*** spoiler alert *** My review of War of the Worlds
POSTED BY: AURaptor
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 2, 2005 11:28
VIEWED: 15587
PAGE 1 of 6
Sure, you know the story by now. But Spielberg takes a few liberties here and there w/ the classic, while still paying homage to the original. Just saw it today, so here are my thoughts ( not so much a review..)
Select to view spoiler:
I didn't like this movie very much. It had some dandy visuals, as damn well it should. But several things about this movie didn't work - AT ALL. Tom Cruise plays a divorced dad-Ray. Robbie and Rachel are his kids who generally stay w/ mom and her new hubby. Robbie's the defiant older son, and Rachel is the wise-beyond-her-years younger daughter. Ok, to the point. What I HATED about his movie is how everyone reacts to things woefully unnatural. Lightning strikes the ground and makes a hole in the street, so everyone crowds around to take a look. Ok, fine. But when the ground below starts to shake, and cracks in the pavement start radiating from said hole ?? RUN LIKE HELL?? Nawwh...seems everyone in NY simply moves back a few feet to give this phenomenon a bit more space to .... shake more and break up more pavement? No friggin way.
Continuing w/ the tearing up of the ground beneath their feet, the curious citizens of NY city kinda sorta think it's about time to move away...only after a SUV falls into the ever widening sink hole..and GETS TOSSED 50 ft in the air back out!! (Begin mingling away, but not TOO fast....) So out pops a ginormous 3 legged alien ship...100 ft tall? ( think giant walking machines from Matrix ) Yeah, I'm thinking taking pictures as you're still STANDING there is a smart thing to do.... untill the vaporizing rays start blasting and NOW you decide it's time to run. But the idiots run DIRECTLY away from the aliens ..as in line of sight! No one thinks of scurruing down an alley or crossing the street a few times to zig zag their way out of certain death....And folks keep DOING this through out the movie....
Then there's Robbie. He's out to prove something to his now distant Dad. In one scene that makes no sense what so ever, Robbie decides to become a man, he MUST defy his father. He wants to SEE our tanks,planes and helicopters do battle w/ an array of alien ships, just over the ridge. Never mind that he's SEEN what these things can do... " I just gotta see! " Bullshit! You run and get the hell OUT of there. Lame ass script, imo! Father tries to get son to come back w/ him, leaving the young daughter all alone (sorta) as the end of all humanity rages just over the ridge. Please. So, Dad lets teenage son go... ( oh, the symbolism ), who promply runs head long over the ridge ( no gun, no training, not even a damn stick in his hand! ) and BLAMO! All hell breaks loose, the aliens bust through the lines and leave Daddy and daughter fleeing in terror.
Then they're saved by Tim Robbin's character(Ogilvy ). He's holed up in his celler, w/ a shot gun and an ax. He's survived the initial onslaught, and isn't worried about seeing death ( he's an ambulance driver , or was ) But when he see's the aliens making humans into fertilizer for ..more aliens? galactic ganja ? ... THAT'S when he really loses it. See, all the death, destruction, mayhem and losing his entire family was hard to take, but THIS!! He starts screaming and carrying on ..'Not MY blood! Not MY blood!'. So, Ray does what any sensible father would do in that situation. He blindfolds Rachel, closes the door and then kills Ogilvy. Riiight.
Ok, so both dad and daughter get snatched up in an alien ship and are about to become Purina Alien Chow , only dad finds a few handy gernades and..well, naturally he destoys the ship and they escape. And I can only assume that when you kill one giant walking tripod alien ship, none of the others will dare mess w/ you. I say this because the two end up finally making it to Boston, where dad's ex is staying for the weekend. Despite the fact that all the major centers of civilization have been destroyed, they decide it's best to go looking at another one first..just to be sure.
And in a scene that's sure to piss off anyone from New York, Ray walks by a statue of a MinuteMan ( t
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Have to disagree; :)
My son, grandson and myself went to see it this afternoon; we were highly entertained. Not much caring about picking it apart, just sitting back and watching. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I haven't seen it yet, and I'm not entirely sure I will. No good reason for that, it's just how it is. Anyway, every time I hear about Tom Cruise or War of the Worlds, I think of this article from an interview with Harlan Ellison (who, by the way, is a really fascinating man to hang around with):
Quote:I guess I'm in agreement with everything, especially the last paragraph.
