GREAT GREAT GREAT

I loved it. Even the ending was great imho, very diffferent and risky than I expected (well its 1:1 from the novel...)...and I am not talking about the cheesy part of the end but the conclusion.

n1 film from spielbberg, great tom cruise

I too loved it, except for the ending. But, I tend to think many of Speilberg's endings don't compare to the intensity he creates through the middle of his films. But it's hard to fault him for being too good at making the middle of his films. Don't get me wrong, this was a cool ass movie. It reminds me of the other two alien movies he did that have won awards. Scary, funny, dramatic, and compelling. When I wasn't on the edge of my seat, I was squirming in it. Loved the look of the aliens and loved the CG. I also loved the fact that much of the effects were physical and not CG.

It sounds great! I'm glad to hear it! Looking forward to seeing it.

BTW, did anyone notice that the music in the last two thirds of the theatrical trailer for War of the Worlds is the same as the music from one of the FOTR trailers? I dug it up out of my saved trailers to check - it's exactly the same.

I liked it a lot. Although it left some questions unanswered (which I think was intentional, but annoying nonetheless). It was true to the book; Speilberg knows what he's doing.

Was that Morgan Freeman narrating?

i havent seen it and really have no desire, but I just watched close Encounters of the Third Kind last night. I had seen it once years ago, but watching it now I was actually really surprised how good the movie was (though I wish the ending were more expanded)

I don't understand this movie at all.

*If you're not familiar with the source material, be warned: My post might give away plot points.*

The seeming ineptitude of evil intergalactic invaders never fails to boggle me. It is only plausible that the aliens have been planning this attack for thousands, maybe millions, of years; they have mastered space travel, and they possess technology which outmatches ours x100; yet they show up on our planet and all immediately die. How closely have they been monitoring our planet? Are they totally unaware of disease?

That brings me to something else: What is the motivation for aliens to place war machines underground, wait several thousand years for a thriving civilization to appear, and THEN invade? Are they just sadistic? The sick bastards of space? If they were threatened by our growing intelligence, they would have more efficiently destroyed us (with nuclear devices or whatever); if they wanted to claim our planet and our resources as their own, they would have simply done that when they arrived to install their underground death machines. Can someone explain this to me?

It was observed that the ending is terrible, and I heartily agree. The ol' rush-rush deus ex machina was, I'm sure, hot **** back in 1898, but I won't tolerate it; plus, it's been done before, in even worse movies (in Signs, for example, and, somewhat differently, in Independence Day). And I really couldn't tell if the narrated prologue and epilogue were designed as parody or if that was a serious attempt.

God, I should have just seen Batman again.

You can't say that this movie copied anything from Signs or Independence Day. This movie is a REMAKE. Every other alien disaster movie known to man is based loosely on War of the Worlds. It's just become so cliché now that people think its another cop-out.

And I think the fact that we didn't know their motivation was great. It was never explained WHY the aliens were attacking, and that was good because none of the characters knew, either. There were none of those cliché "government figures" or anything like that.

If you've read the book or seen the old version, you would have more appreciation for it. People don't like it because they were brought up on movies like Independence Day and whatnot. Try to look past that.

JW is right and that non-hollywood-non-blockbuster ending will piss many people off. these days, the audience just expects a massive battle at the end and the showdown in WOTW is not in the end but in the basement on a small, human scale.

great imho

quote:

If you've read the book or seen the old version, you would have more appreciation for it.

Yeah, I read the book. I like some of Wells' stories, and War of the Worlds is fun... set in 1898. Very original for the time, very fantastic, I'm sure. HOWEVER, it's been done, and it's a hundred years old. I can appreciate the story as a product of the times; I do have trouble accepting the same premise transferred into modern day. Plus, Wells' stories really don't translate well to film, for the same reason something like On the Road won't translate well to film. It's a narrator describing things happening, and then it ends.

And no, the ending isn't Hollywood; it's dumb.

TOM CRUISE
"Hey, thank god my son's alive somehow and those aliens are dying because of reasons totally beyong anyone's control. Oh, and just in case you don't understand why they're dying, Morgan Freeman will now explain it in full."

Yes, that's brilliant. How non-Hollywood, how brave. I do hope Speilberg gets work after this, seeing as how he has just defied SO much convention.

I will buy the DVD though. I want to see the deleted scene in which Tim Robbins digs a tunnel BACK into Shawshank prison.

Just to back up my statement... in Signs, Joaquin Phoenix's character actually speaks the following line verbatim when the aliens begin to attack:

"It's like War of the Worlds."

I rest my case.

And in War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise speaks the following line:

"It's just like the Fourth of July."

Really, he means, "It's just like Independence Day."

Anyway, I'm not arguing that Signs and Independence Day didn't borrow from Wells' War of the Worlds. I'm arguing that, just because War of the Worlds derives directly from its source material, it's not any better or more creative than those movies. Personally, I think it IS better than those movies, but not simply because it's a direct adaptation.

quote:

It's just become so cliché now that people think its [sic] another cop-out.

You're right. It is cliché, and it's not another cop-out. It's the same cop-out.

I just saw it. I must say, I really loved this movie. I was sort of sad when it finished, because it seemed really sudden, but whoa. There was some great stuff packed into that film.

