War of the Worlds

[Gary Floyd 0]

Just saw it out of boredom. Wasn't too impressed, though I must say, Dakota Fanning isn't that bad of an actress.

[Red Baron 0]

The whole movie was directed for a WTF reaction throughout the whole movie. Of course going on a boat isn't the smart thing to do, but when in panic, shock and disarray common sense and awareness is not going to matter at all.

 

I thought Tim Robbins was excellent in this movie and his role. Too bad his role was short because its a good Oscar nomination role IMO

 

Dakota was irratating but she played the part well.

 

The son should have been best killed, but Spielberg loves to play with the holly-wood ending.

 

[Guest Vitamin X]

Sorry dude, whether you feel this movie was good or not, there is no way in hell that there's anything Oscar-caliber about it, aside from the special FX.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Cruise did his usual great self, but there were an incredible amount of BULLSHIT! WTF? moments, in particular

when the first tripod comes out of the ground and starts incinerating everyone around him, and is just so ridiculously lucky to avoid ANY kind of injury or incineration himself

.

I'm surprised I'm defending this movie so much--I liked it, but it's not GLORIOUS or anything like that--but this is a gripe that's never really worked for me, with regards to many movies. Yeah, Cruise's character is lucky to not get totally annihilated in the first alien attack (I don't really count that as a spoiler). But of course he didn't die then--the movie is about him. He's not safe because the actor playing him is a big star--he's safe because the movie follows his family. Or, better said: the movie follows his family because he survives the first attack. If the character of Ray Farrier got zapped immediately, the movie would be about someone else who didn't get zapped and then we'd be complaining about how that person shockingly survived the initial assault. It's fruitless complaint because it focuses on the fact that a big star is playing a character in a situation, not on the situation or character themselves. Movie stars play main characters in movies, and yes, that gives as cues as to what's going to happen, but we as an audience have to deal with that as part of our suspension of disbelief.

 

Rarely do you find a movie, book, or story that deals with a character whose qualities or experiences are entirely unremarkable. I never like that complaint.

 

Rudo:

They didn't have to be buried. Yeah, it was silly. Don't misunderstand me--I thought that was stupid as well. But since the film developed so much momentum out of the events stemming from that--flawed, admittedly--initial premise, I don't hold it as a great detriment to the picture. Yeah, the logic is a bit skewed, but ultimately the movie covers much wider ground and never really grounds itself or its events in too specific a timeframe. Even if it's retarded that the aliens don't just check the atmosphere on their way in or realize that they're in trouble, I even like that hubris--such a traditionally human vice--being their downfall. Hubris--from Oedipus to aliens, the universal shame.

 

Which is reaching, DUH, I know that. But shit, I was an English major, and I like explosions too.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I haven't watched this version yet, but I've read the book, seen the floating red showerhead lazer alien version a thousand times, and heard a copy of the radio program.

 

I don't see what's so hard to understand about randomly violent aliens landing here with the express purpose of fucking shit up.

[Dangerous A 0]

I saw this last night. It was alright, but not nearly as good as Revenge of the Sith or Batman Begins IMO.

 

 

Also, was anyone else getting and Anti-War in Iraq undertone here? The whole line about "occupation". Put the U.S. in the place of the aliens and the humans in place of the Iraqi people. Perhaps I'm reaching. SS could be making a commentary on how outside forces should never occupy the home of another i.e. Palistinians and Israelis.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Hubris?!?!

 

You've GOT to be shitting me.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I saw this last night. It was alright, but not nearly as good as Revenge of the Sith or Batman Begins IMO.

 

 

Also, was anyone else getting and Anti-War in Iraq undertone here? The whole line about "occupation". Put the U.S. in the place of the aliens and the humans in place of the Iraqi people. Perhaps I'm reaching. SS could be making a commentary on how outside forces should never occupy the home of another i.e. Palistinians and Israelis.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I just mentioned earlier in the thread about how Wells wrote the book as a criticism of the British colonization of Africa, so maybe that's the vibe you were getting. I think Spielberg was trying to create the most modernized version of the story as possible.