12:00 AM, 02-JUNE-05
Ellison Talks Spielberg's War
SF writer Harlan Ellison questioned why director Steven Spielberg didn't give more credit to fellow author H.G. Wells in his upcoming film adaptation of The War of the Worlds. Speaking to SCI FI Wire at Enigma Con at the University of California, Los Angeles, Ellison said: "What annoys me is that Spielberg is such an egomaniac these days that it has to be 'Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. No, you puss-bag. It's H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, and it wouldn't kill you to put his f--king name on it."
Ellison, author of such books as I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, added: "That shows his arrogance. It's like Disney. Disney didn't write Snow White or Robin Hood or Bambi, but it's 'Walt Disney's universe.' It's the universe according to frozen Walt."
Ellison hosted a 90-minute panel at the conference, which he titled "How Does SF Stay in Business in a World of Marching Morons?" "Spielberg is only a craftsman, that's all he is," Ellison said. "He's not a genius. He's not a trend setter. There isn't one moment of any Spielberg film ... that matches the least moment of a Kurosawa film. Kurosawa was a blinding genius of cinema. His vision was astonishing."
Ellison said that he has little interest in seeing remakes and added: "We live in a society that values less and less the original."
Thanks for your review of the movie, AURaptor.
无 党派 人士
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Roger Ebert gave War of the Worlds a pretty bad review. As did other notable reviewers.
Wasn't War of the Worlds suppose to be a three part movie? Did that scrap that idea or something?
Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I wouldn't trust a review from Roger Ebert at all. Also, I generally respect Ellison's viewpoint, but as far as I have seen this film is not being billed as "Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds." It is "A Steven Spielberg Film, War of the Worlds, based on the novel by H. G. Wells" very prominently in the opening credits.
Yes, there are quite a few plot inconsistencies, but I do not think they outweigh the overall strengths of the film. It took a few liberties with the story but was true to the spirit of the book.
If I was of a mind to, I could nitpick every episode of Firefly (and Serenity), but that would not mean that I do not think they are exceptionally entertaining. The same applies to War of the Worlds. And the tripods were damn impressive.
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Hell's Kitten:
...from an interview with Harlan Ellison (who, by the way, is a really fascinating man to hang around with):
You can't get away with a pronouncement like that without more explanation. When and where were you lucky enough to hang out with Harlan?
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I was excited scared, and sad all at the same time. Wierd ending, but I loved the action (and usually I hate action)
SPOILER!
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
WHen we first saw the humans get drained of blood from the alien thing, the first thing I thought was River. "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds, given adequate vacumming systems..." lol I love bein a browncoat!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I have to agree, the script for this movie was really, really poor. Many, many plot holes - some you pointed out, some you missed. SPOILERS.
Select to view spoiler:
How did Robbie live through the big attack that was meant to make us think he was dead?
WHY would the aliens bury ships on earth and wait for a few thousand years in case something interesting happens and they could use them? I'm fine with aliens invading for no apparent reason, but the method of attack and the poor attempts to explain what they are doing is just bad.
Why do the aliens stick around in a small town outside of Boston all night? Don't they have people to kill? And with how fast they were sucking up humans from those cages, why were they full?
I have other issues, but I'm lazy.
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Tomanta:
I have to agree, the script for this movie was really, really poor. Many, many plot holes - some you pointed out, some you missed. SPOILERS.Select to view spoiler:
How did Robbie live through the big attack that was meant to make us think he was dead?
WHY would the aliens bury ships on earth and wait for a few thousand years in case something interesting happens and they could use them? I'm fine with aliens invading for no apparent reason, but the method of attack and the poor attempts to explain what they are doing is just bad.
Why do the aliens stick around in a small town outside of Boston all night? Don't they have people to kill? And with how fast they were sucking up humans from those cages, why were they full?
I have other issues, but I'm lazy.
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."
There were far too many plot holes for me to put down all at once. I wanted to give others a chance to fill in the blanks.
Select to view spoiler:
Along what you said, how could those enormous machines of the aliens NOT have been accidentally found? You'd think that in millions of yrs of geologic activity and human digging/drilling around, ONE of them would have been discovered. That made no sense
Why were the humans stuck like grapes and stuck one at a time ? Why not ( pardon the greusomness) shovel us in giant shredders and spray us around like mulch??? Glad they didn't, personally.
There are others, but I'm late for work
" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Select to view spoiler:
Why were the humans stuck like grapes and stuck one at a time ? Why not ( pardon the greusomness) shovel us in giant shredders and spray us around like mulch??? Glad they didn't, personally.
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *gasp* hahahahah *choke* hahahaha *wheeze* hahahah !
Ok, maybe I have a macabre sense of humor, but that just killed me!
<--wiping coffee off his screen...
-F
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME