that for me like Lord of The Rings, Minority Report, Terminator 2, and on smaller scales: Gattaca, Equilibrium, and other movies.But like you said, War of the Worlds may not have a message, or a point..it might just be a "yeah lets go watch a bunch of aliens destroy the earth but who cares about the characters" type of movie.But maybe I was walking in expecting I dunno...Speilberg material?I didn’t quite say that, but that’s cool. I think we both went in expecting, and wanting, different things. There is no movie out there that everybody loves. Some come close…

For me, I really, really, identified with Ray. I mean re-ally identified. I saw so much ‘character development’ as the movie progressed. I never expected anything more profound than simple enjoyment…and I got that. I’m sorry that you hated it. I wish everyone who sees it would walk away amazed and feeling 12 years old again. I think, more than anything else, that’s what’s making me love this film so much. It made me feel like a kid again.

[Lester Burnham]

As entertaining as War of the Worlds is its no spielberg classic. Having watched Sci-fi classics like E.T and Close encounters of the third kind, I can say that War of the Worlds just doesn't compete with them.

Postives: The special effects are phenomonal, on a par with the effects used in The Day after Tomorrow. The casting in the movie is fine, Cruise plays his usual good guy role, Dakota Fanning continues to cement her role as the most talented child actor around at this current time and Robbins is effective in his minor role (should have been used more though). The direction by Spielerg is also effective.

Negatives: The end of the movie is a real disappointment, I won't give to much away but I was really let down by the ending. The film also seems to lack the heart and passion that go into most Spielberg movies, it just seemed to be missing something.

War of the worlds is an enjoyable movie(mostly due to the special effects) but if you are expecting a Spielberg classic your in for a let down.

Final Grade: B

[sharky]

Saw the movie only yesterday and for the first time ever had the feeling i was ripped off( i am sorry for the fans, this is not meant as an insult for you).
Spielberg obviously was for some reason in need of money so he decided to name the sequel to independence day after H.G. Wells masterpiece 'WAR OF THE WORLDS' and by doing this violating the very essence of this great book. He should have chosen the title : 'independance day 2:another stupid attempt to take over the world with miserable faillure as result, and this time by the alien's village idiots since the more intelligent specimen got killed last time'.
Why not get some inspiration from his own work 'pinky and the brain' when it comes to invasion stuff??

[susan]

i was expecting a little more myself, maybe a different ending, i'm not sure what, but hey, this is the way hg wells wrote the book and this is just speilberg's version of it, just like everyone elses...the basic plot is the same....

[Blister]

I felt that the ending was really rushed, I was expecting more at the end I think. You were just sitting there then BAM, a minute later the credits were rolling, and I was sitting in my seat wanting more. I have to say it was disappointing.

[Uncle Rico]

Hmm...I think pessimistic toddler sounds more like you. ;)

I was really bummed out that you didn't like it, especially after I saw the reasons why. They are unrealistic expectations for a film of this nature. A kid your age 'should' be in love with this one. Oh well...you always have The O.C..

EWWW. I Despise the O.C. But trust me Im not like kids my age Im 14. When my Friends and I go to the movie store they all want Super Troopers when i am begging them to let me get American Beauty.

[LordSlaytan]

...in need of money so he decided to name the sequel to independence day after H.G. Wells masterpiece 'WAR OF THE WORLDS'...You're so friggin' high. :laugh: This is nothing like the craptaplar ID4. Oh well.

I've read the book a couple of times, and this version is reasonably faithful to it. Again...oh well.


I felt that the ending was really rushed, I was expecting more at the end I think. You were just sitting there then BAM, a minute later the credits were rolling, and I was sitting in my seat wanting more. I have to say it was disappointing.It is rushed, but that’s how the book is too. When they start dying off, it happens as quickly as it all began (though in the book, it took them awhile to build their machines before they got moving).

[Blister]

Thanks, Slay, but I guess it's just not the type of ending that I expecting. But I do have a question:

If the aliens could come to earth, and build the machines before our time, come to earth in lightning and all those other amazing things. Then couldn't they have simply blasted Earth from space?(and save them hassle) Or did they want to learn about how Earth would fight back against them?

(Not sure if the spoiler tags were actually needed, but better safe than sorry)

[LordSlaytan]

If the aliens could come to earth, and build the machines before our time, come to earth in lightning and all those other amazing things. Then couldn't they have simply blasted Earth from space?(and save them the hassle of coming into our atmosphere) Or did they want to learn about how Earth would fight back against them? I dunno, man. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to bury machines years before humans come around…but then nobody really knows when they buried them…and then wait for them to populate…unless they were specifically waiting for that…before they squished us all. Then again, if that were to really happen, I guess we would wonder about it until we were all dead.

I see it this way, fantasy stories rely on a certain amount of acceptance from its audience members. Some things aren’t meant to be broken down and placed under scrutiny. If an alien invasion actually happened, we wouldn’t know what the hell was going on in their minds…it would all be a mystery. If they sat us down and explained it all, it would probably make perfect sense, but aliens bent on the destruction of everything other than the soil and water don’t strike me as the type to actually give a rip whether we understand or not. We are not meant to know those answers, bro. Not all stories are meant to come together in the end with revelations and the like. I dunno…that’s my opinion.

[jrs]

Statler and Waldorf's 'War of the Worlds' review (http://movies.go.com/moviesproxy/muppets/player?speed=high)

Keep watching the entire thing , even though it's not entirely on WOTW. ;)

http://a.movies.com/i/muppets/logo_2.jpg

[susan]

loved it.....thanks jrs

[LordSlaytan]

That's pretty cool, J.

"Miss ConGenitalia 2" :laugh:

[Sedai]

On my way to see it right now... back in a few hours...

[Equilibrium]

I’m not confusing what you’re saying, I’m just disagreeing. I thought he made a good score, but it was understated in this film. It’s just a change in the way Spielberg usually uses him, that’s all. I liked that we weren’t inundated with too much music. Spielberg has saturated us with John Williams music in the past; sometimes to great effect, sometimes not. This time, I feel he found a perfect balance.

It has character development in the way that Ray grows and comes to many realizations about what true worth is. It’s a constant throughout the entire film. Rachel is a rich little bitch kid at the beginning of the film, and changes utterly before our very eyes…Robbie turns into Rob. It’s full of character development. It’s just not done over coffee and cigarettes…it’s done on the run with sparse dialogue, facial expressions, and utter desperation.

I understand your complaint…I don’t share it, but I understand. It’s just…I see this film as a slice of time. Kind of like Gibson’s Passion film. The story, plot, everything, is all about these handful of days where the human race thought they were done in. The whole point is that there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no time to do neither. That’s the story. That’s all there is to it. I do not understand why you feel there should be more to it. It’s like people complaining about Gibson’s Passion flick not telling the back story of Jesus. Hell, if you wanna see a film that tells his entire tale, go rent it. If you wanna see one that centers on his passion, see this one. It’s the same thing here. If you wanna see a complex, nourish, sci-fi, check out Minority Report, if you wanna see a fast paced, run for your life, apocalypse movie, see War of the Worlds.

I wished the ending would have been drawn out too, but only because I wanted more. The book had the same thing…just outta nowhere they started dying. Then it was over. That’s how it is…and powerful message or basic truth? This ain’t All Quiet on the Western Front, bro.

It’s about time you figured out who the bitch is (sorry ladies, couldn’t resist). ;)

I didn’t quite say that, but that’s cool. I think we both went in expecting, and wanting, different things. There is no movie out there that everybody loves. Some come close…

For me, I really, really, identified with Ray. I mean re-ally identified. I saw so much ‘character development’ as the movie progressed. I never expected anything more profound than simple enjoyment…and I got that. I’m sorry that you hated it. I wish everyone who sees it would walk away amazed and feeling 12 years old again. I think, more than anything else, that’s what’s making me love this film so much. It made me feel like a kid again.


see I would make a long post replying to all your comments...except it seems in this case we are debating your feelings and not facts. I am not saying this movie doesn't have the potential to appel to other's and yes I really was expecting Minority Report, but thats only because Speilberg usually knows how to tell a good story even if its a crappy story to begin with. I don't know, its obvious this movie really appealed to you, however for me i was completely taken out by it and i kept waiting for something to happen..like something to make me like the movie and it never came...the only time i felt relieved was when the credits started rolling and thats when i realized how disspointed i am overall in the movie.

But hey...to be fair the movie is beautifully shot and all the effects are amazing..and its a technical masterpeice with very smooth transitions (but thats only coz the entire movie was pretty much the same..run and hide...be scared more yelling..run and hide...yelling..etc). Maybe when it comes out on DVD ill rent it and se eit again maybe the second time around i wont expect much out of it and ill like it. But its clear to me that this movie is one of those that only certain people can relate to. Happy to hear your one of them LS. Just proves how "special" you are but anyways...;)

[LordSlaytan]

I think we were done 'debating' a while ago too. Besides, I really hate to debate taste...how pointless is that really?

[Sedai]

I saw it. Thought it was great stuff. Stuck pretty well to the book, and I don;t see what people are complaining about with the ending, really. I see some complaints abput the end, and I am not sure exactly what the complaint is about, but it ended pretty much exactly like the book as far as I remembered it. I am speaking about what happened to the aliens, not the family. I thought the family ending was sort of typical for Spielberg. SOme of the scenes were quire realistic feeling and I found them exciting and fun. I am starting to get thye feeling that society is getting a bit jaded about things, and people who adopt that attitude will have a hard time finding anything they like, ever. Too bad for them....

[Sleezy]

I saw it. Thought it was great stuff. Stuck pretty well to the book, and I don;t see what people are complaining about with the ending, really. I see some complaints abput the end, and I am not sure exactly what the complaint is about, but it ended pretty much exactly like the book as far as I remembered it. I am speaking about what happened to the aliens, not the family. I thought the family ending was sort of typical for Spielberg. SOme of the scenes were quire realistic feeling and I found them exciting and fun. I am starting to get thye feeling that society is getting a bit jaded about things, and people who adopt that attitude will have a hard time finding anything they like, ever. Too bad for them....

Agreed. I've had problems with that myself. If Batman Begins and War of the Worlds had been released a year ago, I might have ranted about whatever shortcomings I could find. But seeing them for what they are, I find that I really enjoy both. Like someone mentioned earlier, War of the Worlds captures a moment in time, and shows us the human condition as it cowers under the threat of extermination. We're always so far at the top of the pecking order - it was refreshing to see that humanity isn't entirely immune to a threat greater than itself.

Oh yeah, and the explosions. Score one for the explosions. :D

[IsaacR312]

I really liked this movie!! There were sooo many scenes that left me in awe! Oh and one of my favorite scenes was the part with the train! That was awesome!!

[darkhorse]

The creepiest scene in the movie, IMO, was the scene with the dead bodies floating down the river... That, and the scene with the alien probe in Tim Robbins' basement.

[susan]

the alien probe scene was right out of the original only it wasn't down in the basement

[darkhorse]

the alien probe scene was right out of the original only it wasn't down in the basement
Yeah, I know. In the book, though, the hero takes refuge in a house and the probe is actually an alien tentacle, if I remember it correctly.

[susan]

Yeah, I know. In the book, though, the hero takes refuge in a house and the probe is actually an alien tentacle, if I remember it correctly.


yes i believe you are right

[Equilibrium]

I say we all just talk in SPOILER TALK since the majority of the thread seems to be that way

[darkhorse]

Okay!

[blibblobblib]

Sod the spoiler talk. I loved it. Theres not much else to say really. Spielberg has done it again, and it seems that everything i wanted to say about this film has already been said by lover Slay...

It's been many years that a BB has mesmerized me so completely. I friggin' LOVE this film. L-O-V-E IT!!! Brilliant, powerful, intense, and amazing. I will certainly see this at least 5 times during the next couple of weeks. Speilberg really came through.
Yup yup yup.
there are SO many things Stevey did right with this picture, it's really heartening. I've always held so many of his films dear to my heart (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan), that I find myself so happy that he did so well this time. It's been a long ass time since he captured my childlike wonder for film like this. I wanna give him a hug and some heartfelt thanks.Your brain and my brain are becoming ONE. Stevie rules! Lets stalk Stevie together and then tie him up and hug him forever!

Seriously though, i was very pleased with the film. I'm a massive fan of H G Wells and have been all my life, a couple of weeks ago i finished my thesis (WHICH I JUST RECIVED A 2:1 FOR AS A FINAL MARK FOR MY WHOLE DEGREE! WOO HOO!) which was based on his writings and a lot of aspects of War of the Worlds, so this is probably one of my most anticpiated films of all time. And it really didnt dissapoint. I loved the twist that they put on the 'unscrewing' of the alien capsule. I loved the horror and utter terror i felt whilst watching with Ray and his family as the martians walk over the harbour after the inciudent with the ferry. truly horrifying, just as i felt when i read the book so many years ago. Brilliant briliant stuff. :yup:

[Sedai]

Thinking about it more, I just really loved this film. Can't wait to see it again!

[defjukie]

yea the movie was ok. is it me or did the ending suck? i know thats probably how it ended in the book, but it jus seemed that it ended abruptly

[Sleezy]

yea the movie was ok. is it me or did the ending suck? i know thats probably how it ended in the book, but it jus seemed that it ended abruptly

Yep. That's pretty much the way the book ends. Whether you like the ending or not, the nature of the story lends itself to that abrupt conclusion. What I mean is, the story seems to ask this question: What would you learn from life if you were swallowed up by the threat of death and extermination, and then spit back out again before you could really make sense of anything? What do you learn about life when it catches you off-guard?

And you have to remember, H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds was first published in 1898. Abrupt endings were fairly common in turn-of-the-century fiction.

[Equilibrium]

God dammit, maybe i was in the wrong mood when i saw this movie.

[Austruck]

Just got back from seeing this movie. I saw it with three of my four kids (including Yoda and Gracie).

As a parent, I found the whole execution of this film to be terrifying and suffocatingly depressing to watch. I mean these as compliments, though, because it means the movie did what it was trying to do. The relationships seemed realistic -- even amid huge unthinkable stresses, the family members all acted the way they probably would have in real life. There were no hugely fake heroic moments (a la Randy Quaid or Bill Pullman in Independence Day), but many small, realistic ones (son climbing up the side of the ferry, Cruise grabbing his daughter out of the car while being pounded to a pulp, Cruise threatening his son to come with him or else, Cruise killing Tim Robbins (a sentiment I can definitely empathize with, but that's another story entirely ;) ), etc. All very realistic acts of smaller heroism, none of which came in and stupidly stumbled in to save the day.

In the end, no human effort really saved the day. The humans lucked out that the aliens got the sniffles and died of some sort of infection or bacteria/germ-related thing. It was *brilliant* to follow Ray Ferrier and only know what he knows. It added volumes to the terror I felt as a parent, wondering now why I wake up each morning ASSUMING the culture around me will hold itself up all day and acting like it just owes me something, NOT to collapse around me in poverty or war or other horrific things some cultures live with constantly.

We came out of the theater with dusk approaching, and with the skies black with roiling thunderclouds hanging directly overhead. Incredibly creepy way to drive home. (shudder)

Bravo, Mr. Spielberg. You effectively creeped the ***** outta me.

[Austruck]

Oh I SO couldn't get the spoiler tags to work. What the *** am I doing wrong?

[Austruck]

OH, I almost FORGOT! I haven't read all four pages of this thread, so let me know if someone's mentioned this: I saw this on another site and HAD to mention it here.

Isn't it a mistake that, early in the movie after all the electronics go out -- cars, electricity, cell phones, EVERYTHING -- some guy is walking down the street using a CAMCORDER?

HELLO????

[jrs]

Isn't it a mistake that, early in the movie after all the electronics go out -- cars, electricity, cell phones, EVERYTHING -- some guy is walking down the street using a CAMCORDER?

HELLO????

Batteries Austruck...batteries

[Austruck]

Batteries? Cruise's cell phone not only got no signal, but didn't even turn on. It has a battery that would have at least lit up the screen, but nada.

I assumed batteries went kaput too.

[OG-]

An EMP surges electronic devices, essentially frying their components. So, battery or not if it had circuits it's done for.

Sidenote. Thank you again Steven Spielberg, for as I was driving home every lighting flash, every single one, brought back fond memories of the movie.

[jrs]

Batteries? Cruise's cell phone not only got no signal, but didn't even turn on. It has a battery that would have at least lit up the screen, but nada.

I assumed batteries went kaput too.


Ya' got me.....I guess you have to use your imagination.

[susan]

i was waiting for the car to run out of gas..never did...

[LordSlaytan]

Oh I SO couldn't get the spoiler tags to work. What the *** am I doing wrong?Let's just assume from here on out, that if someone has read this far, they have either seen the film, or don't care about spoilers.

Anywho...

The whole thing about the cameras though; it was consistent throughout the entire film that all different types of cameras, including phone cameras (phones might have worked too if the power going out wasn't so wide spread) and camcorders (and news cameras - the news reporter yelling at her friend who pulled down the case full of water, "You hear that so and so? Your camera saved your life!"

The entire film doesn't stray from the 100 or so hours the world is under attack. We are not meant to understand jack about the motivations, logistical abilities, or anything about the aliens. The fact that cameras work add to the confusion of it all. The fact that it doesn't meet the standards of what we consider logic (unless it is logical to someone who truly understands that kind of science), doesn't mean that the movie is flawed in any way. We're not supposed to understand these things. Remember, the movie ends just hours after the aliens start dying. Ray, or anybody else for that matter, doesn't have a clue about anything other that they have made it through it.

I went and saw it one more time and really studied everything; continuity, whether it followed its own logic, whether the characters were acting realistic for the times we live in. I’m pretty amazed by what I soaked in this time. Nearly everything in this movie is brilliantly done. It does adhere to all the things I listed above. Some of the scenes don’t work too well realistically like when Ray feeds them from the box when there’s a working fridge in a rich persons house 2’ away – but without the box, there wouldn’t be a scene where Ray learns about his children quite the way he does, and since it perfectly describes Ray’s true ignorance about his kids, it needs to be there. I’ll take that scene over him using his perfectly good common sense and grabbing yesterdays leftovers.

The score is only really used during the end credits, so complaints that the score sucked isn’t really a ‘real’ complaint. Throughout the entire film, William’s orchestra is only really adding to the sound effects, making exclamations, or just lightly plinging and plucking away (like the entire basement sequence). This is extremely unusual for a Spielberg film; and I like it. I especially enjoy the opening ‘music’ during Freeman’s narration. It sets up the mood for the entire film pitch perfectly…all the music which is used plays to the mood of the film beautifully. It’s really refreshing to not be inundated with too much music; getting in the way of your natural ability to set your own mood during crucial sequences. Bravo Spielberg, I say. It’s not like him to play it that way.

There’s also talk about his 911 references. True, there are questions of terrorists (both kids ask, starting with Rachel, who would ask if this sort of thing happened today. After all, she is a spoiled, rich, 10-year-old living in a, presumably, rich, white, neighborhood) which works too a point. Robbie playing stupid here doesn’t work because he shows pretty consistently that he’s extremely bright (beginning with the baseball through the window), and his questioning seems unrealistic for him. There are a couple, three little ‘dings’ like this in the film, but those are minor complaints. The humus scene doesn’t necessarily have to have any deep meaning either, because how many people like Ray do you know enjoy, or have even tried, that kind of food. The film accurately describes the mood of this nation at this current time.

There are also complaints about his copying the visual style of the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park. I say so what. It works and it doesn’t have to mean that the film is flawed in that regard because he ‘homaged’ his own material. Tim Robin’s Ogilvy is played realistically too. This guy doesn’t own the house they’re in. He’s just a runner too. The only thing we know about him is that he has been through even worse hell than Ray. He’s lost everybody. I can see someone inwardly collapsing the way he does in the short time Ray knows him. They’re only together for a matter of hours, so there’s no real time to really know the guy. They meet, he goes nuts. It’s as simple as that, and realistic.

And lastly; the ending. Many people complain about how abrupt it is, the condition of the neighborhood where Ray ends up, and the fact that the reunion plays out the way it does. Yes, it’s abrupt. Once the aliens get sick, they get sick. That’s the way the book is. The way the original film is. And the way this film is. Maybe if you weren’t enjoying the carnage so much, the ending wouldn’t bother you. Or, maybe it’s supposed to be confusing in a real bewildering sort of way, like the rest of the film is. During the entire attack, there are always places that are untouched that these survivors are able to find. Electricity works routinely in the picture. It show that the aliens aren’t everywhere yet. They die off before everything is gone, so the neighborhood surviving isn’t that far fetched. Remember, the entire film is seen through Ray’s eyes (and occasionally Rachel’s), so we have no real idea what has been destroyed and what hasn’t. And the reunion; that happens in the book as well. Maybe when Robbie goes over the hill, the first thing he sees is the futility of the counter attack and bolts in the only direction he can, etc. Since we are never shown what happens to him, any number of possibilities could have played out for him, no matter how unlikely. It doesn’t seem right that someone can complain when a director follows classic source material accurately, when a extremely common complaint is when they don’t. It’s supposed to play out that way, and the only real way to do it is to leave us in the dark about how it manages to happen.

So I have no complaints about any of those three things, or with most of the other complaints I hear. Because after three viewings in one week, a hell of a lot of thought, and studying the damn thing the third viewing; I have concluded that this is one of Stevens very best films. For the few minor character discrepancies and clunky character development at times, I can’t say it’s a perfect film, but it’s awfully damn close to one.

[LordSlaytan]

i was waiting for the car to run out of gas..never did...Let's say it had a full tank. They left Ray's house going straight to Mary Ann's house. They stayed there the night. It was dark when they got there and around 5 p.m. when they left. Very little gas probably used there. They stayed the night, leaving at an undetermined time in the morning. I doubt they were able to really sleep in. So that means that they drove country roads until dark. Maybe far fetched, maybe not. It gets dark early (presuming the kids showing up at Ray's house in late fall/winter gear means anything). So who knows. Maybe a slight discrepancy, maybe not.

[susan]

Let's say it had a full tank. They left Ray's house going straight to Mary Ann's house. They stayed there the night. It was dark when they got there and around 5 p.m. when they left. Very little gas probably used there. They stayed the night, leaving at an undetermined time in the morning. I doubt they were able to really sleep in. So that means that they drove country roads until dark. Maybe far fetched, maybe not. It gets dark early (presuming the kids showing up at Ray's house in late fall/winter gear means anything). So who knows. Maybe a slight discrepancy, maybe not.

you're probably right...it just seemed an awful long time and a long way up that's all...who knows?

anyway, i agree with you...the family scenes were realistic enough...especially with ray and his kids...

and actually who knows what would happen if this whole alien takeover did take place

i found myself wondering what i would do in this situation...


spielberg's best film...schindler's list...by far

[LordSlaytan]

They started in NJ and only made it as far as the Hudson Ferry. How far is that...still NJ isn't it?

[susan]

no such place as hudson ferry...anyway they'd have to be driving out of nj (the other way) to get to boston... they were already in newark (which is at the edge of ny) i figured that they were in upstate ny right then...

weren't they going to connecticut where the mother's house was?

[Sedai]

God dammit, maybe i was in the wrong mood when i saw this movie. Which is an excellent point, btw. I have a friend who has dumped on a few films after seeing them the first time because:

A - He was in a bad mood when he saw them or

B - He was with someone in a bad mood

We all went to see Fellowship of the Ring, and the guy just couldn't get into it, and he loved LotR. Saw it again a week later and loved it, but was cranky the day we saw it together. He seemed to get caught up on the minutae in the film. "Meh, the sword didn't look right" (when clearly, no one has ever seen Aragorn's sword before that film, except in their mind's eye). Stuff of that nature. You may need to see it again, E. ;)


About the gas thing. I have driven to Brooklyn from Boston and had about 1/4 tank left when I arrived. Also, didn't they lose the car pretty quick? I remember some gunplay ending with them not having the car any longer... Just saw it the once so far...

[Zayber]

I LOVED THIS MOVIE! i thought it was good. my dad liked the original better. the aleins weren't scary. Dakota Fanning did a great job. I loved the abduction scenes.

[Austruck]

Internal logic counts for something. Saying that, "Well, it's an alien movie, so if some cameras work but phones don't, that's okay. They can do what they want," is a cop-out.

Early in the movie, there were mentions on the TV of not only the storms (off and on, nice touches) but also EMP. We were supposed to hear this. This was supposed to be an explanation of sorts. Spielberg either totally goofed by having the cameras working or he chose to ignore the film's own internal logic in order to have the cool shot of the camcorder and the line about the cameraman's camera saving his life. And also, of course, having all the equipment in the van working so she can show Ray video of what's been going on in other places.

I can understand that, but that doesn't make it less of a mistake. It's the kind of thing IMDB would list as an error ... and, I'm sorry, rightly so.

In my case, it doesn't detract from the roller-coaster ride of the film. But I've never liked explanations of things like this that include, "Well, it doesn't need logic because it's different from our world..." We're talking *internal* logic, and yes, that counts for something. It allows for willing suspension of disbelief, a vital factor of moviegoing.

To be consistent, the cameras shouldn't have been working, especially the little handheld one. I doubt the guy fixed his in that short period of time. MAYBE the news crew guy fixed HIS camera and van equipment ... though I doubt it.

It was a great film ... but had some internal logic problems.

[LordSlaytan]

I completely disagree.

There is no *internal* logic when the central point is that the alien technology is so superior to our own (they controlled our atmosphere!) that we cannot fathom it. It's not a cop out to accept that there's something unexplainable happening in that regard. Obviously, it was no mistake. Do you really think Spielberg would allow a gigantic misstep like that in his film? From the beginning of the movie, it's stressed that cameras of all types are working. From the moment the storm begins, we are shown people taking pictures of it. We are shown as soon as the first ship comes out that people are recording it...the guy recording it is its first victim. The reporter and her crew filmed lightning coming down. It's in the film for a reason, and since it doesn't make sense to us what that is...it's there for confusions sake only. It's there so we all go, "WTF?" It stresses to us that we are under attack by forces we cannot begin to comprehend. All the talk of solar flares, who was attacked, how they managed to bury their ships, when they buried them, the EMP theory...it's all conjecture thrown at us by people in the film who don't have a friggin' clue about anything. It's just a bunch of scared people guessing; trying to make sense of what's been happening. It's not meant to be taken by us as explanation. Spielberg added all of this to throw us off much in the same way that the character we are temporarily living through is thrown off. The window of time that exists for us in this tale doesn't allow us any understanding. What happened before or after is moot...we will never know. But what happened during that block of time, the terror, the bewilderment, the constant running, we can understand. All the visceral elements of what an attack like this would truly be like, is documented perfectly. *Internal logic* does not exist for you this time. :kiss:

[Austruck]

Fair enough on the camera thing. You're right that they were consistent about that: It seems that only cameras worked. (See below, though, for a question about one exception.)

But, by "internal logic," I mean the logic of the film itself -- not what the characters are feeling or the viewer. And yes, a filmmaker and screenwriter do have to adhere to some set of internal logical rules for the world they are creating. (I'm speaking generically here.) Otherwise, there is no frame of reference for the viewer.

You can create the sense of panic and bewilderment you speak of without violating internal logical rules. Let's say for a moment that all cameras were also out of commission ... but Spielberg HAD left in that one camcorder by accident. That would be a mistake and not something you should just chalk up to artistic license or saying that the world is different from ours.

In this case, it's now apparent to me that Spielberg purposely left all cameras functioning purely to have those few cool moments using cameras. (And why did the video equipment in the van work then? That's not a camera -- that's a VCR.) That's his right to do that, of course, and if he's internally consistent it's not a mistake.

Anyway, you seem to be confusing my point about the internal logic from a technical standpoint with my many other points that the movie DID accomplish its goal of communicating the terror and abject confusion inherent in anyone's exposure to an experience like this. Please don't miss that part: I AGREE with you on all the visceral aspects of the movie! I was totally creeped out by the implications of any sort of "culture collapse" envisioned in the movie. And it was played out brilliantly and to full effect. At times it was downright suffocating to me as a parent. Bravo to Mr. Spielberg for that. (Read my first post -- truly, I do agree with you.)

And, even given the whole "cameras work but everything else doesn't" stuff, it still feels a tiny bit like a device. Not a mistake, then, if he was truly consistent (arrg, that VCR...!) ... but yes, a device. He *needed* the cameras to be an exception from a filmmaking standpoint, and so they were. There is no *storyline* reason why it's the cameras that work. It's purely for the sake of what effect having cameras working can accomplish inside the experience of the moviegoer.

[LordSlaytan]

I hear what you're saying, and agree with you that films that adhere to logic we can find fathomable, need to stay on track to explain things. But there are films that stand outside the box of reason and logic.

I think that is a mistake with certain types of science fiction and fantasy films, where the director feels the need to explain things that have no explanation that is reasonable. We, as human beings , always feel the need to understand. When we are given facts that don't make sense to us, we balk. It's not a films fault if we cannot accept that certain things are meant to be unexplainable. War of the Worlds is a film that must not be explainable. If it were to make sense of things that make us quiver because of the futility of reason, then it would lessen its impact as a film which consists of creatures who are, by their very existence, flying in the face of every reasonable expectation that we have of our own superiority of science and our own ideas of relativity.

I believe that the treatment of this film; the way we are 'outside the box' of everything we know, is pure genius. Not only are we at our wits end about how they got here to begin with, but we are also unsure of their wide range of technological power. Like I’ve said before, this movie exists within a narrow window of time and therefore is not able to offer us any explanation about anything at all.

As far as the news van goes and its equipment working. Who knows what their story is. Ray managed to be lucky with events that led him to a working vehicle. Maybe the driver is a mechanic and knew instinctively how to fix the problem, like Ray did, and happened to be next to an auto parts store that had the part he needed. We don’t know…their story is never really told. And the VCR…If you think about it this way…everything stopped working in the areas hit…but mainly because there was no more power to run them. We are shown Ray’s watch that stopped working, but then we are shown video cameras that still do work. Maybe our gravitational field messed up the watches. Maybe all the VCR’s still work; they just need a something to power them. Who knows? You are not meant to know.

Bugs ya’, don’t it? :p

[Austruck]

If you could guarantee me that all those SEEMING inconsistencies were purposely left there (the VCR still bugs me, sorry -- but even his mechanical WATCH stopped) for a reason that the filmmaker knows but we don't, that's fine.

But if it implies a kind of cavalier attitude that we can do what we want because we don't have to explain it, then it feels device-y to me. Not MUCH, and not in a way in this film that at ALL detracts from the film's feel or effect. But it's still there after I go home and think about it later.

Trust me -- I DIDN'T think about ANY of this stuff while watching the movie. It was powerful in deep ways. And if we had had any sort of explanation, it would have ruined it. (I again agree with you.) The first-person view and knowledge made it better. I was almost bummed that we found out as much as we did via the news crew's tapes, to be honest with you!

It's like this movie took SIGNS and stripped it bare of any pretense at all of happy-happy. Very little humor, no silliness, all chilling effects. (The people being zapped all the way down the streets was just horrific, wasn't it?)

I don't mean to belabor this point, Slay. It's just a curiosity to me, after the fact. My whole being says this is a 4.5 outta 5 for me -- and last night I was saying 4 outta 5. So, the more I think about the movie, the more I like it. :) This techno-discussion is more about theories, not about the specifics in this movie. Minor MINOR concern for me, if a concern at all. More of a ponderable....

[Austruck]

Oh, I know what I've been meaning to say about the creatures and their tripods: It felt all the way through for me as if they were hunting for sport, almost. Just meandering around seeing what they could zap out of existence. The metal disk-cages they were trapping people in seemed very much like they were trappers out for more sport. We were bugs to them, and the longer the movie went on, the more horrifically apparent that became. NOTHING we could do to stop it. Much like an ant's pleading up at you from amid his gazillion buddies marching across your kitchen floor won't stop you from spraying the whole lot of them with Raid. ;)

[Sedai]

Well, remember what the news crew said, something about being attached to a National Guard Unit. Clearly, the EMPs were small bursts that radiated out from the burial points and activated when the pilots arrived (that is how it seemed to me). ne needs to constantly remind themselves that the entire planet has not been hit with an EMP. Helicopter gunships, a line of HumVees, the ferry, the train, and many other devices were still operable. I think the news van simply wasn't hit by an EMP at all. The thing I don't remember is if the news crew mentioned where they were with the guard unit, and I have also forgotten why they were no longer with them. I thought the guard unit and the news van were sent into an EMP radius, post-detonation, to attempt to stop the tripod that had risen up, with the guard unit getting zapped and the news crew barely escaping. This fits into Slay's writings about the sporadic damage patterns. The sporadic totally makes sense to me, btw. I live in Boston, and I am pretty sure the aliens got stuck in that confounded turn-around in Harvard Square, and never made it to Beacon Hill....

Anyway, as for the watch, I did a little research on the Omega Gents DeVille (http://www.omegawatches.com/omega/co_watch?ID=40467&line=118&gen=G&sublineID=40440) (I believe that's what he had on), which has a mechanical swiss movement with auto-wind and an electronic 40 hour back up reserve. Me being the expert on watches that I clearly am (heh), I think a mechanical movement by itself would not have been affected, but, if like Peter stated, the EMP actually fused certain mechanisms, then that could have caused the mechanical movement to become frozen by the fused electronics within. Really, I have no clue about how watches with electronics work. However, thanks to my wonderful book, The Discoverers, by Daniel Boorstin, I do know a little about mechanical watch movements, and a true, drive/escapement mechanical clockwork movement would not be affected by an EMP at all. The fact that they chose this watch, and made a point to focus on it for a few seconds, lends credence to Brian's misdirection theory. Hmmm, the more I think about it, the more important the watch becomes. At first glace, it just doesn't look electronic at all, and it just HAS to be there to confuse. Otherwise (and this would fit in better with his character i think), Ray would have a 6 dollar Walgreen's digital, which would have told us yup, it was clearly an EMP. The watch is like the movie. We see the watch through Ray's eyes, and it's stopped, and he doesn't know why and can't see past the facade, it's his perception of the watch we are shown. Same with the film, we see his perception of events, and he can't see past the surface, the information just isn't there.


http://www.rolexreferencepage.com/bavsdaytona/bamovement.jpg
Look Ma, no wires!

...I just re-read through this before posting. I'm crazy, and clearly missed my medication today. Sorry of you folks lose IQ points reading this....

[Austruck]

Sedai, Good points all. Suddenly I'm finding the subtle points of this movie even more fascinating!

And, WOW! Rep points to you for having THE DISCOVERERS by Boorstin. I have owned that book since it first came out years and years ago. I'm still not done with it (now you make me want to pick it back up), but the early sections on how complicated it was to section off units of time during mankind's earlier history was SO fascinating! Stuff we wholly take for granted today, like knowing how much time has passed in any given minute, hour, day ... when earlier times hadn't a clue of any of the smaller units of time and thought completely different about everything from work to play.

GREAT book (so far)!

[Austruck]

Oh, oddly, it's funny you went into detail about the watch. During the movie, when he noticed his "mechanical" watch stopped, my first thought was, "Oh, that must mean it wasn't just an EMP thing. Must've been something even weirder."

So that would go toward Slay's "impossible for us to know" theory.

But then I immediately thought, "Well, it's probably battery-operated or something, but just LOOKS like a wind-up watch." So, you're saying it actually IS a wind-up?

Even more fascinating then, because YES, you were supposed to notice this non-electronic device also wasn't working.

[Sedai]

Sedai, Good points all. Suddenly I'm finding the subtle points of this movie even more fascinating!

And, WOW! Rep points to you for having THE DISCOVERERS by Boorstin. I have owned that book since it first came out years and years ago. I'm still not done with it (now you make me want to pick it back up), but the early sections on how complicated it was to section off units of time during mankind's earlier history was SO fascinating! Stuff we wholly take for granted today, like knowing how much time has passed in any given minute, hour, day ... when earlier times hadn't a clue of any of the smaller units of time and thought completely different about everything from work to play.

GREAT book (so far)!
Absolutely. I loved all the information on clocks and keeping time. The incense clocks of the chinese, the foolish navigators that attempted to sail around with pendulum clocks to navigate by (they didn't make it), and that big clock with the metal balls that rolled around every so often. A single page from that book had like fifty ideas on it. Wonderful book, that. He has a couple others in the series as well, which I haven't read.

[Sedai]

But then I immediately thought, "Well, it's probably battery-operated or something, but just LOOKS like a wind-up watch." So, you're saying it actually IS a wind-up?
Well, yes and no. I think they chose that watch because it IS a wind up, but with an electronic back-up as well. The perfect confusion piece for the scene. I am still not sure exactly which model he had, but it was a De-Ville (the only "classic" looking watches Omega seems to have). There are many DeVille styles though, all with different movements. The one that immediately popped out at me on the website has the back-up in it...

[LordSlaytan]

The watch stopping serves many purposes. First, it tells us the NJ was hit 12 hours after the first attack reported in the Ukraine. Secondly, it tells us that Ray managed to get in a full 8 hours of sleep before he had to start running for his life. And thirdly, it tells us that the Earth is besieged by technology that we cannot conceive, let alone explain. Watches (whatever type Ray is wearing) stop working, power goes out (where though? Is it the power plants, neighborhood transformers, etc), battery operated equipment that don’t rely on motors at all apparently work. Some areas are without power, some still have it. And all the cameras in all their differing types still work. That’s not an EMP. Besides, the character in the movie who mentions EMP’s doesn’t know what the hell is going on any more than Ray does. As matter of fact, Ray probably learns more about them in his adventures before the movie is over.

It doesn’t seem like a ‘device’ to me when…again…we are living through the eyes of someone who has absolutely no way to explain anything. The aliens controlled our atmosphere, beat the problem of relativity, anti-gravity (you’d assume), broke the speed of light (again…you’d assume), created vehicles which are organic and mechanical, manipulated the vegetation of their home planet to grow at an accelerated rate using our blood as the substance to spread it, use a metal that is as limber and flexible as a snake, are able to have long limbed tentacles hover and eel around, and make their ships a carbon copy of themselves with all the abilities of fluid motion that they have…do you really think that we, as an audience, would benefit at all by having an explanation given to us? Any explanation would actually be an insult since we are living through the eyes of someone who would never get one himself.

Anywho…I know you love the movie Lindarelli, so I’m not arguing/debating so as to talk you into that. I’m just trying to get a point across that we are supposed to be entirely in the dark about every single thing alien other than they want us dead. Why they kill at the beginning and scoop us up later; who knows? Why certain things work and others don’t; who knows? That’s the point. Who knows? Certainly no one alive on the entire planet by the time the timeframe of this story is over.

That’s what I like most about this film. It literally forces a person to accept the fact that there are still things unexplainable to us (at least in the context of this film) and that we cannot expect an answer to any of the things that make us question. It does what most movies don’t dare to do; leave us hanging. It seems that most of the complaints about this movie are that people aren’t getting their answers, and it’s driving them crazy. On that level, the film works; but it’s a double edged sword when people dislike the film for flying against the wind of conventionality, instead of embracing it for depicting the experience of our protagonist so perfectly.

BTW: In all my ramblings about the film, I have failed to mention that I think this is also one of Tommy Boy’s best performances. Every look, shudder, tear, pain…everything is translated so believably by him that he really does become Ray. Little Dakota (I just adore her) is a wunderkind that probably has already become one of the greatest child actors who has ever performed on the screen. Justin Chatwin (who played Robbie) did a pretty good job, but was weaker than either Tom or Dakota because he played off the gung-ho, “I wanna kill ‘em” stuff a little too…I dunno…one dimensionally. But when that switched to the, “I need to see if it is futile” way of thinking on the hill, he really shined. He reminds me of Jake Gyllenhall a bit. It would have been neat to see Jake play Robbie, but I’m pleased with the way it turned out.

[OG-]

My personal favorite little touch that was in the movie and which I find to be the most haunting aspect of the entire movie is the blowing of the horn before another attack. It's not a warning sound, it's not the sound of their weapons powering up - It's the same sound you'd hear in a factory signaling the workers back to work. Such a small, seemingly unimportant choice defines the aliens for me. It elevates them above invaders and transforms them into slaughterers who stick to a schedule. It relaxes their killing mentality, that they have time enough to just wander the planet - roam where we roam - until the horn blows and it's time to go back to work.

It's sick. I love it.

[Austruck]

That's true. I wasn't sure if the horn blowing was defensive or offensive ... till the end of the basement scene when the aliens hear the horn-blowing and leave. I couldn't really figure out why the aliens were bothering to sniff around a deserted basement anyway. That horn ... and them dutifully going back to the business at hand ... was chilling, you're right.

[7thson]

After seeing this movie I just sat there thinking "Wow". I absorbed the action on the screen like a dry sponge lying on the cracked sand of the Sahara. Granted when I went to see it my mood was one of "I need escape from reality", so this fit the bill nicely. IMO this was a "Summer Popcorn movie" that defines the phrase itself. I am not a huge Tom Cruise fan, but he played this part well, although he was not the best peformer in the film, he did better than I expected, good actually. I thought the best peformers in the movie was the "mobs", "crowds", "humans" whatever you want to label them, the extras in this film stole the show for me. That has not happened for me since Zulu Dawn. Great movie, great action, great storytelling.

[LordSlaytan]

My personal favorite little touch…is the blowing of the horn before another attack.

It's sick. I love it.I love it too. I’m curious if it was enhanced and manipulated orchestra sounds. I really dig the way it changes notes and how the second sound is slightly less strident. Very cool and extremely friggin’ unreal.

I thought the best performers in the movie was the "mobs", "crowds", "humans" whatever you want to label them, the extras in this film stole the show for me.They did their job pretty well all right. My favorite scene where it’s a monstrous crowd is the dock scene. Right when Rachel looks at the trees and we get that fantastic shot of the hill line, and she grabs Ray’s hand and they first see the tripod. It makes its powerful bleat in the night, everybody turns to look, and you can hear just a small murmur and a few screams. Then we see the crowd begin to run and they’re screaming a little more. Then we get the shot with three tripods which all turn their spotlights on at the same time while the leader sounds off again. Right at that moment, the entire crowd lets out a piercing scream at the same time. That has to be my favorite sequence in the entire film. Gives me chills, man.

[OG-]

Then we see the crowd begin to run and they’re screaming a little more.

Noticed today that the first person to start running is the one person in the crowd who you hear a few moments before hand that he saw one up close and that we stood no chance. Nothing huge, just props to the script supervisor for keeping the logic that the first person in the crowd to run should be the person who had seen one before.

[LordSlaytan]

Good call, man! Right on.

[SAS Operative]

Did someone ever wonder why the rest of the world seemed to be leveled down except a quaint, little, unknown place known as Boston ?

[LordSlaytan]

When Ray and Rachel walk into the city at the end of the film, it shows that Boston, is indeed, beat all to hell (there's smoke billowing up from between the sykscrapers). It skips ahead at that point to when they get to Mary Anns grandparent's house; wherever that may be, or however long it took them to get there.

I'm not worried about it.

[Holden Pike]

Did someone ever wonder why the rest of the world seemed to be leveled down except a quaint, little, unknown place known as Boston ?

You mean why do the aliens spend a full day investigating one single basement of a burned-out farmhouse in the middle of the country but haven't yet touched a whole street in one of the fashionable waterfront districts in a major metroplitan area that happens to be housing his ex-wife and her entire family?

Just good writing, I reckon!

[LordSlaytan]

Would the machines have been buried before people lived in these areas, or after? Before, I suppose. So maybe they were dying off before they reached that outskirt of Boston. They were dying off by the time Ray and Rachel got close to their objective. Perhaps if the aliens had lived another day, they would've smoked them biatches in no time. Hell, how fast can grandma run anyhow? That would make sense, especially when you can see that there's power in their house. If that's the case, then I guess it's...

...just good writing.

[susan]

it's only a movie guys...don't worry about it...

[LordSlaytan]

Don't you worry about it, Suzi-Q. :kiss:

He knows I'm not going to get pissed over a movie disagreement.

[Holden Pike]

it's only a movie guys...don't worry about it...

When a movie employs good storytelling and involves me emotionally, I don't worry about such things.



Things like that really stuck out for me in Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Dig?

[susan]

okay...

[LordSlaytan]

When a movie employs good storytelling and involves me emotionally, I don't worry about such things.



Things like that really stuck out for me in Spielberg's War of the Worlds. Dig?So are you saying that it was a poorly written script, or that it wasn't directed well? What?

I think that the script was written masterfully, and the direction was spot on. I'd like to know what it is exactly that didn't work for you.

If'n you wanna chat that is. :)

[Sedai]

I was wondering what Holden had to say about the film. Guess he didn't care for it.

[User Name]

I liked everything about this movie but the ending.

[christine]

phew ..just read all 6 pages but have to say I'm with LordSlaytan on this one - WotW was a fantastic film. I'm no Tom Cruise fan, but here he portrayed Ray brilliantly.

[sunfrog]

I didn't read any of th epages but I like the end up until they walk past the intersection. Stop the movie there.

Whoever didn't like the end do you think we could win a war against aliens? Do you think Tom Cruise should have single handedly defeated the aliens? Because it ain't gonna happen. In a real war of the worlds we would die miserably. The way the movie ended was the only way a war like that could possibly end with us to live to tell about it.

[sunfrog]

Oh the camera. So they came from a different neighborhood to check out the lightning strikes. Who cares? Maybe they changed batteries.

About the aliens not being scary. You're stupid. This whole movie was scary. Do you mean they didn't look scary? So, neither do the Japanese. Think about it, Japanese people are all kinda cute. If you saw a Japanese person going through your belongings they'd look cute too but you still might want to shoot them.

[LordSlaytan]

Oh the camera. So they came from a different neighborhood to check out the lightning strikes. Who cares? Maybe they changed batteries.All cameras worked all the time.

[sunfrog]

The news crew came from outside the emp zone duh. They wouln't send a news crew from a station who's van didn't work and whose cameras were dead. Someone said "get over there and see what's happenng" so the news crew drove across town. Besides the lights were on at the mom's house. The plane didn't crash from emp, it was cut in half. Notice the van still worked. So there wasn't another emp during the night.

[LordSlaytan]

The news crew came from outside the emp zone duh…Actually…no. Remember the news lady shows Ray footage of the ‘lightning’ coming down…so they were in it. Their story is left untold (since Ray only knew them for a moment) so we have no idea how the van still works, and really…that doesn’t matter.

Listen, you’re taking this EMP explanation too seriously. Nobody knows if it was an EMP or some sort of technology human eyes have never seen. EMP was thrown out there by a scared citizen who was just trying to make sense of it all…that’s it. No one knows anything…there are no answers. Cameras were not affected by the lightning.

[Uncle Rico]

This whole EMP cameras and cars working etc... Thing was all caused by lack of backstory and information in the movie. Thats why I didnt like it.

[jrs]

My personal favorite little touch that was in the movie and which I find to be the most haunting aspect of the entire movie is the blowing of the horn before another attack.

It's sick. I love it.

That personal little touch (http://www.waroftheworldsfilm.com/downloads/tripodcall.wma) :randy:

[OG-]

This whole EMP cameras and cars working etc... Thing was all caused by lack of backstory and information in the movie. Thats why I didnt like it.

OR, you don't know how an EMP works. Let's use the internet!

The electromagnetic radiation from an explosion (especially nuclear explosions) or an intensely fluctuating magnetic field caused by Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of the electronic or explosive device or in a surrounding medium. The resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. The effects are usually not noticeable beyond the blast radius unless the device is nuclear or specifically designed to produce an electromagnetic shockwave.

Unless you'd care to analyze the exact distance of every electronic device every extra on screen was operating from the hundreds of blasts, you should probably not give a ****.

[LordSlaytan]

This whole EMP cameras and cars working etc... Thing was all caused by lack of backstory and information in the movie. Thats why I didnt like it.*URGH*

I HATE this complaint.

There is no back story. The film starts at the beginning of the attack and finalizes at the end of it.

It’s like people complaining about The Passion of the Christ and the fact that it doesn’t tell more about Jesus’ life. It’s not about his life…it’s about the 12 hours before his death. The same filming style applies here.

We see an attack on Earth through Ray’s eyes…as it happens. We cannot learn anything about the aliens that Ray doesn’t learn himself. Not once is the film told from another perspective…not once. Ray doesn’t have the ability or time to figure anything out…so neither do you.

Christ…people are spoiled nowadays. “I have to know the why’s and how’s….I just have to!”

[Strummer521]

Christ…people are spoiled nowadays. “I have to know the why’s and how’s….I just have to!”

That's what makes Primer so difficult for most people to enjoy.

[Austruck]

Gee, didn't we already have this discussion once in this thread ... and didn't I lose then? :D

Rico, let it go. You will lose. Trust me. The sooner you admit Slay is right, the sooner we can go back to sharing .wma files of scary parts of the movie instead... ;)

[susan]

actually if you think about it, slay is right...it is seen through ray's eye's all of it...

[Austruck]

Yup, which is why we don't know what happened to his son until Ray does. And we don't ever find out what happened to those acquaintances on the ferry, either ... because Ray doesn't.

It was really the best way to do a story like this. And for me, it worked. It created a kind of empathy with Ray's character and his situation that felt realistic.

[Sedai]

This whole EMP cameras and cars working etc... Thing was all caused by lack of backstory and information in the movie. Thats why I didnt like it.
Nope, wrong. Why do you keep insisting on this point, when you are so clearly off base? Please read the book, so you can understand what War of the Worlds is about. There can't be a backstory, because there is no possibility for one, get it? Do you understand the term "point of view narrative"? It doesn't seem like you do... You seem to think every film should put the viewer in God's eye perspective. Here, see if this sinks in:

This film is from the families point of view.
This film is from the families point of view.
This film is from the families point of view.

There CAN NOT be a backstory. Why is this so hard to see??

[Sedai]

The sooner you admit Slay is right, the sooner we can go back to sharing .wma files of scary parts of the movie instead... ;)

I want in. I want some files. :)

[sunfrog]

Ray's annoying son died. In fact the movie ended after the soldier said the bit about the tripods walking in circles. That's where it should have ended and that's where I'm going to stop the dvd unless it comes with an alternate ending.

After the bit about acting erratic Ray looks around stunned and the camera pulls up as he stares at the sky and sees a regular ordinary storm approaching. As the camera moves above the buildings we see everything totally devasted. The End. Fade to Morgan Freeman and some microbes. Maybe it starts to rain and there's a close up on a raindrop then some microbes.

What were the vein roots about?

[Sedai]

Ray's annoying son died.
Funny, I didn't see him die, no one did. But ya, go ahead and assume, because assumption is good, and accurate.

[spoooze!]

I saw it. I liked it okay. I thought it could have been shortened a bit.

Spoooze!

[Uncle Rico]

I understand teh family point of view thing but there was no reason that the one car they pick had to work and that all the cameras work. Thats just a mistake.

[LordSlaytan]

After the bit about acting erratic Ray looks around stunned and the camera pulls up as he stares at the sky and sees a regular ordinary storm approaching.

What were the vein roots about?Actually, he’s looking up at the birds that are landing on the tripod.

The ‘vein roots’ are home vegetation from the aliens planet, obviously. They’re just using it to make the planet mirror their own swampy vegetation.

I understand teh family point of view thing but there was no reason that the one car they pick had to work and that all the cameras work. Thats just a mistake.The car works because Ray tells Manny to change the solenoid, who does. The news van works because it does, We don’t know how they got it working when they were right there for the first ‘landing’. We’re not meant to know.

The cameras work because all cameras work. It’s a way for us to understand that we’re facing something we cannot possibly understand. Not telling you the science behind all the technology is purposeful…not a mistake.

[sunfrog]

Actually, he’s looking up at the birds that are landing on the tripod.

The cameras work because all cameras work.
No, in MY version he looks up at the clouds. The bird part was only there to give us something to cheer for and I resented it. In my version it ends with him looking up stunned and seeing a storm approaching then he's scared because he thinks it's a second wave of aliens but it's not, it's a regular storm and then it rains a cleansing rain on his face and then the camera pans up and we see the devastated city then there's a slo-mo close up of a raindrop and some microbes.

In MY version the annoying son dies a horrible agonizing death just on the other side of the rise. We don't see it but that's what happens. In the movie they made it have a happy ending that I also resented.

Enough with the $%#$@ cameras!! They changed the $@&^% batteries on the camcorder and the mother $%$^# news crew wasn't in the #@$# emp zone! ARRRGGGHH!!. The ride the lightning shot was done with a zoom lens or it was recovered from a fried camera or it was shot by a the same camcorder you saw fall in the street. The one that was working because they changed the batteries. Not all cameras work that would be stupid. A pulse doesn't know what a camera is.
ADMIN EDIT: use spoiler tags. You've been around here plenty long enough to know that.

[LordSlaytan]

ADMIN EDIT: use spoiler tags. You've been around here plenty long enough to know that.To be fair…I’m the one who told everyone to bail on the spoilers since everyone in this thread at the time had seen the film. It’s not sunfrog’s fault.

Anywho…

The bird part was only there to give us something to cheer for and I resented it.No, the bird part was there to let Ray (and us through Ray) and the military know that the tripod’s shields were down.

Enough with the $%#$@ cameras!! They changed the $@&^% batteries on the camcorder…I watched the first casualty before the attack, and I don’t remember him changing batteries.

…and the mother $%$^# news crew wasn't in the #@$# emp zone! If it’s an EMP zone. We never really know.

Actually, I just remembered that the newscaster mentions that she received the second tape from someone. That would explain why the van is still working.

Damn memory; makes me look bad.

ARRRGGGHH!!! Cucumbers may be too big for you. Try a carrot next time.

Not all cameras work that would be stupid. A pulse doesn't know what a camera is. If you’re assuming an explanation for yourself (The EMP) instead of taking the film literally (unknown technology)…it would be stupid.

But the film never explains to us that technology in the short span of time that the film represents.

[sunfrog]

To be fair…I’m the one who told everyone to bail on the spoilers since everyone in this thread at the time had seen the film. It’s not sunfrog’s fault.
Yeah, his fault, or her fault, whatever it is. lol.


No, the bird part was there to let Ray (and us through Ray) and the military know that the tripod’s shields were down.
I still resented it. I didn't need to see that. I don't need to cheer.


I watched the first casualty before the attack, and I don’t remember him changing batteries.
Well he came out of the Radio Shack so there. lol

Think of it this way, why would the aliens want us to film everything so we could be exterminated and not be around to watch it?

[LordSlaytan]

Think of it this way, why would the aliens want us to film everything so we could be exterminated and not be around to watch it?Why would they care?

[jrs]

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-10.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-9.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-8.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-7.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-6.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-5.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-4.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-3.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-2.jpg

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie-gallery/albums/wotw//WOW160705-1.jpg

[sunfrog]

See, jrs' camera doesn't work either.

[jrs]

Lemme guess, you can't see the pics right?

[sunfrog]

Nope

[Strummer521]

looking at those pics I can't wait to see this movie...but I'll have to :(

[Sinny McGuffins]

Why will you have to wait, Strummer?

[Strummer521]

I will be away/busy for a while. Scout camp, then cub scout camp because I'm a den cheif and then there are other things coming up. Summer assignments, concerts, baseball games etc.... but, I hope to squeeze it in between all of that somewhere and do so as soon as possible.

[Sinny McGuffins]

I haven't seen it either. I might go and watch it before my holiday, but I might just wait for the DVD.

[Strummer521]

yeah but it probably won't be the same on DVD. It looks like the kind of movie you just need to see on the big screen if you can. I hope it stays in theaters for a while longer.

[blibblobblib]

It looks like the kind of movie you just need to see on the big screen if you can.It really really is. SO go see it you two...NOW! You'll regret it....

[Sinny McGuffins]

It looks like the kind of movie you just need to see on the big screenYeah, it seems as though Spielberg enjoys making those types of movies. ;)

[Son Of A Preacher Man]

I liked War of the Worlds and I think people should stop hatin the ending, its not that bad!

[T.Bickle]

its pretty easy to depict and describe this movie

its HORRIBLE!!!

damn you spielberg!!! a great director who ****s up so badly.... damn!

[Escape]

I think the plane wreck scene is just...stupendous. They actually used a Boeing 747 for that scene.Yeah but a little far fetched in being how cruise just hopped in his untouched vehicle and drove off.

I needed to see a little more of the Jet fighters attacking the tri-pods. My thirst wasnt quenched with the little it showed.


[uhttp://www.themeparkreview.net/ush05/ush9.jpg

[Ichiro51]

Whoever defends the ending to this movie is a moron. The movie went over budget and the couldn't finish all the film the way they wanted it. I can't say that the plot wasn't good or the special effects weren't great, but Spielberg committed murder to H.G. Wells' great novel.

[blibblobblib]

Whoever defends the ending to this movie is a moron. The movie went over budget and the couldn't finish all the film the way they wanted it. I can't say that the plot wasn't good or the special effects weren't great, but Spielberg committed murder to H.G. Wells' great novel.
I think you'll find it may be you that is the moron, becuase if you actually read H.G Wells superb novel, that you claim Spielberg has 'murdered', you'll find that Koepp has stuck very close to the original plot and the film ends exactly the same way as in the book.

[susan]

most of the versions that i've either heard, read or seen stick close to the novel...if you are talking about the boston ending with the family all there safe and sound i think that's a spielberg thing...and for me it was really no surprise...

the only thing that i found myself wondering was now where was ray going to go?

[Yoda]

Whoever defends the ending to this movie is a moron. The movie went over budget and the couldn't finish all the film the way they wanted it. I can't say that the plot wasn't good or the special effects weren't great, but Spielberg committed murder to H.G. Wells' great novel.First: grow up. Second: do you have any source for the claim that the movie had to be modified heavily due to budgetary constraints? Third, as has already been said, the movie was surprisingly faithful to the source material.

I think you're talking out of something other than your mouth.

[ihateebert]

O wow Im fearing the moment is close, one day we will wake up to hear that the Steven Speilburg took a crap, and its a movie starring Tom Cruise. I mean give me a break, when is Speilburg going to realize that he has enough money Im sick of him and Im sick of Tom Cruises dramatic acting hes such a drama queen.

[blibblobblib]

O wow, you need to learn how to participate in an intelligent conversation.

[sunfrog]

As I said before, stop the dvd at the intersection when Ray is talking to the soldier.

[Sedai]

O wow Im fearing the moment is close, one day we will wake up to hear that the Steven Speilburg took a crap, and its a movie starring Tom Cruise. I mean give me a break, when is Speilburg going to realize that he has enough money Im sick of him and Im sick of Tom Cruises dramatic acting hes such a drama queen.
Or, one day you will wake up, learn about punctuation, and perhaps learn to spell Spielberg correctly. I doubt any of it will happen. So, what are you saying anyway?

I am guessing this kid is in the third grade. Second? Any bets?

[7thson]

Or, one day you will wake up, learn about punctuation, and perhaps learn to spell Spielberg correctly. I doubt any of it will happen. So, what are you saying anyway?

I am guessing this kid is in the third grade. Second? Any bets?
I wager to say 6th, I know it is out on a limb, but yep I say 6th grade.

[chuchilarue]

I run the projector in one of our towns movie houses, and have seen this 24 times. I love it, and can't wait for the DVD.

[jrs]

There is a 3 minute scene involving Tripods pulling people from inside buildings that was cut out of the film that will be included on the War of the Worlds DVD. More Tripod action! :D :cool: :up:

[ZombIe=LoVeR]

I guess it's between the people who appreciate the film for what it is, and those who destroy it for themselves with their nitpicking and uber-analysing

1) Use your imagination as to how things occur
2) I really HATE people who didnt like the ending - there was no other option, and by cutting it out we have no definititive ending what-so-ever

this film was great easily 4/5 can't wait til DVD

Only thing was the boy should have died, adding slightly more...darkness to the film and been more realistic (that was a BIG explosion)

[dolarhydecb]

While watching this film I considered two things. First were the comparisons made to independence day. Now independence day was a much better film for a few reasons. First is that it carried a plot involving more than one character, which allowed more viewers to relate. Another thing was that the main character in independence day. who was arguably Will Smith, is a less abnoxious, egcentric character in actuality (well at least at the time). The third major flaw in War of the Worlds were the aliens who just looked goofy, (I expected much more from Spielberg).

Anyways, the ending of the movie was what it was. It may have seemed stupid, but I thought that considering when the book was written (1898). Also there were some holes in the film, such as the aliens being underneath the ground where we live instead of the ocean, but consider that this book was way before its time. I guess Spielberg could have considered changing these, but I think that would have been much worse. I just think hollywood should stick away from these big budget remakes in the first place because they just piss people off every time in some way.

As for Tom Cruise being the main actor, well, it seems to me that Spielberg likes him and thats why he's there. I don't know who else could have heald the role in his place. I feel the role itself did exhibit some intolerable qualities that Tom Cruise represents perfectly ;). The movie itself had great action and was a lot of fun, it was exactly what Spielberg does, he makes big movies with big effects. I'd give this movie a B simply because it did lack some qualities I would have liked to see, but it did live up to my expectations. :cool:

[ZombIe=LoVeR]

While watching this film I considered two things. First were the comparisons made to independence day. Now independence day was a much better film for a few reasons. If you're somewhat retarded First is that it carried a plot involving more than one character, which allowed more viewers to relate. Yeah this point is weird in that it doesn't need more than one main character, there are a few movies that follow one character. Another thing was that the main character in independence day. who was arguably Will Smith, is a less abnoxious, egcentric character in actuality (well at least at the time). Can we please not bring such irrelevant details into the judgement of a movie - i believe this is where your argument fails. Also the fact that you said Independence Day was better (I liked this cause its darker) The third major flaw in War of the Worlds were the aliens who just looked goofy, (I expected much more from Spielberg). Mmmm each to his own opinion, and really this is your only valid point, although my opinion opposes it

Anyways, the ending of the movie was what it was. It may have seemed stupid, but I thought that considering when the book was written (1898). I want someone to give me an ending that fits as well as this one, please, because I know that's impossible. Also there were some holes in the film, such as the aliens being underneath the ground where we live instead of the ocean, but consider that this book was way before its time. I guess Spielberg could have considered changing these, but I think that would have been much worse. I just think hollywood should stick away from these big budget remakes in the first place because they just piss people off every time in some way. Why, didn't piss me off in any way

As for Tom Cruise being the main actor, well, it seems to me that Spielberg likes him and thats why he's there. I don't know who else could have heald the role in his place. I feel the role itself did exhibit some intolerable qualities that Tom Cruise represents perfectly ;). The movie itself had great action and was a lot of fun, it was exactly what Spielberg does, he makes big movies with big effects. I'd give this movie a B simply because it did lack some qualities I would have liked to see, but it did live up to my expectations. That's cool :cool:

I respect everyone's opinion, but I am fed up with such stupid arguments, although in some cases you have a point. Someone said they thought it had a "over-polished budget" - whatever that means. I am just sick of the stupid arguments as to WHY it "sucks" not the fact that people don't like it.

[Austruck]

Wow, "War of the War of the Worlds." I'm buyin' popcorn and sitting down right here. I give this thread 4/5 for gratuitous violence and unnecessary misuse of apostrophes.

[dolarhydecb]

I respect everyone's opinion, but I am fed up with such stupid arguments, although in some cases you have a point. Someone said they thought it had a "over-polished budget" - whatever that means. I am just sick of the stupid arguments as to WHY it "sucks" not the fact that people don't like it.
I didn't say it sucked, I said I liked it for what it was, no more no less. Also how is that a "stupid" argument, I was under the impression a stupid argument would be it sucked because... Maybe I'm wrong but, thanks for the insight. :cool:

[Sedai]

I respect everyone's opinion, but I am fed up with such stupid arguments, although in some cases you have a point. Someone said they thought it had a "over-polished budget" - whatever that means. I am just sick of the stupid arguments as to WHY it "sucks" not the fact that people don't like it.
So, don't read them. I didn't see anything stupid about it. This site is for discussing film, which includes people's thoughts on why they did or didn't like a film. So please, if we shouldn't post our thoughts on why we didn't like od did like a film, just what CAN we post? I mean, should each post be strictly analytical wihtout any sort of bias at all? Now that would be stupid. Regardless, thanks for the great input on the film....

:nope:

[chicagofrog]

Or, one day you will wake up, learn about punctuation, and perhaps learn to spell Spielberg correctly

:D nonono Sedai, this kid was just getting names mixed up: a director and a movie's title...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435745/

[Sedai]

Oh hey Frog, where ya been? The new season of Battlestar is great so far...Can't wait until you see it, so I have someone to discuss it with!

[Ichiro51]

Whoever defends the ending to this movie is a moron. The movie went over budget and the couldn't finish all the film the way they wanted it. I can't say that the plot wasn't good or the special effects weren't great, but Spielberg committed murder to H.G. Wells' great novel.
To correct my earlier post. I don't think that I explained my reasoning. The movie stayed very true to H.G. Wells ending, but the downfall of the Invaders took place in a total span of about 8 minutes. The bacteria killed the Aliens is both the book and movie, but the way it was told in the movie was terrible.

[The_Butcher]

The below text contains many spoilers!!! Do not view if you have not seen the War of the Worlds movie or read the book!!


I liked this movie. For many reasons. One reason being the ending, most did not like the ending but I found it very logical, I cannot see any other way we could have gave the aliens a fair fight, you know the theory, if they can reach us, they can kill us. Their really wasn't any holes in the story ether. Some might ask, " How come the aliens did not die when they came to set the machines?" The answer is simple, They buried the machines far before such things as the cold virus came into existence, i'm not 100% sure of this, but I do know that the aliens are from mars in the book, and have been around at long enough to put the tripods in the ground before the cold virus and such things existed, so this would be a very logical point of view. I've read the books and their is some differences. One thing being that the aliens are from Mars which recent science has proved to be impossible, this is why they had to change the story around a bit in the movie, and another being that the aliens came in a cylinder shaped pod. I must agree with the first poster, the main thing keeping you at the edge of your seat trough out the entire movie is the special effects and action. The special effects and action keep you from realizing that there is little explanatory material to the movie. I enjoyed this movie, even if it is not as good as the book, it's still worth your time and money. If your one who favors a good story, this is not your best pick. If you wish to know a lot more about the story , I recommend the book.

-TheButcher

[ZombIe=LoVeR]

To correct my earlier post. I don't think that I explained my reasoning. The movie stayed very true to H.G. Wells ending, but the downfall of the Invaders took place in a total span of about 8 minutes. The bacteria killed the Aliens is both the book and movie, but the way it was told in the movie was terrible.

How was it so terrible

[susan]

i am so confused about which ending we are talking about here

[LordSlaytan]

...but I do know that the aliens are from mars in the book, and have been around at long enough to put the tripods in the ground before the cold virus and such things existed...Nothing was ever buried in the novel. They landed, then built their cylinder vessels.

[The_Butcher]

Nothing was ever buried in the novel. They landed, then built their cylinder vessels. Sorry, that was a mistake of mine. I added "AND" I did not mean to do that. I was only talking about the book when I said they were from Mars but I was talking about the movie when I said they have been around long enough to put the tripods in the ground. Sorry I was not clear with my post.

-TheButcher

[LordSlaytan]

S'alite. :)

[The_Butcher]

S'alite. :) Sorry for bumping this topic if it is already to old. I got a question, I know this might sound a bit noobish but my forum skills are very limited. Did you mean it's alright?

-TheButcher

[blibblobblib]

Yes i believe he did....

[ZombIe=LoVeR]

I don't think they explained all the why's and if's and how's simply because in the movie the characters would have no idea either, and we have to think of the reasons. I like The Buthcer's reason for them not getting the virus earlier.

[marvelguy76]

The begining of the movie was excellent, the middle suspensefull, the ending fell flat.
It was disapointing in how "Hollywood" the movie became. Was not expecting a touchy feely finale. Also Dakota Fanning bugs the hell out of me

[TheUsualSuspect]

This is a movie where plot holes run wild....yes there are tons of them. But the ones that can't go unmentioned are the scene where the plane has crashed outside the wife's house, amid all this rubble, cruise's car is fine, and there's a neat little path right down the street through the destruction so they can drive away. Of course all the electronic crap.

The special effects are spectacular. This of course is expected with this type of film, being a Spielberg/blockbuster film. Every turn in the movie there is a tripod alien destroying a part of the city. This is the highlight of this film because the plot lacks, the characterization lacks and the directing is below average for Spielberg.

Anybody want to slap not only Tom's character in the face....but every other character??? Not one sympathetic human character in the entire film. Tom is an *******, Dakota is crying all the time which made her extremely annoying, the son is a whiny bitch, Tim Robbins is an insane annoying useless character. Tim Robbins does nothing but distracts, he serves no point but to chew up screen time and make us think Tom will do anything for the life of his kid, but this comes across of jokey when they close the door and "fight" Robbie should have died---it was a cheap move to have him show up in the end after saying he had to see the fight over the hill. Whenever this happens in the movie, it brings it down(Jurassic Park III.) Is it just me or does every Spielberg flick have to end in the happy we're okay ending in all of his movies.

The pacing's terrible – it just suddenly ends, bang, WAY TOO ABRUPT. The aliens catch colds and die. Film over. And most surprisingly in a Spielberg flick, there's no emotional clout here. There is no climax....that's because the whole movie is just destruction after destruction, if your into that kind of thing, then this movie is for you. But the best scene in this movie is not the destruction of the cities, but the basement scene involving the pointless character of Tim Robbins. Even though the scene is laughable at parts, it still holds up as suspenseful.

The motivation of the aliens remain thoroughly obscure, at first, when they presumably want to rid the earth of mankind, They content themselves with firing death rays, like target practice, at individual fleeing humans, the most inefficient method of extermination imaginable. Then, midway through, suggest that, for no particular reason, the aliens are harvesting the humans to make those red vines things out of their blood.

I felt cheated at the end of the film. The world was left in sh*t, everything was destroyed, covered in the blood vine things and we go to Boston where everything is fine...no houses destroyed, family all nice and neat and of course the happy Spielberg ending.

6/10

[LordSlaytan]

Oh, goody. :)

This is a movie where plot holes run wild....yes there are tons of them. List ‘em. :yup:

…the scene where the plane has crashed outside the wife's house, amid all this rubble, cruise's car is fine, and there's a neat little path right down the street through the destruction so they can drive away. There wasn’t a neat little path. What are you talking about? Yeah, the car survived…that’s NOT a plot hole.

Of course all the electronic crap. Elaborate a little. Are you meaning the news van, or what?

…because the plot lacks…I disagree, and will elaborate further after you do and I know exactly what you’re talking about.

…the characterization lacks…Let’s us see. Ray begins as an arrogant jerk who only has time and patience for himself. He turns into a hero who completely understands what’s important in this world.

Rachel begins as a spoiled brat with no respect for her father, and ends up being humbled with big eyes for daddy.

Robbie starts out angry because his own little world is imperfect, acts like a kid, and ends up being a man who wants to help others.

You’re right. No character development at all.

…and the directing is below average for Spielberg. How so?

Anybody want to slap not only Tom's character in the face....but every other character??? Not really. Maybe a little with Robbie, but still, not really.

Tom is an asshole…At the beginning he is. But he changes as time goes on.

Dakota is crying all the time which made her extremely annoying…Yeah, stupid ten year-old little girl and her fear of dying.

…the son is a whiny bitch…I don’t remember him whining a whole lot. He’s pretty angry at his dad, and he tells him off, but whining?

…Tim Robbins is an insane annoying useless character. He’s Tom’s id. Not too useless.

Tim Robbins does nothing but distracts, he serves no point but to chew up screen time and make us think Tom will do anything for the life of his kid…You are blaming the wrong person for Ogilvy’s existence. Speilberg didn’t invent the character, Wells did.

Robbie should have died---it was a cheap move to have him show up in the end after saying he had to see the fight over the hill. Again…blaming the wrong cat. Wells wrote that Ray’s brother lived even though we never know how.

The pacing's terrible – it just suddenly ends, bang, WAY TOO ABRUPT. Once again…blaming the wrong dude. Wells wrote it that way. One day all looked hopeless, and the next day aliens were dying.

But the best scene in this movie is not the destruction of the cities, but the basement scene involving the pointless character of Tim Robbins. You hate this pointless scene, but it’s the best. Shouldn’t your rating be like, I dunno…1/10?

The motivation of the aliens remain thoroughly obscure…Yup. Pretty cool, huh? I guess in real life we wouldn’t have gotten the memo either.

…firing death rays, like target practice, at individual fleeing humans, the most inefficient method of extermination imaginable. What’s the most efficient? It looked like it was working pretty good to me. The initial attack created a panic, made all the humans start running in the same direction…like a herd…and then…

Then, midway through, suggest that, for no particular reason, the aliens are harvesting the humans to make those red vines things out of their blood. …they begin harvesting. It’s in the book. Maybe you should give it a read.

…and we go to Boston where everything is fine...no houses destroyed, family all nice and neat and of course the happy Spielberg ending.The aliens started dying before they were able to raze Boston. That was shown…Ray and family were running away from the aliens the whole time…meaning, the aliens were behind him. Thank goodness they died when they did, huh? It might have been a real mess otherwise.




Anywho…

We will certainly disagree about this film all the way to the bank, but I’m glad you posted what you have about this and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Welcome to the forum. :)

[blibblobblib]

Wow so it looks like you totally agree with TheUsualSuspect then Slay?

[TheUsualSuspect]

Oh, goody. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
This is a movie where plot holes run wild....yes there are tons of them.

List ‘em. :yup:

Well, I'll just lug the "electronic crap" in here as well.
1. All the electronic equipment is "out", yet videocamera still works. EMP wouldve fried the recording heads along with the other components in the camera. Ask any electronics salesmen. Also, a camera with a battery in it these days, are not completely 100% off, due to the time/date indicators that keep running even after the camera is turned off. Thats why all manufacturers do recommend pulling the battery if youre not going to use a camera for an extended time..
2 No one in the history of human beings living on earth has found these machines underneath the earth? Since they are burried under the biggest cities.
3. Swimming in a freezing river then climbing out and standing in a freezing rain doesn’t cause hypothermia?
4. While it’s an icy, chilling visual moment, the bodies floating downstream beg the question: If everyone is being vaporized, why are there bodies at all?