[spoilers below, highlight]

The scene where Tom etc. are in the car and they run into all those people who want the car, was really chilling for me. No music, nothing. It felt very real and in my opinion was a really amazing scene. Speaking of music, there wasn't a lot. But it was a good descision, because I doubt some of those scenes would be as good with it. And when it did finally come, it had more of an impact.

Anyway I'll defenately go see that again.

-Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris Hurn,

Ok, Harris I appreciate your film Iron Monkey Fight, but I think you jsut don't get it with a film like The War Of The Worlds. It was a remake of a 1950's classic, Spielberg purposely made minor adjustments to the film in regards to updating it, he wanted to stay true to the original. That's Spielberg paying homage to a brilliant writer.

Also regarding your comment about Spielberg's endings, Story Archs play a huge role in his films. He is always focused on the main character more than the plot of the movie, when you actually understand why he does then you'll grasp the genuis of Spielberg.

By the way I loved this film. I haven't loved a film by Steven Spielberg since Jurassic Park and that theme song is still stuck in my head. What a genius, I lost hope in him in the past years, but seeing this movie just put that hope right back into me.

He always makes something huge(literally speaking)with his films, he is a master at making our fears into reality. The scene in War of the Worlds where the first alien ship is reveiled, what a site! I was like :O throughout that whole scene and many scenes after it. Remember T-Rex roaring? How about the overhead shot of the Great White in Jaws? What an awesome director. My favorite has to be Jurassic Park though, that's his best IMO.

Haven't you guys noticed that as the world progresses, War of the Worlds gets updated?

In the books it was a concern that another country was atttacking, and relations between european countries weren't that great.

In the 2nd (I think theres 3 versions of the movie) nuclear warfare was discussed to destroy the aliens.

In this one, there was the concern of terrorists. I wouldn't be surprised if in another 30 to 40 years we see another version of War of the Worlds with an updated threat.

Anyways, I did NOT like the look of the aliens. The machines were great, but the aliens looked like they were nimble triceratops dinosaurs. In the book, the aliens were giant brains who could really only move with the help of machines, and I really miss that society commentary. Because of machines, the aliens had lost the use of their bodies, and thats what Wells was warning us about in our technology.

What's funny forsaken is that there was a recent War of the Worlds movie released a few months before Spielberg's movie. The movie had Thomas C. Howell(Ponyboy from the Outsiders). The movie got pretty decent reviews for an independant film.

quote:

Ok, Harris I appreciate your film Iron Monkey Fight, but I think you jsut don't get it with a film like The War Of The Worlds.

Whoa. Argumentum ad Hominem, man. Argumentum ad Hominem.

quote:

Remember T-Rex roaring? How about the overhead shot of the Great White in Jaws?

That's a good example. T-Rex and Jaws worked because the audience feared, hated, and loved them all at the same time (which is a great credit to a great director). They were interesting villains because they weren't typical villains. The only thing that made them "bad" in relation to the protagonists was nature. They're not inherently evil, and the tension between man and beast worked so well because of that; it's a conflict of interest.

What can I say about the aliens in War of the Worlds? I guess they're evil, right? There's no conflict of interest because the only seeming reason they're killing people is because... well, why is it? Why the hell is it? They bury death machines in the ground, and then after a few thousand years, they slaughter everyone. That's about as interesting as a serial killer who kills people for no purpose whatsoever. There's no motivation. Jaws and T-Rex had to eat; it's their nature. What drives the aliens? Boredom? Yuck.

So, you're right; I don't get it.

Ok, Harris let's say this; I can see your point if Steven Spielberg was the originator of the story, if that's the case then your right. If he created it, then shame on him for dishing us the same garbage that corporate hollywood thinks we will always like(and thinking like that annoys me). But I don't think his intentions were to feed us that kinda of garbage. I think he is like every other director that has a dream about re-doing a movie that he grew up watching. In this case he made a better War of the Worlds.

Ok, tell me. How many directors seen a decent movie with great ideas and a lot of potential that wanted to have the oppurtunity to make it better? i'm willing to bet that everyone has.

quote:

I can see your point if Steven Spielberg was the originator of the story

To me, it doesn't matter whether he's filming an original story or adapting a century-old classic. A film should be regarded on its own merit, I believe. I feel that I should be able to walk into a theater knowing nothing about the film I'm about to watch and still have an enjoyable experience. Now, if I can better appreciate a movie having familiarized myself with the source material, then great; a film such as American Psycho is good standing alone, but coupled with the book, it's a terrific experience. I think I would have abhorred War of the Worlds had I not read the book, but, having read it, I don't feel that I can justify the film.

This is one of the reasons I didn't like Lord of the Rings as much as most people seem to. While I was laughing aloud during the closing moments of Return of the King, my friend asked me what was funny. I explained to him that the hero, who was facing certain death, was being rescued by a wizard riding on the back of a giant eagle; he didn't get the joke, and he told me it was all explained in the book. Since I hadn't read the book, I kept laughing. Where did those damn eagles come from anyway?

ANNOYING HOBBIT 1
Oh my god, guys, we're about to totally lose this battle.

ANNOYING HOBBIT 2
Oh ****! Eagles!

Well, maybe the movies weren't for me; maybe they were for die-hard fans of the books. I only wish Peter Jackson had alerted me of that before I gave him my money. End Tangent.