 

Now that I've had time to dwell on it more, the bad parts stick out to me more than the good and I'm leaning towards saying it was pretty bad. I couldn't make up my mind yesterday whether I liked it or not, which should have foretold I'd feel this way after thinking about it a bit later, but yeah.

 

I can't believe I saw this shit before Batman Begins, though. I've been avoiding that for some time now, for really no reason.

[Dangerous A 0]

You are missing out VX. I've seen Batman Begins twice already and going for three this weekend. With WotW, I'll probrably wait until it hits HBO before giving it another go.

[DARRYLXWF 0]

I just mentioned earlier in the thread about how Wells wrote the book as a criticism of the British colonization of Africa, so maybe that's the vibe you were getting. I think Spielberg was trying to create the most modernized version of the story as possible.

 

Now that I've had time to dwell on it more, the bad parts stick out to me more than the good and I'm leaning towards saying it was pretty bad. I couldn't make up my mind yesterday whether I liked it or not, which should have foretold I'd feel this way after thinking about it a bit later, but yeah.

 

I can't believe I saw this shit before Batman Begins, though. I've been avoiding that for some time now, for really no reason.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The most telling part of the novel is the following paragraph, where Hughes talks about the aliens:

 

And before we judge them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The Tasmanians, inspite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred the same spirit?

 

That's why it bugs me when people cry over the "anti-climatic ending". They miss the point. The story is primarily about the invasion itself and the comparisons it draws between similar "invasions" during the colonial period. If you want a climatic and orgasmic ending, then rent Independence Day. If you didn't like the ending, fine. But it was directed that way for a reason.

[the pinjockey 0]

God damn that movie was awful. It seemed to me like the most expensive b-movie of all time with terrible acting, too many comedy bits (intentional or unintentional?), and IMO cheesey aliens that played like Godzilla.

 

The ending was a fucking disgrace. I was half expecting, after seeing the son, that the wife would no longer be pregnant and bust out with "Oh and Ray, I'd like you to meet your newest son ::hands him baby::....dramatic pause.....we've named him......Ray." Then we fade out on Cruise breaking up and holding a baby. Seriously, WTF?!? and then they immediately cut to a shot of every other piece of Boston being crushed by alien remains. Way to expose that farce to the 1% who didn't catch it

 

Also, I get the germs ending. That's fine, but would it have been so hard to show the effects starting to occur, since we just came from a scene where there were aliens walking out in the open? I could have bought that as opposed to "oh no...oh no....oh look, they're dead"

[SuperJerk 0]

If you want a climatic and orgasmic ending, then rent Independence Day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Or the movie it ripped its ending off from, Return of the Jedi.

[Guest Vitamin X]

What, dude? What are you talking about?

 

I didn't see Tom Cruise get cremated in a big funeral ceremony, or any kind of global celebration.

[SuperJerk 0]

What, dude? What are you talking about?

 

I didn't see Tom Cruise get cremated in a big funeral ceremony, or any kind of global celebration.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

NO!

 

I'm saying Independence Day ripped off Return of the Jedi.

[Dandy 0]

My view was that the tripods being buried for "millions of years" left them with an infinite number of bacteria in and on them, not just in the atmosphere. That might be reaching, but that was the explanantion that immediately sprang to my head. They couldn't really get close enough to test the atmosphere without ruining the surprise attack, but leaving the machines buried for that long left too much bacteria for them to handle.

[MDH257 0]

I read a column where a guy says he thinks the reason

the ships are buried

is because Spielbeg just was in love with the idea of

the ships bursting out from under the street.

It seems the make the most sense.

 

I agree that Cruise's son should have stayed dead.

 

Nice of the aliens lay off of the most expensive neighborhood in Boston, where the mom just happened to be.

[CBright7831 0]

I liked the movie. I found myself on the edge of my seat a few times. I won't get into the tripods and how scary as hell they looked. My only gripes are:

 

-

Why the hell did Tom Cruise have to kill Tim Robbin's character? Couldn't he have hit over the head to shut him up, instead of killing him with his bare hands? Or at leastt hat how I think he was killed. You could hear both of them going "Oooh!" behind the door, so you could tell something intense was going on.

 

-

How the hell did Robbie survive? How? That fireball wiped out everything but him it seems.

 

Other than that, great movie.

 

Very scary, and it makes me hope we are alone in the universe.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Me me me me me. Typical human.

 

I enjoy/embrace the theory that we're not alone, it makes life more unpredictably fun.

[CBright7831 0]

Meh, there's a 50/50 chance it could go either way if they ever come. They could be bad and they could be good.

 

One thing is for sure, they will be pissed when they see how we usually portray them in movies (as evil villains aside from a few movies).

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

The aliens would turn hostile eventually. SOMEONE would shoot a spaceship, or a creature coming out of it.

[tommytomlin 0]

I don't think the Tripods being buried under the ground conflicts with the 'bacteria beats aliens' ending. The Tripods are machines, not aliens. The aliens enter the machines through the lightning strikes. The aliens themselves were not hiding under the Earth for a million years, just their rides.

[Ripper 0]

Exactly. When the aliens controlling the ships died, thats what took the tripods down. I for one liked the movie, even though I wasn't a fan of the Robbie situation.

[RepoMan 0]

I really like the movie despite the stupidness of the underground tripods, Robby and half of Boston surviving. Another thing that annoyed me was if Aliens were tourching the Cities of the world, why the hell would you try and go to Boston? If Cruises character had half a brain he would have stayed in that farm house our moved his ass up into the Adiarondaks.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The machines were underground for _at least_ 300 years. That means the aliens have known about earth for at least 300 years. In 300 years, you would think that MAYBE one of the aliens would spend some time on the planet - collect samples of the earth, air, food, etc. - and judge whether or not the planet was suitable for living. Afterall, these aliens are capable of intergalactic travel - something we are centuries away from - so should be smart enough to think of something so simple.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I don't think the Tripods being buried under the ground conflicts with the 'bacteria beats aliens' ending. The Tripods are machines, not aliens. The aliens enter the machines through the lightning strikes. The aliens themselves were not hiding under the Earth for a million years, just their rides.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That still doesn't explain how the force fields suddenly went down, though. If the machines were still working, then those should have worked as well, although it seemed to be clueing in a bit that the tripods were biomechanical, when, in the stupidest fucking b-movie thing they could have done, they

harvested the humans' blood and covered the land in veins... which I still don't quite understand why or even how they did it since they were infected..

 

and how the hell did the other aliens survive being out and about in the re-creation of Signs that Spielberg was doing with the Tim Robbins in the basement scene?

[reign 0]

I beleive that they said millions of years buried and I don't care how advanced you are,over a million years some plans might get fucked up. And this also tells me that the machines were fucking OLD..probably ancient by Martian standards,possibly ancient. And as someone said earlier they must not have had a method of protecting from bacteria like many soldiers throughout history have experienced while invading foreign lands

[RepoMan 0]

I don't think the Tripods being buried under the ground conflicts with the 'bacteria beats aliens' ending. The Tripods are machines, not aliens. The aliens enter the machines through the lightning strikes. The aliens themselves were not hiding under the Earth for a million years, just their rides.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That still doesn't explain how the force fields suddenly went down, though. If the machines were still working, then those should have worked as well, although it seemed to be clueing in a bit that the tripods were biomechanical, when, in the stupidest fucking b-movie thing they could have done, they

harvested the humans' blood and covered the land in veins... which I still don't quite understand why or even how they did it since they were infected..

 

and how the hell did the other aliens survive being out and about in the re-creation of Signs that Spielberg was doing with the Tim Robbins in the basement scene?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Basically the aliens were using human blood to fertilize the red plant stuff to do there own version of "terraforming." The red plant's were probalbly a basic food crop for the aliens. Pretty sure that's how it goes in the novel

[MooreMark 0]

I liked it but I thought it went kind of slow at some points. I saw it with my friends who did not get it at all. "War of the Worlds? I only saw ONE world?!"

[Guest Vitamin X]

Okay now that's pretty funny. There should be a thread dedicated to stupid things we've heard people say about movies.

[Carnival 0]

ID4 > WOTW