I'll stop there....

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…the scene where the plane has crashed outside the wife's house, amid all this rubble, cruise's car is fine, and there's a neat little path right down the street through the destruction so they can drive away.

There wasn’t a neat little path. What are you talking about? Yeah, the car survived…that’s NOT a plot hole.

Not a plot hole, but it's just not believeable, when you are inside a house, a plane crashes outside the house, debris goes everywhere, yet the car remains unharmed. More so even that there is a path, other-wise, how could they drive out of the plane wreck?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…because the plot lacks…

I disagree, and will elaborate further after you do and I know exactly what you’re talking about.

While Spielberg tries to bring the story down to human-size by focusing on Cruise’s character, divorced dad Ray, and his two estranged kids, he fails to generate must sympathy. This is nothing but blowing stuff up on screen. TRYING to make the audience go "Ohh, AHH" Spielberg has done this before....Jurassic Park II



Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…the characterization lacks…

Let’s us see. Ray begins as an arrogant jerk who only has time and patience for himself. He turns into a hero who completely understands what’s important in this world.

Rachel begins as a spoiled brat with no respect for her father, and ends up being humbled with big eyes for daddy.

Robbie starts out angry because his own little world is imperfect, acts like a kid, and ends up being a man who wants to help others.

You’re right. No character development at all.

How does he turn into a hero, all he does is try to save his life, as would anyone else. Ray is a selfish guy who only seems nominally less selfish at the end of the movie. I don't remember Rachel having no respect for her father, to me it seemed like they were fine, but how can you call it characterization, when she turns to her father for help??? She's a little girl, what is is going to do fend for herself? Robbie being a man who wants to help others? Throughout the whole movie he wanted to get away from his father by "joining" the army, he saw his chance and took it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…and the directing is below average for Spielberg.

How so?

Alot of Spielberg films have substance, even the crappy A.I., but this seems like anyone could have done with a big budget, there was realy no care taken into this film, Spielberg is a director who shoots movies quickly and goes on to the next one, this film was shot in, what 72 some odd days? Maybe if Spielberg took a little bit more time on it, it could have been something better, and not be in the shadows of other alien invasion movies (Independence Day)


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Anybody want to slap not only Tom's character in the face....but every other character???

Not really. Maybe a little with Robbie, but still, not really.


Well, I did.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Tom is an asshole…

At the beginning he is. But he changes as time goes on.

Like I said above, he becomes a little bit less of an *******, but still an *******


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Dakota is crying all the time which made her extremely annoying…

Yeah, stupid ten year-old little girl and her fear of dying.

So...she was still annoiying in the movie, that doesn't change a thing


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…the son is a whiny bitch…

I don’t remember him whining a whole lot. He’s pretty angry at his dad, and he tells him off, but whining?

Whinning that he wants to leave his dad, be with the army, wanting to fight, crying about it every ten minutes


Quote:

Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Tim Robbins does nothing but distracts, he serves no point but to chew up screen time and make us think Tom will do anything for the life of his kid…

You are blaming the wrong person for Ogilvy’s existence. Speilberg didn’t invent the character, Wells did.

But I'm still saying that he is a pointless character, so the book should be critized as well, but I haven't read it and I'm critizing the movie


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Robbie should have died---it was a cheap move to have him show up in the end after saying he had to see the fight over the hill.

Again…blaming the wrong cat. Wells wrote that Ray’s brother lived even though we never know how.

READ ABOVE


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
The pacing's terrible – it just suddenly ends, bang, WAY TOO ABRUPT.

Once again…blaming the wrong dude. Wells wrote it that way. One day all looked hopeless, and the next day aliens were dying.

Then it doesn't make a good movie either way, I still say there should have been maybe 5 minutes or so more to better end things, instead of dead aliens and narrator telling why, then lights coming up

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
But the best scene in this movie is not the destruction of the cities, but the basement scene involving the pointless character of Tim Robbins.

You hate this pointless scene, but it’s the best. Shouldn’t your rating be like, I dunno…1/10?

When did I say that I hated this scene? I said it was laughable, but I never said I hated it, or said that it was a pointless scene, the character the Tim Robbins plays is pointless, they could have just as well of seen the hatch, go under and have the same scene without him.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…firing death rays, like target practice, at individual fleeing humans, the most inefficient method of extermination imaginable.

What’s the most efficient? It looked like it was working pretty good to me. The initial attack created a panic, made all the humans start running in the same direction…like a herd…and then…

Poisonous gas maybe? Just a thought


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
Then, midway through, suggest that, for no particular reason, the aliens are harvesting the humans to make those red vines things out of their blood.

…they begin harvesting. It’s in the book. Maybe you should give it a read.

Why not harvest from the begining?


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect
…and we go to Boston where everything is fine...no houses destroyed, family all nice and neat and of course the happy Spielberg ending.

The aliens started dying before they were able to raze Boston. That was shown…Ray and family were running away from the aliens the whole time…meaning, the aliens were behind him. Thank goodness they died when they did, huh? It might have been a real mess otherwise.

This an inane point...before the aliens reach Boston? So the aliens were burried under one city? They were buried all over, they were destroying cities everywhere. I still say that Boston should have been destroyed, the aliens were destroying everything in their sight. How could they not have reached Boston?

[LordSlaytan]

Wow so it looks like you totally agree with TheUsualSuspect then Slay?:laugh: I’ll say this…I popped something when I saw that I had another chance to be the only defender of this great, great film. :)

1. All the electronic equipment is "out", yet videocamera still works. EMP wouldve fried the recording heads along with the other components in the camera. Ask any electronics salesmen. Also, a camera with a battery in it these days, are not completely 100% off, due to the time/date indicators that keep running even after the camera is turned off. Thats why all manufacturers do recommend pulling the battery if youre not going to use a camera for an extended time.. Who said it was an EMP? The newscaster said so, but what the hell does he know? You’re assuming that the aliens are using technology that we can comprehend. It may have seemed like an EMP, but that doesn’t mean that’s what it was. The alien technology is hundreds, if not thousands of years more advanced than ours. Assuming that they hit us with something that we can fathom is just arrogance.

2 No one in the history of human beings living on earth has found these machines underneath the earth? Since they are burried under the biggest cities. They were buried before there were cities, bro. Some may have popped up from under a man made lake, for all we know. Would you call the aliens stupid because of it?

3. Swimming in a freezing river then climbing out and standing in a freezing rain doesn’t cause hypothermia? No one ever said what the temperature was to begin with, so we don’t know if the conditions are right for extreme hypothermia to set in.

4. While it’s an icy, chilling visual moment, the bodies floating downstream beg the question: If everyone is being vaporized, why are there bodies at all? :laugh: Maybe they fell off a bridge that collapsed.

I'll stop there.... Why? You still haven’t mentioned a single plot hole.

Not a plot hole, but it's just not believeable, when you are inside a house, a plane crashes outside the house, debris goes everywhere, yet the car remains unharmed. More so even that there is a path, other-wise, how could they drive out of the plane wreck? It looks like the plane dropped from the sky and broke like a melon…not crashed at an angle, spreading debris everywhere. I agree that it’s something hard to swallow, but sometimes **** happens and we get lucky…and you’re right…still no plot hole.

While Spielberg tries to bring the story down to human-size by focusing on Cruise’s character, divorced dad Ray, and his two estranged kids, he fails to generate must sympathy. This is nothing but blowing stuff up on screen. TRYING to make the audience go "Ohh, AHH" Spielberg has done this before....Jurassic Park III don’t understand how you can say there’s no sympathy for character’s who run for their very lives. A little child, a father and son, all those panicky people…I felt sympathy for them. Especially for Rachel. Okay, so stuff blows up…this is an action/thriller. What were you expecting? Why even go see it if you only have contempt for a film like this? I thought it was a well done character study of a family under duress with a modest look at mob mentality.

How does he turn into a hero, all he does is try to save his life, as would anyone else. Ray is a selfish guy who only seems nominally less selfish at the end of the movie. I don't remember Rachel having no respect for her father, to me it seemed like they were fine, but how can you call it characterization, when she turns to her father for help??? She's a little girl, what is is going to do fend for herself? Robbie being a man who wants to help others? Throughout the whole movie he wanted to get away from his father by "joining" the army, he saw his chance and took it. Okay…Ray is a hero because he finally starts looking outside the box. For once in his life he sees that there are other people to consider seriously other than himself. He’s a hero because he does everything he can to keep his family alive. Is it only possible to be a hero if you help strangers? I certainly don’t think so. He’s a hero because he selflessly covers himself over Rachel’s body when it’s time for her to become Miracle-Gro. He’s hero like when he tries to adopt his co-worker and her daughter. He’s not just nominally changed by the end, he is fundamentally changed. It’s too bad you can’t see that.

Rachel most certainly lacks respect for her dad at the beginning of the film. She thinks she knows more about rearing Robbie than he does. Hell, she doesn’t even trust him enough to remove a sliver from her finger, but by the time he murders Ogilvy, she sees him finally as someone whom she can trust. Trust with her life. And when Ray saves her from the clutches of the aliens (she saves him too!) she looks up at him like he is a friggin’ God.

Robbie on the ferry only wants to help the people trapped on the docking bay. That’s him wanting to help others. When he wants to run off and fight, it’s because he’s still thinking like a dumb kid, but on the hill, all that changes. He doesn’t want to escape so he can fight anymore, he wants to see with his own eyes the absolute futility of the situation. It’s at this moment that he quits thinking like that dumb kid, and starts thinking like a beaten man…but he’s not beaten…he survives. When Ray and Robbie embrace at the end, it is a embrace of two men who love each other.

Alot of Spielberg films have substance, even the crappy A.I., but this seems like anyone could have done with a big budget, there was realy no care taken into this film, Spielberg is a director who shoots movies quickly and goes on to the next one, this film was shot in, what 72 some odd days? Maybe if Spielberg took a little bit more time on it, it could have been something better, and not be in the shadows of other alien invasion movies (Independence Day) Don’t even think of comparing that trite piece of crap with this film. They are worlds apart…War of the Worlds being vastly superior. Besides, how can a ten year old film be ripped off by a 150 year old book?

You’re not really elaborating anything here. You’re still using bland generalizations that prove nothing. Tell me how Spielberg failed as a director here.

Well, I did. Anger management classes might be in order, dude. You want to slap a scared little kid…that’s just plain old worrisome. ;)

Like I said above, he becomes a little bit less of an *******, but still an *******. I don’t see it at all. And again, you don’t really give any specifics, so let’s drop it.

So...she was still annoiying in the movie, that doesn't change a thingWhatever. She only cried twice in the entire film, but according to you she never stops crying. Whatever.

Whinning that he wants to leave his dad, be with the army, wanting to fight, crying about it every ten minutesHe didn’t cry except when he was screaming at his dad. He didn’t whine either. You just kinda paint whatever picture you want…I can’t really debate exaggeration and hyperbole.

But I'm still saying that he is a pointless character, so the book should be critized as well, but I haven't read it and I'm critizing the movieGreat argument. :indifferent:

READ ABOVE (about Robbie living)Whatever, dude. Criticize a movie that’s true to the source material all you want. Would it be better to butcher great literature?

Then it doesn't make a good movie either way, I still say there should have been maybe 5 minutes or so more to better end things, instead of dead aliens and narrator telling why, then lights coming upYou know what? I agree with you that the movie ended too soon. Not because there’s a flaw in the story, but because I was having too much fun to want it to be over. I like the ending of the novel. It’s like you’re in a marathon that you never thought would end, then you see the finish line out of nowhere. All that panting and sweating an excruciating pain in your side, then a chance to catch your breath and let your heart slow comes out of nowhere. It’s an unexpected reprieve from a hopeless situation. They ‘left’ as suddenly as they arrived. A quick punch in the nose will always change your perspective. :)

When did I say that I hated this scene? I said it was laughable, but I never said I hated it, or said that it was a pointless scene, the character the Tim Robbins plays is pointless, they could have just as well of seen the hatch, go under and have the same scene without him. You said it was pointless and the character was terrible. I guess I didn’t read between the lines well enough.

Ogilvy is not pointless, man. He’s who ultimately changes the way Ray thinks, because Ray is staring at his extreme selfish self and has to make a decision. Become his Id, or become the heroic father that he eventually becomes. It’s Ray’s turning point…how can that be a pointless scene in a film with no character development?

