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| Ishmael 2080th Post
 
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
    
    
|  "Re(2):The War of the Worlds Thread" , posted Sat 2 Jul 00:30
War of the Spoilers:
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
It's amazing what the ending of a film can do for your feelings about the rest of the piece. Up until the last ten minutes or so I was really enjoying watching all those people die. But the ending was so sentimental, overblown, unlikely given the previous events, and downright sappy it bothered me. Once I had time to reflect on the movie I felt it was full of great moments and well worth the time but the main thought on my mind upon leaving the theater was "what the fuck kind of ending was that?" For most of the running time Spielberg managed to make the movie quite tense and brutal so it was a shame that the ending felt more like a fumble than anything.
I don't mean to make it sound like I disliked the movie because there was lots to love. I even liked the theme that he used for the story. The survival of a family unit caught up in insane times that are beyond their power to control was a fitting approach for the times of today.
Do the different takes on War of the Worlds reflect the society in which they were created or the personal world view of the creators? Arguments could be made either way but I doubt that the aetheist, pro-science totalitarianism stance that H.G Wells had would fly all that well today. I was also thankful that the Spielberg version didn't go with the overblown religious stance of the 1950's film version. A friend of mine once noted how the 50's film played up religion at the end to such a degree that it almost came across as divine providence that the germs killed the aliens. Why it was also God's will that thousands of people had to get the shit fried out of them by lasers, however, was never fully addressed. The Orson Welles radio version was ultimately about Welles as were most projects that involved Welles.
Anyway, I enjoyed the film even if it didn't end quite the way I had hoped.
Minor, random comments:
I was hoping for a character named Clayton Forrester just for the comedic value.
There weren't any shots of people in suits sitting around a table talking about the aliens, scientists gnawing on pipe stems or B list celebrities who are only there to get cooked. I didn't miss any of these.
The aliens planted their death buggies millions of years ago? With shifting tectonic plates and continental drift it's amazing they remembered where they had parked. It's also a bit surprising that their earlier prepping didn't clue them in that they needed to get immunized. When traveling abroad it's just common sense to get caught up on your shots before you start drinking the water or exchanging bodily fluids with the locals.
End of Spoiler
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| Grahf 399th Post
Silver Customer
| "Re(1):The War of the Worlds Thread" , posted Tue 5 Jul 03:03
I really, really liked this movie. I've seen Batman Begins, Land of the Dead, and WotW recently, and I think this was my favorite (which is saying a lot because I really liked the other two movies too). After hearing such mixed reviews for this movie I definitely wasn't expecting that to be the case. The movie just exceeded my expectations so much. I liked how the movie was half suspense/action and half suspense/horror. During the action parts, Spielberg did a great job of building suspense and yet wasn't shy at all about showing the machines. Like someone has already said, the sound effects were fantastic (lighting too).
Before anyone gets on my case, let me say the movie wasn't perfect. I have a few minor complaints.
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
I agree the ending was too sappy (why can't anyone STAY dead?), but it was at least a quick ending. I wish they had never actually shown the aliens, especially since they were so cliched looking. I much prefer the mystery of the cold, giant machines. Also, did anyone else find it weird that after the EMP nothing electronic worked including Tom's watch, but digital video cameras were still functioning just fine?
End of Spoiler
Oh well. SEE THIS MOVIE.
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| DarkZero 1256th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(3):The War of the Worlds Thread" , posted Wed 6 Jul 15:49
Even though I enjoyed it, I saw at the start of a triple feature with two significantly better movies (Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Unleashed), and liked War of the Worlds less and less as the night went on.
The movie reminded me of the angry rantings of a lot of American comic book fans, specifically the ones who hate Brian Bendis and his "decompressed" style of storytelling that so many other comics have aped. Tom Cruise's character had to be portrayed in a perfectly logical (or pseudo-logical), touchy-feely, and politically correct manner, taking the time to be traumatized, depressed, worried, or just flat-out have a panic attack every time he endured some new alien horror. The pace of the movie was completely broken by all of these gratuitous scenes of Tom Cruise just blankly staring into space or holding onto his daughter in the dark. A few scenes would be fine, but it was kind of ridiculous to fill in the space between every action sequence with this crap. Just off the top of my head:
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
He argues with his kids. Sulks in the dark in his bedroom.
He's attacked by aliens. Washes his face off and sulks in his kitchen.
They arrive at the mother's house. He has a small panic attack.
Their car is stolen. He sulks with his kids in the diner. Someone is shot by their gun. Sulking continues.
The son dies. He not only takes the time to be horrified and depressed, but then takes MORE time to be horrified and depressed with Tim Robbins: Useless Crazy Man and his peach schnapps.
He kills Tim Robbins. Longest sulking scene.
This could be a really long list, but I can say that the only scene that didn't fall into this trap was the boat scene, which was great. Instead of sulking about the fact that someone he knew just died, Tom Cruise's character takes the time to admire his son's heroism. Why couldn't more scenes be like this, with the main character doing something OTHER than sulking for the eighth or ninth time in the movie? The first two or three scenes of sulking create atmosphere, but the next five just inspire boredom.
End of Spoiler
If you haven't seen it: Don't! It's not bad, but there are better ways to spend your time.
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"Re(1):The War of the Worlds Thread" , posted Sat 2 Jul 14:24
