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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

War of the Worlds - II

I had some free time this afternoon and thought I would take in the remake of a good movie. I was less than enthralled.

It's a good movie, but it just doesn't hit the mark. It focuses on Cruise's character much too much and his personal family life. He's a divorced with kids that don't respect him. I just didn't care and it spends agonizing time explaining this to us. Cuise spends most of the movie running away...should have been called "The running man."

The movie deviates somewhat from the original by the invaders rising up from the ground, instead of from space. Now, the Godzilla-like battle cry from the machines is cool and rather scary and the special effects are nice, but the interaction and battle between the machines and humans is just too little too short. It almost gets it, but is unable to maintain the suspense and total superiority of the invaders. He takes out a tripod with two hand grenades...now c'mon! The writing and dialog is also weak. What happened Spielberg?

Also, the Tim Robbins segment was totally not necessary, as it did not add to the plot, and I think it took away valuable time from the conflict. The little girl with her paranoia is ok, she's smart, but I think they could have used her better. And the son who wants to fight the aliens was boring and uninspiring. Just a punk kid.

This isn't a movie about man vs. alien. It's more about survival and getting out of the way of the disintegrator rays, the tripods and fighting in keeping the family close. What short encounters we see in defending the planet are good, and wish we saw more. But it stays in the Boston area throughout, so we don't get a full Earth invasion feeling. No mention that the invaders are from Mars.

In the original, the main character is a professor, smart as a whip and able to figure things out. Here, the main guy is a blue collar worker who is frail and unsure of his footing most of the time. The breakdown of society is here too, but better demonstrated 50 years ago.

I think Spielberg is slipping. This could have been a great film, man against the invaders, but it ends with a whimper. It will probably entertain the easily amused, but for those of us who read the book and saw the original...it falls way short.

It's an "ok" flick and worth seeing, but catch the original as it's much better...even with the antiquated 1950's special effects.

[Centaur]

Thanks for the warning, Joe. Did you like Mars Attacks!?

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Mars Attacks...lol...

Mars Attacks is a spoof of itself, and when taken as such, an amusing, but odd film.

What about the film..."Mars needs Earth Women"?

[Centaur]

I missed Mars Needs Earth Women. Sounds great! I thought Mars Attacks! was hilarious with all those stars camping it up amid great computerized animation. It came out about the same time as Independence Day with a similar basic plot, which was also told with tongue-in-cheek, but not so obviously that an unsophisticated audience couldn't take it seriously. Both were send-ups of 50's flicks like War of the Worlds. Did you ever see Amazon Women on the Moon?

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Yes...I saw it, and enjoyed it oh too much!... ;D The
Carrie Fisher skit...embarrassing quite humorious!

I rather enjoy skit-like movies like Kentucky Fried Movie and in the genre of Monty Python.

Too funny.

[Al Degutis]

I saw War of the Worlds yesterday by happenstance. We took my stepson to O'Hare at 10am for his noon flight to Korea for his first year of Army duty. We got there only to find out the flight was delayed until 5pm. I suggested we grab lunch and check out the movie.

I came out of the theater disappointed because I was expecting to see sci-fi but this was a human drama with some sci-fi. I was expecting (hoping) to see more of the failed attempts to fight the attackers. One of my first comments was "this was a long run-for-your-life movie".

Once I digested the movie, removed my expectations and evaluated the movie for what it was, I did like it. The story was about an average Joe and how he tried to survive the attack. I thought Cruise did a good job freaking out and panicking. He didn't become a hero or single handedly save the world. I think the mob violence scene with the van and the Tim Robbins character illustrated very well the kind of stress society would face and how some would probably react. I'm not saying the movie was great, it had it's shortcomings.

In the end, I liked the movie and recommend it... as long as you're not expecting a sci-fi or a close remake of the original. This movie shows a different perspective. The human one.

Respectfully submitted.

[stargazer]

Al I hope your son comes back ok. I will pray for his safe return, may the seven spirits be with him and guide him safely home.

[atomant]

Hi Folks,

Please let me know if the latest War of the Worlds movie is:
-Buy it
-Rent it
or Don't bother

Thanks!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Hey Bill,

I would rent it, not buy.

If you haven't seen the original...you must! It doesn't matter which one you view first, as there is no connection between the two, but Gene Barry as the lead makes a great smart hero....Cruise plays it simple.

Turn up the surround sound, relish in the Tripods scream, (almost Godzilla-like), but take your time in renting it...no rush for this one.

It would be a good movie for us to watch for a movie night...Arvind/John?

[erikruud]

By the way, there are two other movie versions of "War of the Worlds" for a total of four versions.

1953 "The War of the Worlds"
This is the classic version one of the best Sci Fi movies from the 50's with special effects by George Pal. Fans of the book are often disappointed by the americanization of the story.

2005 "War of the Worlds"
This is the Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise version. Another modernized/ americanized version. The special effects are very good. It is an interesting mix of remaking the 1953 movie and elements from the original book. Some of the changes are a bit perplexing. Especially the martians coming out of the ground. Overall I thought it was a decent movie and worth renting.

2005 "H.G. Wells War of the Worlds"
This is a direct to video version starring C. Thomas Howell. I have not seen this version yet. It has a 3.1 out of 10 rating at IMDB.com. I have heard that it is an OK movie and worth renting.

2005 "H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds"
This is another direct to video release directed by Timothy Hines. This one was touted as being entirely faithful to the original book. It has to be one of the worst movies ever made. I had checked it out from my library so it didn't cost anything for me to watch and I still gave up on it after 90 minutes. There is nothing good abou this version. The special effects are terrible. Junior High School students could have done better. The alien tripods look like spastic cardboard cutouts. The director decided to make the film look like it had been filmed in the 1900's. This means that the film has a flickering/variable frame rate look with odd color abberations that that make an unbearable movie even more painful to watch. the only thing they seem to have done well was the costumes. Don't ever watch this movie.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

How strange that 3 remake movies came out in 2005.

It would be nice to see the C. Thomas Howell remake and even the horrible Timothy Hines one...just for the laughs.

Thanks for the enlightenment...

[erikruud]

The Timothy Hines version will scar you for life!

[atomant]

I finally saw spielberg's version this week on dvr [shown on free tv Ch7 last month].
Without comparing to 1953's version, it was an ok popcorn flick.
i'm glad i didn't pick it up for 2 bux at the halfprice books.

i was rooting for the aliens to take out the dysfunctional family especially the kids..
gotta love the melodramatic ending....there goes two hours of my life...
where's secondhand smoke when i need it?