Poisonous gas maybe? Just a thoughtThat might have worked if the aliens weren’t carbon based life forms who pretty much like our air the way it is.

Why not harvest from the begining? Harvest billions or millions? Let’s ask the aliens. They’ll tell us! Oh wait…we don’t speak their language and they don’t really look like they want to tell us **** anyway. Just because you cannot understand the aliens motivations, doesn’t mean that what they do is stupid or irrelevant. You just don’t understand. That's the point. We're out of our scope of understanding.

This an inane point...before the aliens reach Boston? So the aliens were burried under one city? They were buried all over, they were destroying cities everywhere. I still say that Boston should have been destroyed, the aliens were destroying everything in their sight. How could they not have reached Boston?They were buried all over the earth. I can only assume that there was an equal portion under cities as well as countryside’s. In the novel, Ray’s character is constantly running away from the aliens, and when they start dying off, Ray is in an area that hasn’t been blasted to smithereens. The same thing happened in the movie. The aliens reached Boston, it shows that (the city is smoking, though the buildings still remain), but they died off before they could completely destroy it. Plus, after we are shown the tripod getting shot down, and Ray leaves with Rachel…there is a cut scene. When he reaches the ‘burbs where Mary Ann lives…and undetermined amount of time has elapsed. It’s not too far fetched that he went deep enough into Boston where no aliens had reached yet.

Don’t forget that all this happened in a short, short period of 4 days and 3 nights. They weren’t attacking for weeks.


BTW: Didn't expect this did you? ;)

[TheUsualSuspect]

Of course I did, I got into debates at Cinecon all the time before it was taken over by...for a lack of a better term, Nazi.

You didn't "disprove" plot holes, just because in the film they don't say something makes it okay to assume otherwise. The film looked like it took place in the FALL, which means cold water...:)

You said that the alien technology is hundreds, if not thousands of years more advanced than ours, that it can whipe out everything and not a videocamera is pretty lame if you ask me.

Why Am I judging this movie with Independence day? Well because they are both about Alien Invasion, in both movies buildings explode, but ID4 captured it better.

Like I said I never read the book, but if I'm not mistaken it takes place in the 1940's???? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the transformation to this day and age made it possible for me to compare the two films, how can you not????

Yes I know they were buried years before the cities were there....but we did build on top of it did we not, I'm sure someone at somepoint in this earth lifetime would have found something.

They liked our air and it killed them. The most common misconception is that alien lifeforms are hundreds of billions years ahead of us in technology, which makes them automatically smarter then us? NO, it does not, hence in this film they were stupid...notice the wheel turning scene in the basement (Which I'm still confused as to why you think I said that scene was pointless, please quote me if you can ;))

Anger Management is not needed ;)

Friend asked me this question: Wouldn't Jesus know that the tripods were buried? :laugh:

[LordSlaytan]

Of course I did, I got into debates at Cinecon all the time before it was taken over by...for a lack of a better term, Nazi. Sounds good to me.

I really, really enjoy defending this film. I saw it five times in the theater. The first two times I totally gave in to the experience. The last three times I paid attention to small details, with the last two viewings happening after I started defending the film, so I paid attention to what people complained about. All those viewings made me believe, wholeheartedly mind you, that the screenplay was written very well, and the direction and cinematography were quite exceptionally.

Granted, I don’t believe it to be a perfect film. I have a few minor complaints myself, but it mainly has to do with the dialogue. But I truly believe that there is a lot of depth with the characters, Ray especially, and that there aren’t any plot holes that I can see. Yeah…it asks us to just accept a couple of things, but it’s not an unreasonable request given what the subject matter is.

In other words, I can do this all week. :)

You didn't "disprove" plot holes, just because in the film they don't say something makes it okay to assume otherwise. The film looked like it took place in the FALL, which means cold water...:) I didn’t disprove them because you didn’t list any. You listed gripes about things that aren’t crystal clear, when the whole point of the first person perspective, is to make us not understand. You have complaints about things you don’t like…they aren’t plot holes.

People blurting out, “This film is full of holes.” Annoys the hell out of me. Nothing personal to you, because a lot of people do it, but if you’re going to say that, be ready to list ‘em…otherwise it’s just more blah, blah, blah. You dig what I mean, dude?

You said that the alien technology is hundreds, if not thousands of years more advanced than ours, that it can whipe out everything and not a videocamera is pretty lame if you ask me. Lame…maybe. Plot hole…no.

Why Am I judging this movie with Independence day? Well because they are both about Alien Invasion, in both movies buildings explode, but ID4 captured it better. I hate ID4, and I mean HATE. These movies have that one thing in common…as well as a few hundred other films, but that’s it.

Like I said I never read the book, but if I'm not mistaken it takes place in the 1940's???? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the transformation to this day and age made it possible for me to compare the two films, how can you not???? It takes place in the latter half of the nineteenth century, actually. The original film changed it to the 1950’s. And like I said before, if you’re only using alien invasion as your focal point, you can relate this film to hundreds. They are not similar in any other way.

Yes I know they were buried years before the cities were there....but we did build on top of it did we not, I'm sure someone at somepoint in this earth lifetime would have found something. True…makes ya’ think…but maybe they’re cloaked. Maybe they’re so deep, we never registered them. Maybe, maybe, maybe…it’s science fiction, man. It can be explained any number of ways, but that’s beside the point. We’re supposed to not understand because we’re living vicariously through Ray’s eyes. We’re only meant to understand as much as he does.

They liked our air and it killed them. The most common misconception is that alien lifeforms are hundreds of billions years ahead of us in technology, which makes them automatically smarter then us? NO, it does not, hence in this film they were stupid...notice the wheel turning scene in the basement (Which I'm still confused as to why you think I said that scene was pointless, please quote me if you can ;)) I gathered that’s what you meant when you were going on about how useless the important character of Ogilvy is.

I don’t think the aliens were stupid at all for not knowing about our micro organisms from afar. Yeah, they planted (the tripods look like armor plated life forms almost), built, buried, their tripods on the planet, but our viruses had probably changed and mutated thousands of times over since they had been there last…if they were ever there to begin with. We don’t know, once again. The wheel scene cracks me up. I don’t know if creatures with three legs would have ever seen a two wheeled mechanism before. Do you think that all life forms use wheels? I dunno either.

Anger Management is not needed ;) Yeah, I don’t think so either. You’re dealing with me quite well. :)

Friend asked me this question: Wouldn't Jesus know that the tripods were buried? :laugh:If Jesus were the Son of God, you’d think so. If. Keep throwing ‘em at me, buck. I gotta’ million of ‘em.

[7thson]

:laugh: I’ll say this…I popped something when I saw that I had another chance to be the only defender of this great, great film. :)

Well I defend this film and nothing I can say will be better than what you already have expressed..except maybe this:

If you go into a movie looking for plot holes instead of entertainment you will find..........................drum role (lol.... I was gonna edit my spelling here, but nah I like to be corrected)please.......................
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.
.
.plot holes:) ..

Just saying:D

[LordSlaytan]

Aw, sorry, Se7en. I forgot.

...and good point.

I'm not saying suspect is suspect, but a lot of people seem to go to Spielberg films just because they want to prove to themselves that he sucks. I didn't say everybody, everybody.

Hmm...just call me Maj. Major Major Major. :D


EDIT: Oh yeah...it's roll, dumbass. :laugh:

[7thson]

Actually looking at the posts that have been recently made by Usualsuspect, if they are indeed made by him/her ( I do not mean this as an insult, I am just a bit cautious is all) I admire their ideas, obviously a lot of thought has gone into your posts, so keep it up, if you are indeed for real you are welcome by me for sure.:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :p

[LordSlaytan]

No doubt. I don't agree with much of what he says, pertaining to this movie at least, but I like the way he presents himself.

I mean...he's here to actually converse about film!

It's a helluva lot better than the 3 word posts a lot of new members make. :yup:

[7thson]

three word posts?:p

[LordSlaytan]

Thread title: Discuss your favorite war film!

Newbie post: Saving Private Ryan

[Austruck]

WTF? <-----3-letter post ... or 3-word post, depending on how you translate it :)

[7thson]

WTF? <-----3-letter post ... or 3-word post, depending on how you translate it :)
Huh?:rolleyes:

[LordSlaytan]

WTF? <-----3-letter post ... or 3-word post, depending on how you translate it :)"Waiter! Three Fresca's!"

I don't get it either.

[Austruck]

Boys, NICE TRY. Sheesh. There is no way I'm the most profanity-savvy person here.

[LordSlaytan]

HA! Chris has told us plenty about your days of wine and roses, baby. Weren't you a merchant marine too?

[TheUsualSuspect]

So, when something can't be explained, the answer is we are not suppose to understand it????

I didn't go into this movie to find plot holes, I went to see it because believe it or not, I'm a spielberg fan. I wanted to be entertained by the big blockbuster film that it was deemed to be. BUT, when things (in my post stated) appear in the movie, it's hard for me to look past them and enjoy the film.

As a sci/fi film this film is medicore, as a spielberg film it's one of his low-points, as a blockbuster, popcorn summer flick, sure why not, it's a great film.

Are you a religious man?

You say you've seen this film 5 times and the last 3 times you paid attention to it, well I've only seen it once, so I guess you win this time. You're memory of the film is far greater then mine.

[LordSlaytan]

So, when something can't be explained, the answer is we are not suppose to understand it???? Not generally, no.

A film has to follow an internal logic, but if the storyline itself is illogical because of the fantasy element, it needs to follow the internal logic it creates for itself.

This film deals with aliens that come out of nowhere and hit us with technology we cannot possibly understand. It follows its own internal logic pretty damn well, insofar that it stays consistent with its ideas and devices.

I didn't go into this movie to find plot holes, I went to see it because believe it or not, I'm a spielberg fan. I wanted to be entertained by the big blockbuster film that it was deemed to be. BUT, when things (in my post stated) appear in the movie, it's hard for me to look past them and enjoy the film. That’s too bad, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think I’m better because I can enjoy it…just luckier. I’ve had a grand time loving this flick. I really have.

As a sci/fi film this film is medicore, as a spielberg film it's one of his low-points, as a blockbuster, popcorn summer flick, sure why not, it's a great film. To each their own. I won’t even try to debate taste…but I wanted to try and dispel your accusation that the film was just chocked full of plot holes. That was my main thing. I see people say, “Boston can’t be standing!” but the film follows its own internal logic about how Ray and family are being chased…not surrounded. There are bunches of complaints that aren’t valid because people have missed things (I may have too even after 5 viewings) because the film is so fast paced, and that makes it easy to miss things. Anywho…

Are you a religious man? Nope. I have been at different periods of my life and came from a family of Christian zealots.

You say you've seen this film 5 times and the last 3 times you paid attention to it, well I've only seen it once, so I guess you win this time. You're memory of the film is far greater then mine.Hey, I think I’m right. I’m fairly positive, actually. But if I see that I’m wrong…I’ll bail this forum forever because I’m really a coward. ;)

[7thson]

Boys, NICE TRY. Sheesh. There is no way I'm the most profanity-savvy person here.
**** **** **** **** *** **** **** YOU!!!!:)

[Austruck]

HA! Chris has told us plenty about your days of wine and roses, baby. Weren't you a merchant marine too?

Well, yes, but that was only after my brief stint as a unionized construction worker in Manhattan, so......

[Austruck]

**** **** **** **** *** **** **** YOU!!!!:)

How dare you use that sort of punctuation with me! :p

[Pyro Tramp]

Hey Slay, as requested in Movie Tab, here are the things that bugged me about the film (please note, i havn't read the rest of the thread, so forgive repetition).

Why did it take millions of years for them to plan the attack, it didn't seem particularly tactical, just all out extermination.

Also, in this time of planning, how did they not work out, or think to work out, that they'd be poisoned by the bacteria.

And would they not have been affected when they planted their machines?

Why did the aliens not take over the earth years ago when they first set their eyes on it, surely it would have been easier.

Would their technology not have improved after millions of years?

If they were buried millions of years ago, would the seismic activities and corrosion not have unearthed them?

And what was so appealing about Earth to them millions of years ago?

Those things just niggled me when i was watching it. I really anjoyed the film otherwise though, liked the effects and the action. Ending was a bit cliched, and the little epilogue and prologues were a bit annoying and patronising.

[TheUsualSuspect]

I predict the answer for the last one will be that their technology is so uncomprehendable by us that maybe they "might" have some kind of protection.....right LS?????? ;)