War Of The Worlds, a review (of sorts), and some rambling...*SPOILERS*
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, January 7, 2006 13:58
VIEWED: 3908
PAGE 3 of 3
Indeed, Speilberg's movies have become so bad that I've begun to wonder if his earlier success' weren't just flukes or stuff he pirated from someone else. Either way whatever he once had, he ain't got no more.
arclight
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I’m halfway through War of the Worlds and I’m finding it to be a very enticing read. Chris and Citizen are right; it is much better book then a movie. I would encourage anyone who didn’t like the movie to read the book. It’s nothing like the movie, and although much of the story was probably intended to be understood differently then a 21 century reader might see it, it’s easy to visualize it in terms of a 21 century setting.
In spite of its rather archaic analysis of Mars, it actually has a much more plausible scenario for the aliens to come to earth. One of the common criticisms for the movie was the implausibility of these tripods being buried in the ground, which clearly makes no sense. We are to assume that seismological surveys never discovered one and even more implausible, that cities and towns never encountered them whilst building foundations, transportation, water, sewer and other underground infrastructure, which often exceed many tens of feet to sometimes hundreds below the surface. Hell, even sewers built by the classical Romans and Greeks went 30 to 50 ft deep. I can’t fault Wells for not knowing science about Mars that had yet to be discovered, but the only excuse Spielberg and his writers have is stupidity. 
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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.
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The science of the movie is pretty much crap too.
If an EMP went off abouve a city, it would fry every electronic device in the car, not just the starter that is already installed in the minivan. And you couldn't just swap it out for a new oneyou had in the nearby parts room, it would be fried too, because it's also in the EMP. Not to mention that that model minivan is elctronic fuel injected, all the injectors would be slag, and the engine management computer would probably have melted. The ignition coilpacks would've fused into solid lump of copper and plastic, too.
The only engine that would work after an EMP would be an antique mechanily injected diesl, and then you'd still have to crank it over by hand.
Plus, if that was MY '67 Shelby Mustang the son took joyriding, I'd break both his arms next time I saw him.
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The real-life box droppin', man-ape gone wrong thing, now without the pesky falling boxes
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Finn:
Glad we could point you in the direction of such a great peice of fiction.
The movies idea that machines had been buried for millions of years is ridiculous. I mean the martians didn't notice the microbes when they were burying the things?
Why didn't they just take over the Earth when they landed the walkers? Why wait until after we've invented the nuclear weapon.
Why use such outdated weaponry anyway. A million years has seen us move from flint spears to assualt rifles, and again our friend Mr Fatman.
What, the martians invented the death ray and said "right lads, we've reached the top! we're gonna have to stop!"
Maybe thats whats bothering them, oobee doo.
The book isn't so much about the alien menace, that's one of the great things, and why later interpretations are SOOO poor (IMHO) in comparision. The book came out in a time shortly before the first world war, it visualised a terrible mechanical war in europe, one where the individual soldier really was just cannon fodder.
It's describes the First World War, but with Aliens from Mars instead of the Bosch from Germany 
.
You also don't get this ridiculous idea that the lead role has to be some invincible super hero, like Spielberg had to foist on us. I mean, the entire US and indeed world millitaries can't so much as scratch the paint work, but you give good ol' Tom a couple o' grandpa's best granades and he'll do the job, yessire.
Frankly if it was as simple as that to take one down some one would of figured it out and started strapping bomb belts to soldiers in civilian clothing. Rules of intestellar war be damned.
So anyway I think I should probably stop ranting now, bye.
More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
Remember, the ice caps aren't melting, the water is being liberated.
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Citizen, you SO nailed my major problems with the movie!
Oh, and (not to get too technical or overly-detailed) the end sucked.
Chrisisall, beating on tht demised equis
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its just a movie
Anyways I wonder how they took over the middle east.
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